LEBANON
“White”.
Chain of snow-capped mountains (Jer. 18:14), from which less elevated mountain ranges radiate in all directions (Hos. 14:5). Its valleys owed their great fertility to their numerous water courses.
The lower area was covered with vineyards (Hos. 14:6, 7), but the mountains themselves were famous for their forests of gigantic cedars.
Cypresses and junipers were also abundant (1 Kings 56:10; 2 Kings 19:23; Is. 40:16; 60:13; Zech. 11:1). Lions and leopards infested these forests (2 Kings 14:9; Song 4:8).
The felled trees provided wood for the construction of palaces and religious buildings. Solomon had them transported by sea, on rafts, to the Temple in Jerusalem (2 Chron. 2:8-9, 16).
The Phoenicians also supplied them for the reconstruction of the Temple after the return of Jews from the Babylonian exile (Ez. 27:5; Ezra 3:7).
The king of Assyrla took this wood for his war machines (Is. 14:8; 37:24; Ez. 31:16), and the Egyptians also made plenty of use of this wood. This is how those magnificent cedar forests became some groves.
Notable for its grandeur and the beauty of its landscapes, Lebanon frequently supplied notable images to sacred writers (Ps. 72:16; 104:16-18; Song 4:15; Is. 2:13; 35: 2; 60:13; Hos. 14:5). It often symbolizes that which is strong and magnificent (Isa. 10:34; 29:17; Jer. 22:6, 23; Hab. 2:17).
Lebanon constituted the northwestern boundary of the Promised Land (Deut. 1:7; 11:24; Josh. 1:4; 11:17; 12:7; 13:5). It is of calcareous formation, and is made up of two parallel chains that extend from north to south, separated by the valley of the Litani and the Orontes.
At the time of the Greek Empire, the name Lebanon only designated the westernmost chain; the eastern chain received that of Anti-Lebanon. This distinction remains today. The intermediate valley is currently called Bekaa.
Nearby are the important ruins of Baalbek. Lebanon begins about 24 km southeast of Sidon, and extends up to 20 km north-northwest of Homs-Tripoli, with a total length of just over 160 km.
The highest peak in Lebanon is Jebel Makmal (3,048 m.), at its northern end; The highest peak of Anti-Lebanon is Hermon, to the south (2,759 m.). Above Lebanon, to the south, rises the great truncated cone of the Jebel Sannin (2,608 m.).