Chermon (Hermon)

חרמון


Mis-pronounced as Hermon in English, even by orthodox Jews who should know their Yehudit better, but perhaps mistake the first-letter Chet (ח) for a Hey (ה).

Also known:

as Ha Lavanah - Lavan's (Laban's) mountain

as Ba'al Hermon - which is really the mountain's deity, but what else is Nature but a manifestation of the god?

by Josephus as Mount Lebanon (presumably his Latinisation of Ha Lavanah, "the white one";and now the name of the country that it overlooks);

in modern times as Jabel a-Talg ("the snow mountain" in Arabic); 

as Hermon Massif (by the 19th century French);

as Jebel esh-Sheikh by the residents of Tsidon;

as Senir, Shenir and Si'on (not to be confused with Mount Tsi'on in Yeru-Shala'im) in various dialects of Arabic, Aramaic, and Turkic, and even Amoritic (see below);

and as Sirion (whereby it also appears in Psalm 29:6).

The summit of the mountain, known today as Hermon Hotel, hosts the highest United Nations military base on the planet (you really must follow this link and believe what you will about the story, and the stupidity of human beings as well).

Joshua 11:3 speaks of the Chivites who live "under Chermon", suggesting that Beney Chavah worship was more widespread than just the area under Chevron, while verse 17 speaks of Ba'al-Gad in the valley of Levanon under Mount Chermon.

Psalm 133:3, the shortest of all the Psalms at just three verses, says of brethren living together in harmony that "it is as if the dew of Chermon were falling on Mount Tsi'on."

Song of Songs 4:8 makes Senir (שְׂנִיר) and Chermon separate mountains: "Come with me from Levanon, my bride…. descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Chermon, from the lions' dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards."

This connects with Psalm 42:7, where Chermonim (חֶרְמוֹנִים) is used in the plural, to denote the fact that it is really a mountain range, and that there are several summits. Deuteronomy 3:9 informs us that Senir was the Amorite name for the mountain range, while the Beney Tsidon (Sidonians) called it Sirion (שִׂרְיֹן), and in Deuteronomy 4:48 it is named as Siy'on (שִׂיאֹן).

1 Chronicles 5:23 tells us that "the children of the half-tribe of Menasheh dwelt in the land, from Bashan as far as Ba'al-Chermon and Senir and Mount Chermon, where they increased."

See also Psalm 89:13.

Senir (שְׂנִיר), the Amorite name, may in fact be an error for Tsenir (צניר); this is based on the fact that Senir means "a coat of chain-mail", though it was also used for the noise made by that chain-mail, which might then allegorically reflect the noise of water rushing out of the mountains as the snow melts in the spring; but this is all terribly vague and distant; whereas Tsenir means "cascade", is used in Psalm 42:8 to describe precisely the rushing water from Chermon, and in 2 Samuel 5:8 as a water-course, or possibly a gutter, all of which not only suggests that Tsenir is more likely than Senir, but also which summit is Senir - the one above the waterfalls of Banyas, obviously.

Sirion (שִׂרְיֹן) might be interesting to read as Sarai-On, allowing Sarah precedence at the White One (the meaning of Ha Levanah). The Yehudit certainly allows it, though there is no tradition, even in the most obscure Midrash, that even hints at it; and in truth Iam simply being whimsical. But on the other hand, no one has the faintest notion what Sirion might mean otherwise, with Deuteronomy 3:9 simply telling us that it was the Beney Tsidon (Sidonian) name, and therefore no point our scouring the Yehudit dictionary for its root and meaning, nor wondering if the Phoenician word meaning "breastplate", which is interesting in the light of Amorite chain mail, is connected, because it probably isn't.

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