KISHON kī’ shŏn (קִישֹׁ֔ון; LXX Κεισών). A river, draining the Esdraelon Valley, around which cluster numerous Biblical and historical incidents.

1. Physical description. The total length of the Kishon River (Heb.: Qishon—curving; Arab.: Nahr el-Mugatta’) is only about twenty-five m. Its souce is S and E of Jenin, the Biblical En-gannim (Josh 15:34; 19:21; 21:29), in the northern hills of Samaria, though it does not succeed in draining the Plain of Dothan. From Jenin to the narrow gap at Tell el-Qassis (“The Mound of the Priest,” below the traditional location of the contest between Elijah and the priests of Baal) the stream fall amounts to c. 250 ft. Along its course, which roughly parallels the trend of the Carmel ridge, several tributaries join the main stream. Drainage from the Wadi en-Nusf reaches it just N of Jenin, and the small plain of Mt. Tabor with its stream in the Wadi Muweili reaches the Kishon a m. or so W of Affuleh. Springs along the Carmel front form a trellis-type drainage pattern, and a number of small tributaries from the Galilean hills to the N are to be noted, as well as several reaching it along its course across the Plain of Acco to the sea. The Wadi el-Melek drains much of SW Galilee, including the Plain of Asochis, and the heavier precipitation in this area makes the Kishon a perennial stream in this coastal portion. Crocodiles were reported there in ancient times. The heavy run-off in connection with the spring rains, combined with a flat marshy topography in the Esdraelon Valley (Gr. “Valley of Jezreel”) made this river a substantial geographical barrier to travel and military activity for a part of the year, though it shrinks to a mere brook, sometimes dry, in the later seasons. Intensive recent land reclamation in this area has changed the drainage pattern considerably.

2. Historical events. The Kishon River is frequently referred to in connection with the important towns near its course, as Jokneam (Tell Qeimun), Megiddo (Tell el-Mutessellim), and Taanach (Tell Ti’nnik). Cf. Joshua 19:11; Judges 5:19.

A principal OT event is the battle between the Syrians, under the leadership of Sisera, and the Israelites, under the direction of Barak and Deborah, with the defeat of the former, in spite of their greatly superior chariot-equipped forces. There are conflicting opinions as to where along the Kishon the battle was fought. Sisera’s army was encamped at Harosheth of the Gentiles (Judg 4:7, 13) and Barak’s men were rallied at Mt. Tabor. The usual view has been that the principal fighting occurred toward the western part of the Esdraelon, and it is stated that Sisera’s army, panicking when their chariots bogged down as the result of heavy rains and flooding of the marshes, fled in the direction of Harosheth-ha-goiim, and their camp. The river is referred to in the Song of Deborah as the “waters of Megiddo, at Taanach” (Judg 5:19), and a psalmist cites it as an exemplary victory over the enemies of God’s people (Ps 83:9). Wm. F. Albright has considered these references, with their general omission of Megiddo, to support an archeological gap in the occupation of this city, and the alternate vitality of Taanach. Yohanan Aharoni places the battle near Mt. Tabor, which lies between the Kishon River and his designation of Harosheth-ha-goiim as a general term describing the highlands of Galilee to the N and E of Mt. Tabor. He regards the reference to the “kings of Canaan” (Judg 5:19) as descriptive of the participants involved in Joshua’s defeat of the Hazor Confederacy at nearby Merom.

Another exciting drama was concluded at the Brook Kishon, in connection with the contest between the prophets of Baal and Elijah (1 Kings 18:40). The site is identified with Deir al’Muhraqa, where is located the Carmelite monastery of St. Elijah. The defeated priests of Baal were taken to the Kishon, and there massacred. The reason for this river location may have been the ritual cleansing provided by the water.

The River Kishon was crossed by the principal caravan routes, and became witness to numerous other military movements and engagements, including war with the Midianites, and with the Philistines; the slaying of King Josiah; as well as campaigns during Hasmonean, Roman, Crusader and later times.

Bibliography A. Smith, Sinai and Palestine (1887), 404; BASOR 62 (1936), 29; BASOR 68 (1937), 25; Survey of Palestine Maps, 1:100000 Series (1947), Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5; D. Baly, The Geography of the Bible (1957), 148-154; W. Albright, The Archaeology of Palestine (1960), 117, 118; Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible (1967), 204, n. 79, 205, n. 81; Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas (1968), Maps 59-62.