kishon

1 definition found

kishon - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  Kishon
  winding, a winter torrent of Central Palestine, which rises
  about the roots of Tabor and Gilboa, and passing in a northerly
  direction through the plains of Esdraelon and Acre, falls into
  the Mediterranean at the north-eastern corner of the bay of
  Acre, at the foot of Carmel. It is the drain by which the waters
  of the plain of Esdraelon and of the mountains that surround it
  find their way to the sea. It bears the modern name of Nahr
  el-Mokattah, i.e., "the river of slaughter" (comp. 1 Kings
  18:40). In the triumphal song of Deborah (Judg. 5:21) it is
  spoken of as "that ancient river," either (1) because it had
  flowed on for ages, or (2), according to the Targum, because it
  was "the torrent in which were shown signs and wonders to Israel
  of old;" or (3) probably the reference is to the exploits in
  that region among the ancient Canaanites, for the adjoining
  plain of Esdraelon was the great battle-field of Palestine.
  
    This was the scene of the defeat of Sisera (Judg. 4:7, 13),
  and of the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah (1
  Kings 18:40). "When the Kishon was at its height, it would be,
  partly on account of its quicksands, as impassable as the ocean
  itself to a retreating army." (See DEBORAH.)