Carmel in Judah
כַּרְמֶל
Where was biblical Carmel in Judah? At Khirbet el-Kirmil, in al-Karmil south of Hebron, about 40 km south of Jerusalem. I mark it very likely.
Nabal was shearing his three thousand sheep here when David's hungry men asked for a share, and Nabal sent them off with insults. His wife Abigail loaded donkeys with food, rode out to meet David, and talked him out of bloodshed.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Khirbet el-Kirmil, in al-Karmil south of Hebron
- How sure
- Very likely Strong evidence, with no serious rival.
- Other names
- Karmel, Khirbet el-Kirmil, Carmel of Judah
- Location
- 31.4223° N, 35.1372° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
First, a correction. This is not Mount Carmel by Haifa. It is a small town in the southern Hebron hills that happens to share the name, which means a vineyard or orchard.
The name survives almost unchanged in the Arab village of al-Karmil. In the 4th century Eusebius called Carmel a very large village ten Roman miles from Hebron, with a Roman garrison. That distance lands here.
The geography fits the story. The Book of Samuel says Nabal lived in Maon but kept his flocks at Carmel. Tel Maon is only about a kilometer and a half to the south. A rich man living in one town and shearing in the next one over makes perfect sense on the ground. Joshua lists the two towns side by side, with Zif and Yutta.
Saul passed through Carmel too. After his war with Amalek he came here and set up a monument to himself. It was the beginning of his fall.
Ruins and a large ancient pool are still visible. Excavation has turned up little from the biblical town itself. So the case rests on the name, on Eusebius and on the pairing with Maon. All three point the same way.
Visiting today
The ruins and the ancient pool lie inside the village of al-Karmil. The nearby Israeli community of Karmel takes its name from the site.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Carmel on the interactive map →
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Get the print + free ebookNearby places
- Maon 2 km south
- Juttah 5 km northwest
- Ziph 6 km north
- Eshtemoa 7 km west
- Anim 10 km southwest
- Debir (Kiriath Sepher) 11 km west