Mount Ebal, also known as Mount Zalmon or Mount Ephraim, was a mountain in Canaan where the Israelites held a ceremony of curses and blessings (Deu.11.29; 27:4, 13; Joshua 8:30, 33; Judges 9:48; Psalm 68:14; Jeremiah 4:15).
Also known as Mount Ebal · Zalmon Mount · Mount Zalmon · Salmon · Ephraim Mount · Mount Ephraim
Mount Ebal, also referred to as Mount Zalmon or Mount Ephraim, was a mountain located in the land of Canaan, north of Shechem. It stood opposite Mount Gerizim, forming the valley where the city of Shechem was situated. Mount Ebal held significant religious and historical importance for the Israelites. Prior to entering the Promised Land, Moses instructed the Israelites to conduct a ceremony on Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, pronouncing curses from Mount Ebal and blessings from Mount Gerizim (Deu.11.29; 27:4, 13). After the conquest of Canaan, Joshua led the Israelites in fulfilling this command, building an altar on Mount Ebal and conducting the ceremony as prescribed (Joshua 8:30, 33). In the time of Abimelech, Mount Zalmon (another name for Mount Ebal) was the site where he and his men cut down branches to set fire to the tower of Shechem (Judges 9:48). The mountain is also mentioned in poetic and prophetic texts, such as Psalm 68:14 and Jeremiah 4:15, which refer to Mount Zalmon and Mount Ephraim respectively, likely alluding to the same location as Mount Ebal.
Approximate location: 32.233, 35.273 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
a mount in the promised land, on which the Israelites were to “put” the curse which should fall upon them if they disobeyed the commandments of Jehovah. The blessing consequent on obedience was to be similarly localized on Mount Gerizim. (11:26-29) Ebal and Gerizim are the mounts which form the sides of the fertile valley in which lies Nablus, the ancient Shechem-Ebal on the north and Gerizim on the south. (They are nearly in the centre of the country of Samaria, about eight hundred feet above Nablus in the valley; and they are so near that all the vast body of the people could hear the words read from either mountain. The experiment has repeatedly been tried in late years.—Ed.) The modern name of Ebal is Sitti Salamiyah, from a Mohammedan female saint, whose tomb is standing on the eastern part of the ridge, a little before the highest point is reached.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
8 verses in 5 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H5858
When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
And when you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to coat them with plaster.
And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to deliver the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,
All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.
he and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his axe in his hand and cut a branch from the trees, which he lifted to his shoulder, saying to his men, “Hurry and do what you have seen me do.”
When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like the snow falling on Zalmon.
For a voice resounds from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.