The two most accepted sites of Jesus’ Transfiguration are Mt. Tabor in Galilee and Mt. Hermon near Caesarea Philippi. There are others, including Mt. Sinai, but they are not as well received as these two. Mt. Tabor was chosen by Origen, a third century Christian scholar, while Mt. Hermon is the choice of more modern Christian scholars like the seventeenth century’s John Lightfoot and twentieth century’s Reginald Fuller. In as much as I am able to tell, the sites were guesswork and chosen for their height and nearness either to Nazareth (Mt. Tabor) or Caesarea Philippi (Mt. Hermon). Yet, there is nothing in the text that would suggest either location. In fact, since Jesus took only his disciples (the Twelve) to Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27), and his conversation with them suggests a private discussion (Mark 8:27-30), Jesus’ words to the people of Mark 8:34 would suggest both he and his disciples were elsewhere, and no longer in Caesarea Philippi. If this is logical and true, there is absolutely no reason to believe Mt. Hermon is the site of the Transfiguration.
As I concluded in my previous study, Pulling Up Stakes, Jesus couldn’t have been in Caesarea Philippi, when he spoke with the people (Mark 8:34 to 9:1; cp. Matthew 16:24-28). After returning to Galilee, the next place Jesus and his disciples traveled to was Jerusalem, but in secret, because the Jewish authorities sought Jesus’ life (cp. John 7:1-10).
Therefore, the mountain upon which Jesus was transfigured, may very well have been in Judea, because, although John says nothing of the Transfiguration, the very next place Jesus traveled to following Peter’s great confession (Mark 8:29; cp. John 6:69) was Jerusalem, implying, the Mount of Transfiguration must be there. Moreover, Peter tells us that Jesus was transfigured upon the holy mountain (2Peter 1:18). The only mountain that is ever called holy in the scriptures is the mount called Jerusalem (Isaiah 27:13; Daniel 9:16; Joel 2:1, 3:17; Zechariah 8:3; Revelation 21:10), which in the context of the Transfiguration points to Mount Olivet, which is part of Jerusalem’s suburbs.
Speaking of the Temple, Ezekiel said:
“This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.” (Ezekiel 43:12)
According to the Law, Moses established the suburbs of the city to be 2000 cubits on every side (Numbers 35:5), and this was a recognized tradition obeyed into the first century AD. So, the suburbs of Jerusalem included Mount Olivet to the east (Acts 1:12; cp. Exodus 16:29), which was considered holy, according to Ezekiel 43:12 (cp. 2Peter 1:18). Therefore, Mount Olives in Jerusalem seems to be a likely candidate for the site of the Transfiguration!
If we believe the scriptures, we know for a fact that Jesus spent his second Passover season in Galilee (John 6:1-4) and not in Jerusalem, for that Passover occurred immediately following the death of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:10-12), and the feeding of the 5000 near Bethsaida, which is not far from the shore of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14:13-16, 21; Mark 6:30-37, 44; Luke 9:10-14; John 6:9-16).
We also know that Jesus spent the following Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, but he went there secretly, because the Jewish authorities sought his life (John 7:1-10). So, it seems, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus spent both that Passover, occurring in the spring, and the following Pentecost, occurring in the summer, north of Judea, because the Jewish authorities wanted to kill him (John 7:1-2). So, Jesus didn’t go to Jerusalem until the following autumn to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, an eight-day festival.
I believe it is in this context that we should understand the six days of Matthew and Mark and the eight days of Luke (Matthew 17:1; Mark 9:2, Luke 9:28). In other words, Jesus brought his three disciples: Peter, James and John, up a high mountain, which Peter referred to as **the** holy mount (2Peter 1:18), and it has some connection with celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles, particularly the Last Great Day of the feast (the eighth day). Both Mark and Matthew tell us that Jesus was transfigured after six full days, but Luke tells us it was **about** (i.e. as if it were – G5616) eight days. In other words, Jesus told the people that, if they wished to follow him, they had to be ready to “take up their stake” and follow him (Mark 6:34), and there were some there listening to him who wouldn’t see death until they saw him come in glory (Mark 9:1; cp. Matthew 16:27-28). Six full days after this (Matthew and Mark), or if we include the partial day in which Jesus spoke with the people (the last hours of the first Sabbath Holy Day of the Feast of Tabernacles), and include the following night after the six full days, we would come to Jesus’ Transfiguration on the Last Great Day (a Holy Day Sabbath, the second one) of the Feast of Tabernacles (Luke 9:28). Thus, if all this is logical and true, the only place in the world where the Transfiguration could have occurred was on the top of Mount Olives, within the suburbs of Jerusalem.
Smoodock's Blog 