Mount Gerizim on the south side of the valley and Mount Ebal to the north played significant roles in a ceremony renewing Israel’s covenant with the Lord upon entering the Promised Land. Through Moses, God gave detailed instructions for a ceremony of “blessings and cursings” to take place when the people of Israel entered the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 11:29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. Deuteronomy 27:12These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin:
Joshua 8:33And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.
Judges 9:7And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.
A mountain on the boundary of Judah, between Ekron and Jabneel.
Joshua 15:11 And the border went out unto the side of Ekron northward: and the border was drawn to Shicron, and passed along to mount Baalah, and went out unto Jabneel; and the goings out of the border were at the sea.
Genesis 7:20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. Genesis 8:4-5And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
Have they really found the Ark?
Jeremiah 51:27Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
Joshua 15:9And the border was drawn from the top of the hill unto the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of mount Ephron; and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kirjathjearim:
Mount Ephraim is not a single mountain and is rather a mountainous or hilly region, occupied by the Tribe of Ephraim.
Joshua refers to mount Ephraim 7 times: Joshua 17:15,18 19:50, 20:7, 21:21, 24:30-33
And in Judges 12 times: Judges 2:9, 3:27, 4:5, 7:24, 10:1, 17:1,8 18:2,13, 19:1,16,18
1 Samuel 1:1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: 1 Samuel 9:4 And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. 1 Samuel 14:22 Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle.
2 Samuel 20:21The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.
1 Kings 4:8 And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim: 1 Kings 12:25Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
2 Kings 5:22 And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.
1 Chronicles 6:67 And they gave unto them, of the cities of refuge, Shechem in mount Ephraim with her suburbs; they gave also Gezer with her suburbs,
2 Chronicles 13:4And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel; 2 Chronicles 15:8And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD. 2 Chronicles 19:4And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.
Jeremiah 4:15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim. Jeremiah 31:6For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God. Jeremiah 50:19And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
Obadiah 1:8-9 Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. Obadiah 1:19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. Obadiah 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.
God used the image of fire to illustrate His power, holiness, and passionate love for His people. The fire on Mount Sinai when Moses received the Ten Commandments was just such a display of power, highlighting the holiness, the strength, and the passion of His purposes for Israel.
Exodus 4:27 And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. Exodus 18:5And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God: Exodus 24:13And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
1 Kings 19:8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
Psalm 15:1 Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
A great Battle around 913 BC is reported to have been fought in Mount Zemaraim, when the army of the Kingdom of Israel led by the king Jeroboam I encountered the army of the Kingdom of Judah led by the king Abijah I. Recorded in 2 Chronicles 13.
2 Chronicles 13:4 And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;
Rises North of the vale of Shechem, over against Mt. Gerizim on the South.
Judges 9:48 And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.
It seems to be the range which rises abruptly from the plateau ,south of Judea, running from a little south of west to north of east, and of which the extremities are the Jebel Araif en-Nakah westward and Jebel el-Mukrah eastward, and from which line the country continues mountainous all the way to Hebron.
Deuteronomy 1:19-20And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea. And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us. Deuteronomy 1:24And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out. Deuteronomy 1:44 And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. Deuteronomy 2:37 Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the LORD our God forbad us. Deuteronomy 33:15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, Deuteronomy 33:19 They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.
Mountain of the Amorites is part of the Promised Land.
