Genesis 32 records the return trip of the patriarch Jacob from his 20-year sojourn in upper Mesopotamia back toward his home in Canaan. Still on the eastern side of the Jordan, the text reads, “That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok” (v.22). It would be that same night that Jacob wrestled with the Divine Messenger (cf. Hosea 12:4), who gave Jacob his new name, “Israel.”
The Jabbok marked the northern border of Sihon, king of the Amorites (Num. 21:24), who were defeated during the period of the Conquest.
The Anchor Bible Dictionary has the following:
JABBOK (PLACE) [Heb yabbōq (יַבֹּק)]. One of the four major streams of Transjordan, now known as the Wadi Zerqa or the Nahr ez-Zerqa, “the blue river.” Its sources are near Amman, the biblical Rabbath-ammon. Its upper courses flow in a NE direction to modern Zerqa. From there the stream curves to the W where the lower courses rapidly descend into the Great Rift valley, a drop that begins at ca. 820 m above sea level to ca. 300 m below. It joins the Jordan river just N of Adam, ca. 37 km N of the Dead Sea. Its total length is about 100 km. (Vol. 3, p. 549).
Pip: Leon Mauldin’s blog takes you to the places the Gospel narratives actually name — not as metaphor, but as geography you can stand in.
Mara: Today we’re following that thread to Capernaum, the town the Gospels call Jesus’ own city, and what the archaeological record there still shows.
Pip: Let’s start with the city itself.
Capernaum: Jesus’ Home Base During His Galilean Ministry
Pip: The Gospels are specific about where Jesus lived during his public ministry — and it is not the town most people probably picture first. The question is what “his own city” actually means, and why it matters that the answer is Capernaum and not Nazareth.
Mara: Matthew 9:1 sets it up directly: “Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.” And Matthew 4:13 fills in the backstory — “He left Nazareth behind and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.”
Pip: So this is not a visit. Multiple translations land on the same word: settled, made his home. Mark’s version is even more domestic — “it was heard that He was at home.” Capernaum is a residence, not a stop on a tour.
Mara: The location made it strategically significant. Aubrey Taylor, writing in the Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, describes it this way: “Capernaum, located on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, was a busy town along one of the branches of the international road that connected the Jezreel Valley, Phoenicia, and Damascus.”
Pip: A crossroads town. Which means the teaching that happened there — and the miracles — reached people who were already moving through, not just locals.
Mara: Mark 1:21 records the synagogue as a specific teaching site: “And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.” The post includes photographs of that synagogue as it stands today.
Pip: And here is where the archaeology gets layered in an interesting way.
Mara: The white limestone structure visible now postdates Jesus. But it sits directly on a first-century basalt foundation — so the site is continuous even if the building above it is not. The photographs show both layers clearly.
Pip: The stones underneath are doing the work the stones on top get the credit for.
Mara: That distinction — visible monument versus original foundation — is exactly what the post is drawing attention to with those images.
Pip: Geography as evidence. The text names a place, the place still exists, and the layers underneath confirm the story.
Mara: That’s the thread worth following. More from leonmauldin.blog next time.
2 Kings 15:1-7 summarizes the reign of Judah’s good King Uzziah (Azzariah), who reigned 790-740 BC. The parallel in 2 Chronicles 26 gives much more information. There his successful wars with the Philistine and Arabians are recorded. He fortified the walls of Jerusalem. Also he constructed towers in the desert and dug many wells, which promoted agriculture & vine growing. The explanation is given, “for he loved the soil” (2 Chron. 26:10). Azariah also had an organized army of 307,500 (2 Chron. 26:13). Indeed, his “fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped till he became strong” (2 Chron. 26:15).
The next verse however, begins with the word “But.” “But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense” (2 Chron. 26:16). Because of this presumption (only the Levitical priests were authorized to do this; Uzziah was of the tribe of Judah), God struck him with leprosy. “King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house” (v.21). When Uzziah died, “they buried him with his fathers in the field of the grave which belonged to the kings” (v.23). I.e., he was not buried in the tomb of the kings, because he was a leper. He was buried in the field.
When the city of Jerusalem expanded, the remains of King Uzziah were reinterred. This fascinating grave marker marked the spot of the new burial of Uzziah. The inscription reads, “To this place were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah. Do not open!” This marker is dated ca. 1st century BC.
Linguists tell us that it is written in Aramaic script of the type which was used about the time of Christ. Uzziah, however, was reigning as king of Judah about 775 B.C. II Chronicles 26 describes his successful reign in some detail—how he equipped a large standing army and made war successfully against the Philistines and the Arabians, regaining control of the trade routes to Egypt and to the Red Sea, but how he was stricken with leprosy, died, and was “buried with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings.” The inscription on the slab dates over six or seven hundred years after his death. It would seem that for one reason or another the traditional grave of Uzziah was cleared, and the bones which were found were gathered up and deposited in a new mausoleum. The gravestone is exceedingly interesting, for one thing because it shows the reverence paid even two thousand years ago to the graves of great men of the past, and also because it has on it the longest connected Aramaic inscription of the time of Christ, and shows the way in which the language commonly spoken in Palestine at that time was written. (Biblical Archaeologist 1-4).
The Lexham Bible Dictionary has the following info:
The Uzziah Inscription The (Aramaic) Uzziah Inscription reads, “Hither were brought the bones of Uzziah, King of Judah. Do not open” (Bahat, Atlas, 50). From the style of the inscription, Uzziah’s bones seem to have been reburied during the Second Temple period. Uzziah was apparently buried separately from the other kings of Judah, as the Chronicler states, “they buried him with his fathers in the field of the grave which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper’ ” (2 Chr 26:23). Josephus notes that “he was buried by himself in his own gardens” (Josephus, Antiquities 9:227). The exact location is unknown; the inscription itself was brought, without noting its place of origin, to the Russian Church on the Mount of Olives during the nineteenth century. In 1968, the Israel Museum purchased the stone, which is still displayed at the museum. (Udd, K. J. Funerary Inscriptions of Ancient Palestine. The Lexham Bible Dictionary)
This important artifact is housed in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
As the Gospel records narrate the Galilean ministry of Jesus, we read, “Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city” (Matt. 9:1, NASB). The parallel passage in Mark states, “When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home” (Mark 2:1). Clearly “His own city” during the Galilean ministry is not Nazareth, (where Jesus grew up and lived prior to His public teaching), but Capernaum.
The wording of Matthew 4:13 is: “He left Nazareth behind and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali” (CSB). The NASB renders the text, “He came and settled in Capernaum.” The NET Bible reads, “While in Galilee, he moved from Nazareth to make his home in Capernaum by the sea” (also NRS).
In a chapter entitled, “Capernaum: a Strategic Home for the Messiah,” Aubrey Taylor states, “Capernaum, located on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, was a busy town along one of the branches of the international road that connected the Jezreel Valley, Phoenicia, and Damascus” (Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, p. 88).
Much of Jesus’ teaching, and many of His miracles, were done in Capernaum. The synagogue there was the setting of his teaching as recorded in Mark 1:21: “And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching” (ESV).
The imported white limestone material you see here postdates the time of Jesus. But it is built upon the foundation of the 1st century structure, as can be seen here:
We are indebted to the Gospel of John for our record of the early ministry of Christ. Standard works on the harmony of the Gospels, such as that of A.T. Robertson, depict the events of John 1:18-4:45 as occurring prior to the Great Galilean Ministry. There was a period of overlapping with the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. The point was reached that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (John 4:1-2). It was at this point that Jesus left Judea and departed again to Galilee (v.3).
Jews traveling from Judea to Galilee often skirted around Samaria, due to the mutual racial prejudice. But instead of avoiding Samaria, Jesus “needed to go through Samaria” (v.4). This is when John narrates the beautiful account of Jesus (at Jacob’s well) leading a Samaritan woman, step by step, to a point of faith in Him as the Messiah. This had a rippling effect, as many others there (near Sychar) believed on Him (John 4:5-42).
It was from there that Jesus then made His way to Galilee (vv. 43-45).
Here below is a view that would be familiar to travelers in the Galilee. Note the Sea of Galilee at center.
An international highway, the Via Maris passed through this area. Here is a closer view of the Arbel cliffs:
Judah’s King Jehoshaphat (r. 873-848) faced an invasion by a coalition of forces from Moab and Ammon and others (2 Chron. 20:1). The text states: “Messengers arrived and reported to Jehoshaphat, “A huge army is attacking you from the other side of the Dead Sea, from the direction of Edom. Look, they are in Hazezon Tamar (that is, En Gedi)” (v.2, NET). This location is on the western shore of the Dead Sea, so the enemy was already in Judah’s territory. The text will go on to narrate a great victory which YHWH granted because His people relied upon Him (see the remainder of 2 Chron. 20).
Hazazon Tamar, En Gedi in southern Israel. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
One of the fresh water falls at En Gedi. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
Photos like these help us to better visualize our text.
I’m currently teaching a class (homeschool) on the Judges. Visuals can help provided the setting for biblical events. Samson was born in Zorah (Judges 13:2ff.). Beth-Shemesh is in the foreground in our photo. Zorah can be seen in the distant right at the break in the tree line.
Biblical Beth-Shemesh in foreground; Zorah at far distant right. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
The Revised ISBE has the following info on Zorah:
A city in the Shephelah; the home of Manoah the father of Samson (Jgs. 13:2). Zorah (modern Ṣarʿah) was located in the northernmost district of the Shephelah, 2.5 km (1 1/2 mi) W of Eshtaol (Eshwaʿ) and 6 km (4 mi) S of Latrun. Overlooking the valley of Sorek (Wâdī eṣ-Ṣarâr), it was important to the defense of Judah throughout the history of Israel. Zorah, originally a Canaanite city, is mentioned in the Amarna Letters as one of the cities ruled by the king of Gezer (LBHG [rev ed 1979], p. 174).
According to Josh. 15:33 Zorah was allotted to Judah when the Israelites invaded Canaan. Apparently, however, it was assigned first to the tribe of DAN (Josh. 19:41), which encountered stiff opposition from the Amorites (and later the Philistines) when it attempted to occupy the region (Jgs. 1:34f.). The story of Samson, a Danite born in Zorah, is set in this region (13:2, 24f.). After struggling his entire life against the Philistines, Samson was buried in the city of his birth (16:31). Eventually the Danites decided to migrate north, and they sent out spies from Zorah to survey the land (18:2, 8, 11). Centuries later, Rehoboam fortified Zorah as part of Judah’s western line of defense (2 Ch. 11:10). This line of fortresses served as an effective defense system for Judah in several wars during the next two or three generations (LBHG [rev ed 1979], pp. 330–33). When the Jews returned from exile in Babylon they occupied the site once again. Even the Crusaders found it an important site for their campaigns in Palestine. Located 335 m (1100 ft) above sea level and 244 m (800 ft) above the valley of Sorek, Zorah (Arab Ṣarʿah) has retained its strategic value throughout the centuries.
(J. E. MCKENNA McKenna, J. E. (1979–1988). Zorah. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 4, pp. 1210–1211). Wm. B. Eerdmans.)
Jokneam was a strategic city-state of Canaan, located on the ancient international route which connected Egypt to Mesopotamia. It is listed among 31 other cities defeated by Joshua during the conquest of Canaan (Josh. 12:22).
Tel Jokneam. Mentioned in Joshua 12:22, taken during the Conquest. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
Jokneam is
a large mound rising above the surrounding plain and covering an area of 10 a., is situated at a point along the abutment of Mount Carmel and the Jezreel Valley, near the debouchment of Nahal Yoqne‘am (map reference 1604.2289) and at the northern outlet of Wadi Milh (Nahal Tut), on one of the major routes cutting across the Carmel Range. Via the Coastal Plain, the route passes close to Acco and then runs toward Phoenicia and other centers to its northwest. Of the three major cities located in the western Jezreel Valley in antiquity—Jokneam, Shimron, and Megiddo—Jokneam was the smallest. It was continuously inhabited for an extremely long time: the survey conducted here, as part of a regional research project—the “Yoqneam Regional Project”—furnished evidence of a settlement on the mound from the Early Bronze Age to the Mameluke period, a span of nearly four thousand years, although the site was not fully occupied in all these periods. During the Arab and Crusader periods, Jokneam was the largest and most important center in the western Jezreel Valley. During the Roman period, the occupational sequence may have been interrupted, with the inhabitants moving to the nearby hill where modern Yoqne‘am ‘Illit is situated. The favorable environmental conditions prevailing in the Jezreel Valley made it a very densely populated region throughout most periods. Sites such as Tel Qiri, about 2 km (1 mi.) south of Jokneam, and Tel Qashish, some 2 km to its north, were undoubtedly satellite settlements linked to the major city of Jokneam. This region thus provides an opportunity to investigate the material cultural aspect of the relationship between a city and its satellite towns, through simultaneous excavations at the three adjacent sites. (Ben-Tor, A. (1993). Jokneam. In E. Stern (Ed.), The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (Vol. 3, p. 805). Israel Exploration Society & Carta; Simon & Schuster).
I had seen Jokneam from the viewpoint of Mt. Carmel in the photo above a number of times. Then in 2022 Ferrell Jenkins and I were able to explore it more closely on one of our personal study trips.
Jokneam at center. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
Here is a view of the Valley of Jezreel as seen from Jokneam:
Valley of Jezreel as viewed from Jokneam. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
This is an apt title for a book authored by M.B. Van’t Veer, a 440-page work that focuses on the text of 1 Kings 16:34-19:21. The days of Elijah, when Ahab and Jezebel ruled Israel, were times of unprecedented corruption. God raised up Elijah to show the awesome power of Israel’s true God YAHWEH, and the power of His word. Great emphasis and purposeful repetition is given in this section of scripture on “the word of the LORD.” Elijah was unapologetically His spokesman; his very name means, “My God is YAHWEH”! The name YAHWEH, in Paleo-Hebrew script, is on the inscription here below:
Paleo-Hebrew Inscription with divine name YAHWEH. From Mt. Gerizim. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
The above inscription is displayed at the Good Samaritan Museum, located between Jericho and Jerusalem.
Church at Good Samaritan Inn.
Here is the view from the Good Samaritan Inn looking toward Jerusalem:
2 Samuel narrates an event early in the reign of King David, when initially he was king of Judah, prior to his reign over all Israel. When Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was the rival king of Israel to the north, and Abner was his commander, there was a meeting at the pool of Gibeon, with Abner and his forces, and Joab, David’s commander, and his men. The text reads,
And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” So they arose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin, followers of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called the Field of Sharp Swords, which is in Gibeon. So there was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David (2 Sam. 2:13-17).
Abner and his forces were soundly defeated, suffering 360 casualties, while David’s men led by his commander Joab had a total of 20 losses (v. 25-31). It was a sad and unnecessary chapter in Israel’s history. Gibeon was located within the tribal territory of Benjamin. Today it is in the West Bank.
Here is a closer view of the pool mentioned in our text:
The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible has the following entry, dealing with the pool, as well as more info regarding the site of Gibeon:
The Great Pool. This is referred to several times in the Bible and can now be identified. It was 37 feet in diameter and 82 feet deep, cylindrical in shape with perpendicular sides cut into bed-rock. There was a spiral stairway of 79 steps which gave access to fresh water 80 feet below street level. The pool lay inside the city walls.
The Stepped Tunnel. There was a second plan for obtaining water in time of siege. An underground sloping tunnel which descended by a series of 93 steps led to an underground reservoir fed by a spring originating in the rock mass below the city. This spring had been traced and a feeder tunnel enabled its water to flow more readily to the reservoir. Any overflow found its way via a conduit to the village below. This was a remarkable engineering achievement. The stepped tunnel reached down to a depth of 80 feet and was 167 feet long. In its walls were niches to hold oil lamps. Probably it was here that the “drawers of water” (Jos 9:27) obtained their supplies.
Inscriptions and Royal Stamp Seals. Sixty-one jar handles have been found on which inscriptions were cut in the archaic Hebrew script. On 31 of these is the word for Gibeon in whole or in part. Another 80 jar handles carry the letters lmlk, “belonging to the king.” Several well-known OT names such as Azariah, Amariah, Hananiah, and Neriah and a number of place-names such as Hebron, Socoh, and Ziph appear on these inscriptions.
Industrial Area. A remarkable industrial area came to light in the excavations, located both north and south of the pool. Here there were numerous winepresses, fermenting basins, and 63 underground cellars for cooling large wine jars. The whole area covered over 1100 square yards with cellars sunk into the limestone, some of these being over seven feet deep and equipped with stone covers. It is estimated that up to 25,000 gallons of wine could be stored in the jars. Some of the cellars were used as tombs in Roman times, but in Byzantine and modern times their use as wine cellars continued. In detail the cellars were bottle-shaped and averaged 7.2 feet in depth and 6.6 feet across at the bottom. The opening to the cellars averaged 2.2 feet in diameter at the top. The jars in which the wine was stored had a capacity of 9.75 gallons. It is clear that the manufacture of wine was an important element in the economy of Gibeon in OT times.
Fortifications. Gibeon was a walled city. Two impressive stone walls which encircled the city at different periods have been exposed. No traces of walls were found that could be dated to the Early, Middle, or Late Bronze periods although the remains of house walls, pottery, and tombs demonstrate that the city was occupied then. The excavator concluded that the construction of the earlier wall dates to the 12th century BC. and the later wall was built in the 10th century BC. and continued in use to the end of the 7th century BC. The average thickness of the wall was about 13 feet. The circumference of the fortification was 3125 feet.
The Necropolis. The burial place of Gibeon was situated to the west of the city halfway down the rock scarp. Many of the graves contained skeletal remains, pottery, scarabs, and other artifacts. The size of the tombs varied considerably, but most consisted of a vertical cylindrical shaft about 3.7 feet in diameter, the depths varying from 3.3 feet to 13 feet. The tombs were sealed by either one large stone or several smaller ones at the foot of the vertical shaft where the burial chamber opened to one side. JOHN A. THOMPSON Vol. 1, p. 864).
I have previously posted on Gibeon here, here and here.
Posted by Leon Mauldin 
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