1 Samuel 9-10 Despite the generous supply of geographical references surrounding the story of Saul searching for his father’s donkeys, the narrative has led to much confusion regarding exactly where Saul went. Most of the locations mentioned in the story, including Shalishah, Shaalim, Zuph, Zelzah, and Gibeah-elohim, have had multiple suggestions offered as the places […]
Category Archives: Judges Period
Levitical Cities
Numbers 35:1-8; Joshua 21:1-42; 1 Chronicles 6:54-80 Unlike the other tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levi was not allotted any portion in the Promised Land for their inheritance (Numbers 18:20-24; 26:62; Deuteronomy 10:9; 18:1-2; Joshua 18:7). Instead, they were supported by the tithes of the other Israelites and were allotted various towns to inhabit […]
Elam and the City of Susa
Though the nation of Elam receives limited attention in Scripture, the history of this ancient civilization spans nearly the entire breadth of the Bible from Genesis to Acts. After being listed among the descendants of Shem (Genesis 10:22), Elam is noted as one of the four Mesopotamian nations whose kings traveled to Canaan during Abraham’s […]
Places Referenced by Trees in the Bible
When modern readers encounter a verse in Scripture that references a “great tree” to locate where an event took place, there is a good chance they will dismiss it as somewhat irrelevant to the significance of the passage. But for the original audience of Scripture, these tangible references provided a very real connection to the […]
Deborah and Barak Defeat Sisera
Judges 4-5 The story of the victory of Deborah and Barak over Jabin and Sisera is well known, and the location of the battle is clear. Less clear, however, are the locations of other places mentioned in the story, but the context of the story and Joshua’s descriptions of Israel’s tribal boundaries (Joshua 19) enable […]