Atomic Bible

Town in Judah; home of Nabal and Abigail

Carmel

Named in 24 verses across 9 books, first in Joshua 12:22.

כַּרְמֶלCarmel

כַּרְמְלִיCarmelite

כַּרְמְלִיתCarmel

רָכָלRacal

Also called Carmelite, Racal.

The name means “circumcised lamb; harvest; full of ears of corn.” Hitchcock's Bible Names, 1869

About Carmel Written by AI

Carmel, also known as Racal, was a town located in the hill country of Judah (Joshua 15:55). It is mentioned several times in the Bible, particularly in relation to David's life. Carmel was the home of Nabal, a wealthy but foolish man who refused to assist David and his men (1Sa.25.2-11). Nabal's wife, Abigail, intervened and provided for David's needs, demonstrating her wisdom and resourcefulness (1Sa.25.14-35). After Nabal's death, David married Abigail, and she became one of his wives (1Sa.25.40-42). Later, when David was fleeing from Saul, he sent his two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, to stay in Carmel (1Sa.27.3). The town is also mentioned in the list of places that received spoils from David's victory over the Amalekites (1Sa.30.29). In the Song of Solomon, the beauty of the bride's head is compared to Mount Carmel (Sng.7.5), likely referring to the lush vegetation and majesty of the mountain. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and Nahum use Carmel as a symbol of fertility, beauty, and God's judgment (Isaiah 33:9, 35:2; Jeremiah 46:18, 50:19; Amo.1.2, 9:3; Nam.1.4).

Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.

Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897

A park; generally with the article, “the park.” (1.) A prominent headland of Central Palestine, consisting of several connected hills extending from the plain of Esdraelon to the sea, a distance of some 12 miles or more. At the east end, in its highest part, it is 1,728 feet high, and at the west end it forms a promontory to the bay of Acre about 600 feet above the sea. It lay within the tribe of Asher. It was here, at the east end of the ridge, at a place called el-Mukhrakah (i.e., the place of burning), that Elijah brought back the people to their allegiance to God, and slew the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Here were consumed the “fifties” of the royal guard; and here also Elisha received the visit of the bereaved mother whose son was restored by him to life (2 Kings 4:25-37). “No mountain in or around Palestine retains its ancient beauty so much as Carmel. Two or three villages and some scattered cottages are found on it; its groves are few but luxuriant; it is no place for crags and precipices or rocks of wild goats; but its surface is covered with a rich and constant verdure.” “The whole mountain-side is dressed with blossom, and flowering shrubs, and fragrant herbs.” The western extremity of the ridge is, however, more rocky and bleak than the eastern. The head of the bride in Cant. 7:5 is compared to Carmel. It is ranked with Bashan on account of its rich pastures (Isa. 33:9; Jer. 50:19; Amos 1:2). The whole ridge is deeply furrowed with rocky ravines filled with dense jungle. There are many caves in its sides, which at one time were inhabited by swarms of monks. These caves are referred to in Amos 9:3. To them Elijah and Elisha often resorted (1 Kings 18:19, 42; 2 Kings 2:25). On its north-west summit there is an ancient establishment of Carmelite monks. Vineyards have recently been planted on the mount by the German colonists of Haifa. The modern Arabic name of the mount is Kurmul, but more commonly Jebel Mar Elyas, i.e., Mount St. Elias, from the Convent of Elias.

(2.) A town in the hill country of Judah (Josh. 15:55), the residence of Nabal (1 Sam. 25:2, 5, 7, 40), and the native place of Abigail, who became David’s wife (1 Sam. 27:3). Here king Uzziah had his vineyards (2 Chr. 26:10). The ruins of this town still remain under the name of Kurmul, about 10 miles south-south-east of Hebron, close to those of Maon.

M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.

31.433, 35.133 See it on a map

GenesisMatthewRevelation

Where the Bible names it

  1. Joshua 12:22

    the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;

  2. Joshua 15:55

    Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

  3. Joshua 19:26

    Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west the border touched Carmel and Shihor-libnath,

  4. 1 Samuel 15:12

    Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.”

  5. 1 Samuel 25:2

    Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.

  6. 1 Samuel 25:5

    So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name

  7. 1 Samuel 25:7

    Now I hear that it is time for shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

  8. 1 Samuel 25:40

    When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”

  9. 1 Samuel 27:3

    David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.

  10. 1 Samuel 30:5

    David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.

  11. 1 Samuel 30:29

    to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites;

  12. 2 Samuel 2:2

    So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

  13. 2 Samuel 3:3

    his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;

  14. 2 Samuel 23:35

    Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,

  15. 1 Chronicles 3:1

    These were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second was Daniel by Abigail of Carmel;

  16. 1 Chronicles 11:37

    Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai son of Ezbai,

  17. Song of Solomon 7:5

    Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, the hair of your head like purple threads; the king is captured in your tresses.

  18. Isaiah 33:9

    The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

  19. Isaiah 35:2

    It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.

  20. Jeremiah 46:18

    As surely as I live, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.

  21. Jeremiah 50:19

    I will return Israel to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan; his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.

  22. Amos 1:2

    He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”

  23. Amos 9:3

    Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.

  24. Nahum 1:4

    He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.

From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.