You are strongly recommended to add to your library the excellent revised edition of Harper's Bible Dictionary titled, The Harper Collins Bible Dictionary, Revised Edition [book review], edited by Paul J. Achtemeier, with the Society of Biblical Literature (NY: Harper Collins, 1996). It is currently the best one-volume Bible dictionary in English, and it is available at Border's Books, Christian Science Reading Rooms, http://www.borders.com, or http://www.christianbook.com.

Armageddon (Heb., ‘Mount Megiddo’). The word occurs only in Rev. 16:16 as a Greek transliteration of the term claimed to be Hebrew. It represents the location of the final cosmic battle of the forces of good and of evil, according to the apocalyptic view of the writer. However, no such term appears elsewhere in Hebrew, and there is no mountain known to ancient or modern geographers by that name. The spelling of the term differs in various manuscripts (Harmagedon, Armagedon, Maged[d]on). Translations suggested therefore have included ‘city of Megiddo,’ ‘land of Megiddo,’ ‘mount of assembly,’ ‘city of desire,’ and ‘his fruitful mountain.’

Megiddo, situated at the north end of the major pass through the Mount Carmel range where the coastal road moved up from the south into the Plain of Esdraelon, was the site of many well-known ancient battles (Deborah and Barak versus the Canaanite king Sisera, Judg. 5:19; Jehu versus Ahaziah, 2 Kings 9:27; Josiah versus Neco, 2 Kings 23:29). The archaeological data reinforce the literary portrait in showing frequent extremely heavy defense facilities at the site. It may have appeared, therefore, an excellent symbol to the apocalyptic writer for the ultimate conflict he saw as the culmination of history.

Roger S. Boraas

See also: "Megiddo" at http://www.bibletexts.com/glossary/megiddo.htm.