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"Mount Tabor "
"Inside the Church of Transfiguration"
Wednesday, December 25, 2013"Inside the Church of Transfiguration"
Lower Galilee, Israel
Fifth Day of my Holy Land Trip, Mount Zion, Jerusalem
My Holy Land Trip
"Mount Tabor "
Lower Galilee, Israel
The Church of the Transfiguration:
According to Matthew 17:1-13 (and Mk 9:2, Lk 9:28), Jesus is
transfigured before Peter, James, and John on the "mountain". There
are several candidates, such as Hermon (the tallest in Israel) and Tabor. Both
are also referred as high mountains; see Psalms above ("Tabor and Hermon
shall rejoice in thy name"). Tabor is closer to the center of Jesus
activities, and also it is referred as "the mountain" in other
texts. According to old traditions,
Tabor is the holy mountain, and is called "the mount of
Transfiguration".
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| Inside the Church of Transfiguration, Mount Tabor |
"And
after six days Jesus takes Peter, James, and John his brother, and brings them
up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face
did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold,
there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter,
and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us
make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for
Elias.
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| The main altar is located high above the east end, and under it is a convex shaped chamber. Church of Transfiguration, Mount Tabor |
While he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and
behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased; hear ye him. And
when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And
Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and is not afraid.
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| Steps lead down to a chamber below, the level of the Byzantine church. Church of Transfiguration |
And when they had lifted up their
eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the
mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son
of man be risen again from the dead.
And his disciples asked him, saying, why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Then the disciples understood
that he spake unto them of John the Baptist".
Judges Chapter 4
12 When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abino-am had gone up to
Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of
iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the river
Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the
Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before
you?” So Barak went down from Mount
Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15 And the Lord routed Sisera and
all his chariots and all his army before Barak at the edge of the sword; and
Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 And Barak pursued
the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim, and all the army of Sisera
fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.
Mark Chapter 9
2 And after six days Jesus took
with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by
themselves; and he was transfigured before them, 3 and his garments became
glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them. 4 And
there appeared to them Elijah with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus. 5 And
Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three
booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not
know what to say, for they were exceedingly afraid. 7 And a cloud overshadowed
them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to
him.” 8 And suddenly looking around they no longer saw any one with them but
Jesus only.
Early Church fathers believed that the Transfiguration took place on
Mt. Tabor, including Cyril of Jerusalem (in 348), Epiphanies, and Jerome.
Eusebius was uncertain if it took place on Mt. Tabor or on Mt. Hermon. One
reason for this identification was a misunderstanding of Matthew 17:1. This
verse was taken to mean that Jesus took the disciples up a mountain "by
itself," rather than that he took the disciples up a mountain "by
themselves."
The date of the earliest churches on Mt. Tabor is unknown. The
Anonymous Pilgrim of Piacenza saw three basilicas in 570. Willibaldus, in 723,
mentions only one church dedicated to Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. There may have
been three chapels joined together into one building, as in the present
building. The current church was built in 1924 and belongs to the Franciscans.
The Gospel accounts of the
Transfiguration — a momentous event in which Peter, James and John were
introduced to the divine incarnation of Christ, the God-Man — do not specify
the place. They simply say it was a “high mountain” in Galilee.
Inside the Church of Transfiguration, Mount Tabor:
Christian tradition in the early centuries named the mountain as
Tabor. This location is cited in early apocryphal writings and was accepted by
the Syriac and Byzantine churches.
Many biblical scholars now question this tradition. Mount Tabor’s
location does not fit well into events before and after the Transfiguration. At
the time, a Hasmonean fortress stood on the summit.
Inside the Church of Transfiguration, Mount Tabor:
And would Tabor be considered a “high mountain”,
especially compared to other mountains in the vicinity? (It’s actually more
than 200 meters lower than Jerusalem.)
These scholars see the much higher Mount Hermon as
a more likely location.
Nevertheless, a succession of churches and a
monastery were built on Mount Tabor from the fourth century.
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