The events recorded in the Bible occurred on three of the Earth’s continents:  Asia, Africa and Europe.  Most of the Bible events took place in Israel in Western Asia indicated by the right arrow on the map.  The left arrow points to my home state of Georgia, USA.  As a comparison, the Atlanta, GA metro area has a population of about 6 million while the entire country of Israel has a population of about 9 million.  Israel may be small, but God made it a great nation.

Biblical Borders of Israel

The borders of Israel (aka Canaan, Promised Land, Holy Land, Palestine) were loosely defined as the area from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River which originates in modern-day Turkey and flows through Syria and Iraq (Genesis 15:18-20).  The map below shows the approximate borders as defined in Numbers 34:1-12. The map also shows how the land was divided between the 12 Tribes of Israel. The tribe of Levi didn’t inherit land; instead they 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.