Baal-Hermon

Baal-hermon names a place at the northern edge of Israel's geography. It appears twice — once as a settled boundary point, once as a mountain — and in both notices it sits at the country's far north, near Mount Hermon and the approach to Lebanon.

Boundary of the Half-Tribe of Manasseh

The Chronicler describes the territory east of the Jordan held by the eastern half of Manasseh and reaches Baal-hermon at its northern limit: "And the sons of the half-tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan to Baal-hermon and Senir and mount Hermon" (1 Ch 5:23). Baal-hermon stands here in a line of three names — Baal-hermon, Senir, mount Hermon — that mark the northern reach of the tribe's expansion.

A Mountain of Lebanon

The Judges introduction places Baal-hermon as a mountain on the border between the nations Yahweh left in the land and the entry into Hamath: "[namely], the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Hamath" (Judg 3:3). The line "from mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Hamath" places the peak at the southern end of the Lebanon range, marking the northern frontier the tribes had not yet displaced.