1 Kings 18:19

Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel [ i.e; by representation, the heads of the people, elders, etc. Cf. 1 Kings 8:2 , 1 Kings 8:65 ; 1 Kings 12:16 , 1 Kings 12:18 ; 1 Kings 16:16 , 1 Kings 16:17 ] unto Mount Carmel [Heb; as almost always, the Carmel, i.e; the park. Cf. 1 Samuel 25:1-5 . It is "the park of Palestine." It is indebted for this name to the luxuriant vegetation—"the excellency of Carmel" ( Isaiah 35:2 )—which clothes its southern slopes. It is now generally called Mar ( i.e; Lord or Saint) Elyas , after the great prophet. No one who has seen the locality can have any doubts as to which part of the mountain was the scene of the sacrifice, or can fail to be struck with the singular fitness of the place to be the theatre of this thrilling history. Carmel is rather a ridge than a mountain, some twelve miles in length. Its western (or strictly N.N.W.) extremity is a bold headland, some 600 feet in height, which dips almost directly into the waters of the Mediterranean. Its highest point, 1728 feet above the sea level, is about four miles from its eastern extremity, which, at an elevation of 1600 feet, rises like a wall from the great plain of Esdraelon. It is at this point, there can be no question, we are to place the scene of the burnt sacrifice. The identification has only been effected in comparatively recent days, but it is beyond dispute. Not only does the Arab name which it bears —El Murahkah, " the Burning, " or " Sacrifice " — afford striking witness to the identity, but the situation and surroundings adapt themselves with such wonderful precision to the requirements of the narrative as to leave no reasonable doubt in the mind. For