Bible Mapper Atlas

As Israel invaded Canaan and conquered the land, the Israelite tribe of Judah was allotted a very large portion of it for their inheritance. Their territory was the southernmost allotment of all the tribes, stretching from Jerusalem in the north to Kadesh-barnea in the south. In reality, though, their primary area of occupation was limited to the region shown on this map, due to the Philistines’ occupation of the western coast and the extremely arid conditions of the land in the far south. Also, the Bible notes that the allotment of the tribe of Simeon “formed part of the territory of Judah; because the portion of the tribe of Judah was too large for them, the tribe of Simeon obtained an inheritance within their inheritance” (Joshua 19:9), and this is confirmed by the explicit mention of over twenty towns being allotted to both tribes (see Joshua 15:20-63; 19:1-9). The Kenites, who were not ethnic Israelites (they were descendants of Moses’ father-in-law; see Judges 1:16) but lived in peaceful coexistence with them, also occupied the arid land to the southwest of the Dead Sea.

Scripture further details many of the clans and sub-clans of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:1-55; 4:1-23). Most (or perhaps all) of these clan names corresponded with names of various towns in Judah, since towns in ancient Israel were often named after the ancestor of the clan that founded or predominantly occupied the town. It is interesting to note that an Israelite judge named Jair was descended from Judah by his father’s lineage, but his father’s mother was from the tribe of Manasseh, and when Jair conquered many towns in Manasseh’s territory of Gilead and Bashan (Numbers 32:40-42; Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 13:30; Judges 10:3-5; 1 Kings 4:13; 1 Chronicles 2:22-23; see “Bashan” map), those towns continued to be regarded as belonging to Manasseh. Perhaps this was in keeping with the tribe of Manasseh’s openness to inheritance by female descendants in certain cases, such as with Zelophahad’s daughters (Numbers 27; Joshua 17:1-6; see “Poster Map of the Tribe of Manasseh (West) and Its Surroundings, circa 1200 B.C.”).

Two centuries later the tribe of Judah gave rise to the enduring dynasty of King David, who initially ruled over only the tribe of Judah but eventually over all the Israelite tribes (2 Samuel 2-4; see “David and Ishbosheth” map). After the death of David’s son Solomon, however, the northern tribes revolted, leaving only Judah and Benjamin under the Davidic dynasty’s domain (1 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 10; see “The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah” map). Several decades after the northern kingdom was exiled by the Assyrians (2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chronicles 5:26; see “Israelites Are Exiled to Assyria” map) the kingdom of Judah suffered a similar fate at the hands of the Babylonians (Daniel 1; 2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36; Jeremiah 39; 52; see “Judah Is Exiled to Babylon” map). Unlike the northern kingdom, however, Judah was typically allowed to maintain their common identity and religious distinctives during their time in exile (see The Land of Exile map), thus fostering their sense of continuity with the past tribe and kingdom of Judah.

This map is designed to be printed at 11 in. x 14 in., but it may scale acceptably at larger or smaller sizes as well.

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Acts 15

Paul’s first three missionary journeys originated from Antioch, one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire by Paul’s time. Founded by Seleucus I Nicator, it first served as the capital of the Seleucid Empire, and by the time of Paul it boasted a significant Jewish population. Decades earlier King Herod the Great of Judea had funded the building of a marble colonnaded street there that was nearly two miles (3.2 km) long. As persecuted followers of Jesus fled Judea, some of them traveled as far as Antioch. There they led many Jews and even Gentiles to become believers, and it was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians” (Acts 11:19-26). Antioch was also the starting point for Paul’s first three missionary journeys (Acts 13:1-3; 15:36-41; 18:22-23). After Paul’s first missionary journey, some people came to Antioch from Judea and began to teach that all believers–Jews and Gentiles–must be circumcised and follow the laws of Moses (Acts 15:1). But Paul and Barnabas argued against them. So the church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas and other leaders to Jerusalem to discuss this issue with the apostles and elders there. As they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria on their way to Jerusalem, they told others (presumably Jewish believers) about the conversion of many Gentiles to the faith, and all the believers rejoiced with them. After Paul and the other leaders arrived in Jerusalem and were warmly received by the church there, their reports about the conversion of Gentiles led some believers from the sect of the Pharisees to insist that these new believers be circumcised and follow the laws of Moses. After much debate about the matter, the apostles and elders in Jerusalem decided that Gentile believers did not need to follow the laws of Moses except for a few critical requirements: that they abstain from sacrifices made to idols, from blood, from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. Then the Jerusalem church sent Paul and the other leaders back to Antioch with a letter stating this decision. After Paul and the others arrived in Antioch and delivered the letter, the church in Antioch rejoiced. Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch and continued to teach the believers there. Sometime after this Paul and a believer named Silas embarked on a second missionary journey to visit the churches that Paul had helped to found during his first missionary journey, and Barnabas took his relative John Mark to minister in his home region of Cyprus.

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