WHERE did the Bible events happen?
WHERE did the Bible events happen? Asia, Africa and Europe
I live in the United States of America, so reading about foreign countries made me ask where in the world did the Bible events happen? The events in the Bible occurred on three of the Earth’s continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. Most of the Bible events took place in Israel, a very small country in Western Asia,in a region of the world commonly called the Middle East. Israel is indicated by the right arrow on the world map and, for comparison, the left arrow points to my home state of Georgia on the continent of North America.
WHERE did the Bible events happen? Israel
In Genesis 15:18-20, God loosely defined the borders of the land of Abraham (Israel, Canaan, Promised Land, Holy Land) as the area from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River. The Nile River is about 4,000 miles long and is the longest river in the world. It runs northward from Lake Victoria near Kenya, Africa to the Mediterranean Sea near Cairo, Egypt in Northeast Africa. The Euphrates is about 1,700 miles long and runs southward from Turkey to the Persian Gulf through Syria and Iraq.
Moses later defined the borders of Israel as beginning at the south end of the Dead Sea heading west through the Desert of Zin and then North along the Egyptian Gorge to the Mediterranean Sea. From the sea, the border goes east to Zedad, possibly near Lebanon. From Zedad, the border goes down to the Jordan River and follows the river to the Dead Sea. Please note that I’ve left out details for simplicity. Please read the entire border description in Numbers 34:1-12.
The blue lines on the map on the left show the approximate borders of the Nile River and the Euphrates River. The red line is simply a straight line connection from the Nile River to the Euphrates River. The map on the right shows the current borders of Israel which are much smaller than the borders described in the Bible thousands of years ago.
Territories of the 12 Tribes of Israel and Places of Interest
The diagram on the left shows how the land was divided between the 12 Tribes of Israel. The map on the right shows some of the places of interest mentioned in the Bible.
Territories Legend
- Reuben
- Simeon
- Judah
- Dan
- Naphtali
- Gad
- Asher
- Issachar
- Zebulun
- Ephraim (Joseph)
- Manasseh (Joseph)
- Benjamin
The tribe of Levi, the third son of Jacob (Israel), didn’t inherit land. Instead, the Levites received tithes from the other tribes for their work in the tabernacle (Numbers 18:21). The tribe of Joseph received a double-portion through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Israel Places of Interest
- Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and was the home of the former Jewish temples, but is now home to the Muslim temple, the Dome of the Rock. Jerusalem is sometimes referred to as the “City of Peace” because the word “Salem” is believed to be derived from Shalom which is a Hebrew word meaning peace. (Joshua 15:8; Gen 14:18; Hebrews 7:1-2).
- Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus and is about 5 miles south of Jerusalem (Matthew 2:1,5-6).
- Nazareth is the town where Jesus spent most of His life. It is about 60 miles north of Jerusalem (Matthew 2:23).
- Jordan River is where Jesus was baptized by John (Mt 3:13).
- Golgotha or Calvary is where Jesus was crucified and is just outside of Jerusalem. It means “place of the skull” (Jn 19:17).