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Featured studies · 50 live, 42 in preparation

Places

50 featured studies ask where a place stood and what happened on that ground, listed by the part of the canon each one stands in.

A coloured lithograph of Jerusalem seen across a valley from the slope of the Mount of Olives, its walls and domes on the far ridge under a pale sky.
David Roberts, Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, 1839. Public domain.

What these studies ask

The ground a story stands on: what was built there, what was found there, and what Scripture makes of the name afterwards.

The parts of the canon

The places on the index of every featured study, 50 studies

Torah

36 live, 11 in preparation

The places studies of Torah: each with its sentence, its book and its count
The studyIn one sentenceBookDoors
AmmonThe kingdom on the upper Jabbok fought Israel from the days of the judges to Nehemiah's wall.Genesis15 linked studies
AraratGenesis 8:4 sets the ark on the mountains of Ararat, the highland the Assyrians called Urartu, where tradition has named two different peaks.Genesis8 linked studies
BethelBethel stood in the hill country north of Jerusalem, with Ai to its east.Genesis13 linked studies
BethlehemBethlehem is a hill town of Judah, about ten kilometres south of Jerusalem, that Genesis first names as Ephrath.Genesis12 linked studies
ChaldeaChaldea is the land at the head of the Persian Gulf where Ur of the Chaldeans stood.Genesis12 linked studies
DamascusDamascus stands in an oasis at the foot of the Anti-Lebanon, and Scripture names it from the days of Abram to the days of Paul.Genesis8 linked studies
DanDan stood at a spring of the Jordan below Mount Hermon, on the site of the older town of Laish.Genesis9 linked studies
EdenThe garden read as the first sanctuary, with the river, the gold, the guarded east gate, and the tree that returns on the last page of Revelation.Genesis28 linked studies
Edom, the nation of EsauEdom's people outlasted the kingdom of Judah and lived on as the Idumeans of Herod's day.Genesis18 linked studies
GileadA region of Israel's eastern tribes, named in 130 verses of the Berean text.Genesis13 linked studies
HaranAbram's kin stayed at Haran when he went on to Canaan, and Isaac and Jacob both married into that household.Genesis16 linked studies
JerusalemJerusalem stands on a ridge of the Judaean hills about 60 kilometres east of the Mediterranean, at about 760 metres.Genesis10 linked studies
MesopotamiaThe land Abraham left sent Israel a bride for Isaac, a prophet hired to curse it, and the first oppressor of the judges.Genesis17 linked studies
Mount MoriahOn the third day of his walk, Abraham saw far off the place God had chosen for the offering.Genesis11 linked studies
NegebThe Negeb is the dry south of Judah, the country of Beersheba and of the wells the patriarchs dug.Genesis12 linked studies
ParanIshmael the archer, Israel's camp and an Edomite prince on his way to Egypt all passed through this wilderness.Genesis16 linked studies
Rachel's Tomb on the Bethlehem RoadJacob marked Rachel's grave with a pillar on the way to Bethlehem, and Scripture returns to her in Jeremiah 31:15 and Matthew 2:18.Genesis6 linked studies
ShechemShechem lay in the pass between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, in the hill country of Ephraim.Genesis12 linked studies
SidonGenesis 10 names Sidon as Canaan's firstborn, and its port lay on the Phoenician coast.Genesis10 linked studies
SodomGenesis sets Sodom in the plain of the Jordan beside the Salt Sea, and later Scripture makes its name a warning.Genesis10 linked studies
The CityBabel, Sodom, Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem read as one line: what a city is for in Scripture, and what makes one stand or fall.Genesis21 linked studies
The EuphratesThe Euphrates is the fourth river named in Eden and the eastern limit of the land God promised to Abram's descendants.Genesis12 linked studies
The JordanGenesis names the river five times, from Lot's choice of its plain to the mourning for Jacob on its far side.Genesis12 linked studies
The Land of IsraelEzekiel names the land of Israel in 19 of the 31 verses of the Berean text that use the name, more than the rest of Scripture together.Genesis16 linked studies
The Land of JudahJacob's fourth son gave his name to a share of Canaan that outlasted the northern kingdom by more than a century.Genesis17 linked studies
The Threshing FloorThirty-nine verses of the Berean text name a threshing floor, from Jacob's funeral to the preaching of John the Baptist.Genesis16 linked studies
UrUr was a royal city of Sumer near the head of the Persian Gulf, and its ruins stand beside the old course of the Euphrates.Genesis10 linked studies
EgyptScripture names Egypt as a place to leave, a help Judah should not have sought and the place that sheltered the child Jesus.Exodus16 linked studies
Sinai, the Mountain of GodSinai, also called Horeb, is the mountain where God spoke to Moses from the bush, gave Israel the law and met Elijah.Exodus17 linked studies
The Brickfields of EgyptExodus 1 and 5 tell of the forced labour of Israel under Pharaoh's taskmasters, from the building of the store cities to the order on the straw.Exodus5 linked studies
The NileThe Berean text names the Nile in 33 verses, 15 of them in Exodus, from Pharaoh's dream in Genesis 41 to Zechariah 10.Exodus8 linked studies
The Route out of EgyptIsrael marched from Rameses to the Wilderness of Sinai by the third month, and few of its camps can be placed on a map today.Exodus11 linked studies
The TabernacleThe tent God asked Israel to build at Sinai so that He might dwell among them: three zones, eight pieces of furniture, and one veil, carried through the wilderness and pitched at Shiloh and Gibeon.Exodus69 linked studies
Cities of RefugeThe law of Numbers 35, Deuteronomy 19 and Joshua 20 that gave a person who killed without intent a trial and a place of safety.Numbers23 linked studies
Cush in ScriptureThe land of Cush lay up the Nile beyond Egypt, and its people met Israel in war, at court and on the road.Numbers7 linked studies
The Wilderness ItineraryIsrael camped forty-one times between Rameses in Egypt and the Jordan across from Jericho.Numbers12 linked studies

11 more pages of this part are in preparation; 3 of them are for places of the gazetteer.

History

8 live, 15 in preparation

The places studies of History: each with its sentence, its book and its count
The studyIn one sentenceBookDoors
GilgalGilgal, on the eastern border of Jericho, was Israel's first camp west of the Jordan and later a place of assembly and sacrifice under Samuel and Saul.Joshua12 linked studies
HazorHazor led the kingdoms of Canaan's north, was built again under Solomon and fell to Assyria in 732 BC.Joshua8 linked studies
HebronThe town in the hill country of Judah where the patriarchs were buried, Caleb took his inheritance and David first reigned.Joshua15 linked studies
Jebusite Jerusalem before DavidScripture calls the city Salem in Genesis, Jebus in Judges and the fortress of Zion when David took it.Joshua9 linked studies
ShilohShiloh, a town in the hill country of Ephraim, held the Tent of Meeting from Joshua's day to Eli's.Joshua5 linked studies
Jabesh-gileadJabesh-gilead, a town of Gilead east of the Jordan, is named in Judges, in 1 and 2 Samuel and in 1 Chronicles.Judges13 linked studies
Solomon's TempleThe house Solomon built for the LORD in Jerusalem in seven years, which the Babylonians burned in 587 or 586 BC.1 Kings30 linked studies
The Second TempleThe house of the LORD that the returned exiles rebuilt in Jerusalem under Persian rule, on the site of Solomon's.Ezra12 linked studies

15 more pages of this part are in preparation; 7 of them are for places of the gazetteer.

Prophets

2 live

The places studies of Prophets: each with its sentence, its book and its count
The studyIn one sentenceBookDoors
Ezekiel's Temple, Ezekiel 40 to 48The measured temple of Ezekiel 40 to 48 drawn from its own cubits, the glory returning by the east gate, and a river that heals a dead sea.Ezekiel19 linked studies
BabylonOne city from the plain of Shinar to the last book of the Bible: the tower, the empire that burned the temple, and the name John gives every power that trades in souls.Daniel21 linked studies

Acts and the Letters

1 live, 8 in preparation

The places studies of Acts and the Letters: each with its sentence, its book and its count
The studyIn one sentenceBookDoors
Outside the CampWhere the sin offering was burned, where the leper waited, and where Jesus died: one place in the law that Hebrews turns into a call.Hebrews9 linked studies

8 more pages of this part are in preparation; 3 of them are for places of the gazetteer.

Revelation

2 live

The places studies of Revelation: each with its sentence, its book and its count
The studyIn one sentenceBookDoors
The New JerusalemScripture's last vision is a city measured with a golden reed — a cube of gold where Eden is restored and God dwells with men.Revelation17 linked studies
The Seven Churches of RevelationAsia Minor, late 1st century. Seven cities along a clockwise postal route — Ephesus to Laodicea — each receiving a letter from the risen Christ. Praises, rebukes, promises. A Matt-13 parallel reading discoverable for those who want it.Revelation12 linked studies

The Apocrypha

1 live

The places studies of The Apocrypha: each with its sentence, its book and its count
The studyIn one sentenceBookDoors
Mount Hermon: the OathThe mountain where the Watchers swore their oath in 1 Enoch, and why the same summit stands behind Caesarea Philippi and the Transfiguration.Apocrypha8 linked studies

In preparation for the parts of the canon with no featured study yet: Gospels, 8 pages. 4 of them are for places of the gazetteer.

Every place in the gazetteer

The gazetteer holds 115 places. The 91 with no featured study yet are listed by region, each on its own page with where it sits in the land and every verse that names it.

Jerusalem

7 places

The city, its hills and the places inside and beside its walls.

The Jordan valley and beyond

11 places

The river, the rift it runs in, the cities of the plain, and Ammon, Moab, Edom and Bashan beyond it.

Egypt, Sinai and Cush

3 places

The Nile, the delta where Israel lived, the wilderness of Sinai and the lands up the river.

Mesopotamia and Persia

6 places

The rivers Abraham left, the empires of Assyria and Babylon, and the Persian court.

Asia Minor

8 places

The cities of Paul's journeys and of the letters, and the seven churches of the province of Asia.

Greece, Rome and the islands

11 places

Macedonia, Achaia and Rome, and the islands of the voyages and of Patmos.

Syria and Phoenicia

4 places

Damascus and Antioch inland, and Tyre and Sidon on the coast.

Galilee and the north

11 places

The lake and its towns, the Jezreel valley, Carmel, and the northern border at Hermon.

Samaria and the central hills

6 places

The central hills from Bethel to Shechem, where the northern tribes lived.

Judah, the Negev and the coast

22 places

The hill country of Judah, the lowland, the dry south, and the Philistine coast.

Other places

2 places

Places whose site is disputed or whose region spans the whole land.

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