Bible Dictionaries
Carmel

Holman Bible Dictionary

(cawr' mel) Place name meaning, “park, fruitful field.” 1. A village in the tribal territory assigned Judah (Joshua 15:55 ). King Saul set up a monument after he defeated the Amalekites there (1 Samuel 15:12 ). There Nabal treated David and his men with disrespect and disregard, an action eventually resulting in Nabal's death and David's marriage to his widow Abigail (1 Samuel 25:2-40 ). The village is modern khirbet el-Kirmil, seven miles south of Hebron. 2. The towering mountain (1 Kings 18:19 ) where Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal. The mountain is near the Mediterranean coast of Palestine between the Plain of Acco to the north and the Plain of Sharon to the south. It reaches a maximum elevation of about 1,750 feet. The Bible frequently mentions Carmel as a place of great beauty and fertility.