Halak, Mount

ha'-lak (ha-har he-chalaq): A mountain that marked the southern limit of the conquests of Joshua (Josh 11:17; Josh 12:7). It is spoken of as the "mount Halak (literally, "the bare" or "smooth mountain") that goeth up to Seir." The latter passage locates it on the West of the Arabah. The southern boundary of the land is defined by the ascent of Akrabbim (Num 34:4; Josh 15:3). This may with some certainty be identified with the pass known today as naqb es-Safa, "pass of the smooth rock," through which runs the road from the South to Hebron. To the Southwest opens Wady Maderah, a continuation of Waddy el-Fiqrah, in which there rises a conspicuous hill, Jebel Maderah, composed of limestone, answering well the description of a bare or smooth mountain. It is a striking feature of the landscape viewed from all sides, and may well be the mount here referred to.