\
206
MOUXT, MOUNTAIN
MOUNT OF OLIVES
Concerning our Lord's dealings \^'ith other mothers than His own, few details are given in the Gospels. It is noteworthy that the mother of Zebedee's children (Mt 20=^") goes unrebuked, as does the action of the mothers who brought their children to Him (Mk 10^^). His sympathy with motherhood may be inferred from these incidents, as also from the healing of the daughter of the Canaanitish woman (Mt 15--, Mk T^). The same is implied in the pathetic phrase (Lk 23''**) uttered on the way to Calvary. In nothing is the imique- ness of Jesus more clearly seen than in this kind of reverence for womanhood, so unexpected in a religious teacher of His time ( Jn 4^'). iSee Woman.
Literature. — F. W. Robertson, Serin. 2nd ser. xviii. xix. ; Rendel Harris, Union with God, chAv. ; Stalker, Imago Christi, ch. ii. ; A. Morris Stewart, Infancy and Youth of Jesus, p. 105.
R. J. Campbell.
MOUNT, MOUNTAIN (6pos).— Mountains iigui;e often in tlie narratives of Christ's life. This is natural, considering the highly mountainous char- acter of the country in which He lived. At no point in His journeyings were the mountains out of sight ; and if He was not actually on or among them, they were never a great way ofi".
The Mount of Olives (wh. see) alone is named in the Gospels — the mountain that rises beyond the Kidron Valley, east of Jerusalem, from the S.E. slojje of which Bethany looks out over the wilder- ness. In two passages we see from the context which mountains are referred to. In Mt 21^1 ' to this mountain ' points clearly to Olivet, on which Jesus and His disciples stood, viewing the cursed and withered fig-tree. In Jn 4^" ' this mountain ' can be no other than Gerizim, on whose rocky summit, amid the ruins of ancient splendour, the remnant of Samaritans still annually chant their weird service at the feast of the Passover. In other places, such as Mt 24'®, ' mountain ' must be taken generally as meaning the wilder and more in- accessible parts, forming natural places of refuge, Judpea itself being almost entirely mountainous (cf. Rev 6'^). So also with the haunts of the demoniac (Mk 5^). The ' mountain ' on (Lk 8^^) or near (Mk 5^') which the swine were feeding must have been the western edge of the great i^lateau which stretches fi'om the desert to the lip of the Ghor, and drojis a distance of some 2000 feet to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The place intended is probably a little north of the old fortress of Gamala, where the foot of the swift slope runs almost to the water.
Perhaps only men familiar with the steep cliffs and beetling crags of Palestinian mountains would think of calling in their terror upon the mountains to fall and cover them (Lk 23^").
Regarding the position of three mountains there has been much discussion — the mountain of the Temptation (Mt 4^, Lk 4^), the Mount of Beati- tudes (Mt 5'), and the Mount of Transfiguration (Mt IV etc.).
The evidence we possess is mainly negative, tending to show that traditional identifications are impossible. As to the first, if any actual height is intended, Jebel Kuruntul, with its cave-fretted brows frowning over Jericho, and the district to the south, are bleak and inhospitable enough, and there cer- tainly the sojourner by night would be ' with the wild beasts ' (Mk 113) But there is no height at all suggesting the descrip- tion 'an exceeding high mountain.'
The tradition identifying Kara Hattln with the scene of the Sermon on the Mount dates only from Crusading times. To the traveller journeying towards Tiberias from Nazareth or Tabor, the double-peaked hill seems easy of approach. But from any part of the seashore the ascent is steep, and from Gennesaret, where our Lord was at work, the way, as the present writer knows from much experience, is both long and toilsome. With so many heights near the plain, quite suitable for the Master's purpose, the necessity for this difficult journey is not apparent. Further, certain traces of ancient buildings lend colour to the idea that, in our Lord's time, the hill may have been occupied.
The Roman and Greek Churches still maintain the traditional
identification of Mount Tabor with the scene of the Transfigura- tion, and, in accordance with their separate calendars, that august event is annually commemorated there. It must be remembered, however, that they have much \aluable property on the mountain — the great monasteries — which an admission of error would render worthless, while the contributions re- ceived from streams of pilgrims would be diverted. Most modern students of the question locate the Transfiguration on Mount Hermon ; if not on the summit itself, on one of the lower spurs. This would satisfy the requirements of the narrative ; whereas the journey south to Tabor, through Galilee, and back again to Capernaum, within the time speci- fied, while possible, is highly improbable. The present writer spent some weeks in the summer of 1891 on the top of Tabor, and was led to em]3halic agreement with the opinion that the presence of a town or fortress on the mountain in the days of Christ makes the traditional identification utterlj- impossible. See art. Transfiguration.