Brook Kishon

Biblical References

• Judges 4–5: During the period of the judges, Sisera, the commander of the army of Jabin king of Canaan, gathered his chariots and troops to the Kishon. Through Deborah, God promised Barak, "I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand" (Judges 4:7; cf. 4:13). The Song of Deborah declares, "The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon" (Judges 5:21). In Judges the New Korean Revised Version renders this stream as the "river Kishon," as does the KJV.
• 1 Kings 18: After the contest on Mount Carmel, Elijah seized the prophets of Baal, "brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there" (1 Kings 18:40). Heavy rain then fell after a long drought (1 Kings 18:41–45).
• Psalms 83: The psalmist asks God to deal with his enemies "as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison" (Psalm 83:9).

Background

In Hebrew the stream is called Nahal Kishon. The word nahal often refers to a valley stream that swells with rain, that is, a wadi (a dry ravine through which water flows only in the rainy season). The meaning of the name "Kishon" is uncertain. The stream crosses the Jezreel Valley toward the northwest, runs along the northern foot of Mount Carmel, and empties into the Mediterranean near present-day Haifa. It is still known by the same name in modern Israel. Its upper course may dry up seasonally. Many also locate "the waters of Megiddo" mentioned in Judges 5:19 in the vicinity of this watercourse.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In both narratives the Kishon appears as the place where God defeated enemies on Israel's behalf. Psalm 83 looks back on these events as a pattern of earlier deliverance and prays accordingly. The name Kishon does not occur in the New Testament. Some interpreters, however, understand "Armageddon" in Revelation 16:16 as "the mountain of Megiddo." Those who follow this interpretation sometimes treat Armageddon together with the Old Testament battle narratives set in the same valley region.

Interpretive Issues

• The defeat of Sisera's army: The Song of Deborah says that "the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water" (Judges 5:4). On this basis, it is often explained that a sudden rain caused the Kishon to overflow, turning the ground to mud and rendering the chariots useless. The prose account in Judges 4, however, does not describe this process directly, so this explanation remains an interpretation. The meaning of the Hebrew expression rendered "that ancient river" in Judges 5:21 is also disputed.
• Elijah's execution of the prophets: This scene is read in light of the command in Deuteronomy to put false prophets to death (Deuteronomy 13:5). Christian readers generally regard the event as a judgment within the Old Testament covenant community rather than as an example for the New Testament church to follow.
• Site of the execution: One tradition identifies el-Muhraqa, on the southeastern summit of Mount Carmel, as the site of the contest. The exact locations of the contest and of the execution, however, have not been determined.