And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.
Thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal х har (H2022) Gªriziym (H1630)], mount of the Gerizites-a tribe of Bedouin nomads (1 Samuel 27:8) who had a settlement there, now Jebel et-Tur. "Ebal" х har (H2022) `Eeybaal (H5858)] - a name founded on the naked, desolate appearance of its sides; from a verb signifying to strip a tree of its leaves (Gesenius).
Stanley, however, denies that this derivation is supported by the present sterile aspect of the mountain. The same writer says that the name by which it is now called is Imad-el-Deen (the pillar of religion) ('Sinai and Palestine,' p. 233, note). These two mountains stand, the one on the south, the other on the northern side of the valley of Shechem. Jerome ('De Locis Hebraicis, voce Gerizim') maintained that the true site of these mountains was in the neighbourhood of Jericho, opposite the Arboth Moab, where Moses was addressing the people-an assertion to which the mention of Gilgal is thought by some to give an air of plausibility. But the words, "which dwell in the champaign," which is erroneously translated for 'the Arabah'-the valley of the Jordan-are omitted in the Septuagint; and the statement that the mountains were by the terebinths of Moreh compels us to adhere to the ordinary view as to their topographical position (Stanley, 'Sinai and Palestine,' p.
235).
Dr. Colenso thinks it very improbable that Moses could possess so accurate a knowledge of the relative situation or the close proximity of these hills as to appoint that the people, ranged in two great divisions, should stand on both of them to hear the blessings and the curses pronounced. But it may suffice here to say, in answer to this objection, that a constant traffic was carried on by the trading caravans of Gilead, who passed by Shechem on their journeys into Egypt, and consequently the topography of that central part of Canaan ought be well and generally known.