Meaning of TABOR

(a) Mount on the borders of Issachar and Zebulun (Ant. 5:1, 22 and pos. Jos. 19:22). The Tabor, although less considerable than the Hermon, nevertheless has its importance (Jer. 46:18; Ps. 89:13).

The men of Issachar and Zebulun gathered on the Tabor before attacking Sisera (Judges 4:6, 12, 14). This limestone mountain, which is currently called Jebel et-Tur, rises to 562 m. altitude above the plain of Jezreel, 19 km north of Mount Gilboa, and 9 km west-southwest of the southern shore of Lake Gennesaret.

The northern flank of the Tabor is covered with oaks and terebinths. The summit platform has an elliptical shape.

According to a tradition dating back to the 2nd century, the Transfiguration took place on the Tabor, and for this reason commemorative religious buildings have been erected there.

However, this is a spurious tradition. Firstly, the transfiguration took place in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, most likely on Mount Hermon (see HERMON, TRANSFIGURATION), and secondly, in the time of Christ there was a fortified city on the summit of Tabor .

(b) City of Zebulun, given to the Levites of the family of Merari (1 Chron. 6:77). It is possible that it was the place on the border of Issachar mentioned in Joseph. 19:22.

A plausible identification is Khirbet Dabûra, on the ridge that connects the Tabor with the hill of Nazareth.

(c) Holm oak or terebinth of Tabor (1 Sam. 10:3), apparently in the territory of Benjamin.