Lexical Summary
Qishon: Kishon
Original Word:קִישׁוֹן
Part of Speech:Proper Name Location
Transliteration:Qiyshown
Pronunciation:kee-SHON
Phonetic Spelling:(kee-shone')
KJV: Kishon, Kison
NASB:Kishon
Word Origin:[fromH6983 (קוֹשׁ - ensnare)]
1. winding
2. Kishon, a river of Israel
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
Kishon, Kison
Fromqowsh; winding; Kishon, a river of Palestine -- Kishon, Kison.
see HEBREWqowsh
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
qushDefinitiona wadi in the plain of Megiddo
NASB TranslationKishon (6).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
(Esdraelon), K() (?stream of (god)
Kish RS
Semitic i. 155; 2nd ed. 170); — always
Judges 4:7,13;
Judges 5:21 (twice in verse);
Psalm 83:10, also
1 Kings 18:40; modern
Nahrel-Mu‡a‰‰a±; see Buhl
Geogr. 106, 209, GASm
Geogr.382.
see below
, see . (voice, see .
Topical Lexicon
Geographic settingThe Kishon is the principal stream of the Jezreel-Megiddo plain, gathering the runoff of Mount Gilboa, Mount Tabor, the hills of Samaria, and the lower slopes of Mount Carmel before emptying into the Mediterranean at Haifa Bay. Seasonal rains turn its normally placid course into a sudden torrent, a feature that figures prominently in its biblical role as an agent of divine judgment.
Old Testament narratives
1. Deliverance through Deborah and Barak
•Judges 4 situates Sisera’s iron-chariot force “by the River Kishon” (Judges 4:7). When Barak charged down from Mount Tabor, “the LORD routed Sisera” (Judges 4:15); the swollen river cut off retreat.
• The victory song exults, “The torrent of Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the River Kishon” (Judges 5:21). Thus the stream becomes a memorial to the Lord’s sovereignty over Canaanite power and Israel’s technological disadvantage.
2. Elijah’s victory over Baalism
After fire fell on Mount Carmel, Elijah led the people to put the false prophets to death: “Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there” (1 Kings 18:40). The brook again functions as a place where Yahweh’s supremacy is sealed in blood, purging idolatry from the land.
3. Psalmic and prophetic recollection
Psalm 83 looks back toJudges 4–5 as a pattern for future deliverance: “Deal with them as with Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon” (Psalm 83:9). The Kishon episode becomes a paradigm for praying that God will turn present enemies into past history.
Theological themes
• Divine control of creation in warfare: By using a river to break an iron-chariot army, the Lord demonstrates that natural elements obey His covenant purposes (cf.Exodus 14,Joshua 10).
• Judgment accompanying revival: Both Deborah’s and Elijah’s narratives pair spiritual restoration with decisive judgment on oppressors and idolaters.
• Memory and motivation: Later generations invoke the Kishon victories to strengthen faith amid new threats, showing how biblical history shapes Israel’s corporate identity.
Ministry and practical application
• Trust amid technological or numerical inferiority: The Kishon scenes encourage believers facing superior worldly forces that “victory belongs to the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31).
• Prayer for God’s decisive action:Psalm 83 sanctions appeals for contemporary deliverance while maintaining reliance on God’s means and timing.
• Revival and repentance: Just as Kishon became the site of Baal’s eradication, genuine revival today entails turning from idols and false allegiances.
Typological and eschatological notes
The river that drowns foes prefigures the final judgment when creation itself will participate in the Lord’s triumph (Revelation 16:12, 20). The cleansing of the land from idolatry anticipates the ultimate purging foretold inZechariah 13:2.
Later Jewish and Christian tradition
Rabbinic literature retains Kishon’s memory as a symbol of God’s mercy toward Israel and judgment upon the wicked. Early Christian pilgrims identified the valley as a tangible witness to biblical events, reinforcing the historical reliability of Scripture.
See also
Mount Carmel; Deborah; Barak; Sisera; Elijah; Wadi; Divine warfare; Revival
Forms and Transliterations
קִישֽׁוֹן׃ קִישׁ֑וֹן קִישׁ֔וֹן קִישׁ֗וֹן קִישׁוֹן֙ קישון קישון׃ kiShon qî·šō·wn qîšōwn
Links
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