Mount Tabor rises 1,843 feet above the Jezreel Valley, about 5 miles east of Nazareth. Because it is strategically located on the Via Mares (the ancient north/south “international highway” from Egypt to Turkey), and the east/west highway through the Jezreel Valley connecting Asia Minor to the West, it has served as an important “stronghold” since ancient times.
Tabor was a boundary marker for three tribes: Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali, at its first mention in Joshua 19.22, and is considered one of the possible sites of the Transfiguation.
Deborah and Barak gathered forces here and defeated Sisera in the plains below it. (Judges 4) Before killing Zebah and Zalmunna on the east side of the Jordan River, Gideon revealed that they had killed his brothers on Tabor. (Judges 8.18-19)
On a clear day from its peak and looking southward, you can see the towns of Nain, Endor, and Shunem; to the southeast, the Gilboa range near Bet Shean; to the northeast, Galilee; to the northwest, the Carmel range and the Mediterranean.
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