Kishon
    winding, a winter torrent of Central Palestine, which rises
    about the roots of Tabor and Gilboa, and passing in a northerly
    direction through the plains of Esdraelon and Acre, falls into
    the Mediterranean at the north-eastern corner of the bay of
    Acre, at the foot of Carmel. It is the drain by which the waters
    of the plain of Esdraelon and of the mountains that surround it
    find their way to the sea. It bears the modern name of Nahr
    el-Mokattah, i.e., "the river of slaughter" (comp. 1 Kings
    18:40). In the triumphal song of Deborah (Judg. 5:21) it is
    spoken of as "that ancient river," either (1) because it had
    flowed on for ages, or (2), according to the Targum, because it
    was "the torrent in which were shown signs and wonders to Israel
    of old;" or (3) probably the reference is to the exploits in
    that region among the ancient Canaanites, for the adjoining
    plain of Esdraelon was the great battle-field of Palestine.

      This was the scene of the defeat of Sisera (Judg. 4:7, 13),
    and of the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah (1
    Kings 18:40). "When the Kishon was at its height, it would be,
    partly on account of its quicksands, as impassable as the ocean
    itself to a retreating army." (See DEBORAH.)



 Kishon, hard; sore