As Jacob returned to Canaan from Haran, his father-in-law Laban caught up with him in the hills of Gilead and confronted him for stealing away quietly with his daughter and grandchildren. After the two men reconciled, they established a covenant of peace between them and set up a monumental pillar there. Then Jacob continued on to Mahanaim, likely approaching the camp from the south side of the Jabbok River. Then he sent messengers to Seir over seventy miles southwest (see “The Negev” map) to find his brother Esau and seek his favor. The messengers returned with news that Esau was coming with four hundred men to meet Jacob, and Jacob prepared for the worst (Genesis 32:1-21). While Jacob was camped at Mahanaim, he divided all his family, servants, and livestock into two groups and sent them across the Jabbok River, but Jacob stayed back at the camp by himself. All during the night a man wrestled with him until Jacob compelled him to bless him, and the man changed Jacob’s name to Israel. So Jacob named the place Peniel (likely the hill on the other side of the Jabbok River; see “Mahanaim and Peniel” map) and headed out to meet Esau (Genesis 32:22-32). When Esau arrived, he embraced Jacob, and the two brothers were reconciled. Esau then returned to Seir while Jacob journeyed on to Succoth and built a house for his family and booths for his livestock. Sometime after this Jacob left and traveled to Shechem in the heart of Canaan (Genesis 33).
The World of the Patriarchs
Abraham, the father of the Israelites, grew up in the ancient city of Ur of the Chaldeans, but he moved to Haran with his father Terah, his wife Sarai, and his nephew Lot (Genesis 11:27-31). At this time in history the Chaldeans (Kasdim) inhabited the area east of Haran, making it unlikely that Abraham’s city of Ur was the one located in southern Babylonia. After his father died, Abraham completed his family’s original intention to move to Canaan (Genesis 12:1-5), and the Lord promised to give Canaan to him and his descendants. After he reached Canaan, Abraham first set up camp in Shechem, but he continued to move throughout the land from time to time (Genesis 12-20). Later he traveled to Egypt to find relief from a famine, but then he returned to Canaan once again (Genesis 12:10-20). Abraham’s son Isaac grew up in Canaan (Genesis 21-22), but when it came time for him to marry, Abraham sent his servant back to Haran to find a wife for him there (Genesis 24). Later Isaac’s son Jacob also traveled from Canaan to Haran to escape the wrath of his twin brother Esau, and he married two women from there (Genesis 27-29; see “Jacob Goes to Paddan-Aram” map). Jacob returned to Canaan (Genesis 31; see “Jacob Returns to Canaan” map), but when he was old he moved his whole family to Egypt during Joseph’s time there as second in command to Pharaoh (Genesis 46).
Samson’s Exploits
Judges 13-16
During the days when Israel was led by judges, Samson was born to an Israelite couple from the tribe of Dan near the border of Philistia. Samson was specially dedicated to God as a Nazirite (see Numbers 6:1-21), and the Lord foretold that Samson would lead the Israelites against the Philistines, who were oppressing Israel at the time. When Samson grew up, he asked his parents to arrange for him to marry a Philistine woman he had seen in Timnah. During the feast before the wedding, Samson told a riddle and promised to provide his guests with new garments if they solved the riddle before the feast was over. After they solved the riddle, Samson went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty men, and took their garments to pay off his wager. Later when the Philistines tried to capture Samson at Lehi, Samson killed a thousand of them with only the jawbone of a donkey. Another time the people of Gaza were waiting to kill Samson at dawn, but in the middle of the night he left the city, tearing off the city gates and carrying them all the way to Hebron. After this the Philistines succeeded in binding Samson, gouging out his eyes, and taking him to Gaza as prisoner. Then the Philistines brought Samson into the temple of Dagon to celebrate their victory, but the Lord answered Samson’s prayer to give him strength one last time. He knocked down the two central pillars holding up the temple, killing many people gathered there.
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Paul’s Third Missionary Journey
Acts 18:23-21:19
Sometime after he finished his second missionary journey, Paul and Silas left Antioch and began a third missionary journey. As with their previous journey, they revisited the churches in Galatia and Phrygia and encouraged them. Then Paul fulfilled his promise to return to Ephesus, where he ministered for many months, preaching first in the synagogues but then lecturing daily in the hall of Tyrannus. Paul sent his coworkers Timothy and Erastus ahead of him to Macedonia while he continued to minister in Ephesus. Eventually a riot broke out in Ephesus, where the temple of Artemis was located, because the local silversmiths feared that Paul’s evangelistic work there would harm their business of making shrines of Artemis. So Paul left for Macedonia and southern Greece, most likely visiting the churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth. Before Paul set sail to return to Antioch, a plot on his life was discovered, so he traveled back through Macedonia, probably by land. Paul eventually arrived at Troas, and then traveled on to Miletus, where he sent for the elders of the Ephesian church about 30 miles away to come and meet him. After speaking with the Ephesian elders and exchanging farewells, Paul set sail for Jerusalem. Paul’s ship stopped briefly at Tyre and then at Ptolemais before finally arriving at Caesarea on the coast of Palestine. Despite various warnings not to travel to Jerusalem, Paul pressed on until he reached Jerusalem, where he was greeted warmly by the elders of the church there.
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Judea under Persian Rule
In 539 B.C., King Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon, and a year later he announced that any exiled Jews who wanted to return to their homeland could do so (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-2). A contingent of Jews under the leadership of Zerubbabel did return (Ezra 1:3-2:70) and established the minor Persian province of Judea within the larger province called Beyond the River (referring to the Euphrates River). This small province was much smaller than the kingdom of Judah before the exile, partially due to the migration of Edomites (now called Idumeans) into the region just south of Judea, where they too formed a new province.
