Throughout ancient times the southern extreme of the Arabah Valley was–and still is–a very desolate region, yet this land was home to two extremely productive wealth generators for King Solomon’s lucrative domain. Solomon had inherited the southern Arabah from his father David, who had subdued Edom during his reign and gained control over the region […]
Author Archives: Administrator
The Near East during the Time of the Maccabees
After Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C., his empire was divided among his generals, including Ptolemy and Seleucus. Initially the land of Israel came under the rule of Ptolemy, but by 200 B.C. it had fallen under Seleucid control. The Seleucid Empire originally controlled all of Alexander’s domain east of the Mediterranean coast except […]
Journey to Abel-shittim
Numbers 20:14-21:20; 33:37-49; Deuteronomy 2:1-23; Judges 11:14-27 Four separate passages of Scripture recount the Israelites’ journey from Kadesh-barnea to Abel-shittim, yet precisely tracing this route on a map is surprisingly difficult. Most of the specific locations mentioned are either unidentified or uncertain, and some comments about the journey can seem difficult to reconcile with other […]
Gedaliah Is Assassinated
2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 40-44 Sometime after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and exiled the upper echelons of Judean society to Babylon, they appointed a Judean named Gedaliah as governor over those who remained in the land. At Mizpah Gedaliah encouraged those who remained to embrace Babylonian rule and reestablish their lives in the land, cultivating […]
Border Conflict between Israel and Judah
1 Kings 15:9-22 Around 895 B.C., a few decades after Israel divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, a border dispute erupted between the two nations. King Baasha of Israel seized the strategic Judean border town of Ramah and fortified it to gain control over all routes leading to […]