BSN Glossary: Places

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Related: Church Locations Named in the New Testament

  • Abilene – a part of the Herodian Tetrarchy (see Luke 3:1, tetrarch, and Herod’s territories in Maps)
  • Aenon near Salim – a place just west of the Jordan River, tucked between eastern edges of Samaria and Galilee, which was one of the places John the Baptist baptized (John 3:23)
  • Arimathea – a city of northern Judea; home to Joseph of Arimathea who supplied the tomb for Jesus’ three-day stay
  • Babel – OT – Gen 10:10; 11:1, 9 e
  • Babylon – Although this city was not prominent in the time of Jesus, Matthew mentions it in the opening of his Gospel as he traces Jesus’ genealogy back to Abraham. King Nebuchadnezzar had exiled thousands of Jews to Babylon. Their exile and return were prominent features of the history from which Jesus came.
  • Beersheba
  • Bethany – a village just to the east of Jerusalem (the Mount of Olives was between them), about two miles away (John 11:18); Lazarus and his two sisters (Mary and Martha) lived there (John 11:1)
  • Bethany beyond the Jordan – a place on the east side of the Jordan River, just north of the Dead Sea where John the Baptist did his baptizing
  • Bethlehem – the town where Jesus was born; it had been the hometown of his ancestor David about a thousand years before
  • Bethphage – a village probably just to the north of Jerusalem, opposite the Mount of Olives from Bethany
  • Bethsaida – hometown of the apostles Peter, Andrew, and Philip (John 1:44); it was situated slightly north of the Sea of Galilee
  • Caesarea Philippi – a city at the base of Mount Hermon, well north of the Sea of Galilee
  • CALVARY
  • Cana – a city of Galilee, situated north of Nazareth and west of the Sea of Galilee
  • Canaan
  • Capernaum – a fishing village on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee; Jesus moved here from Nazareth when he entered his three years of ministry; it remained his base of operations throughout those three years
  • Chorazin – a city of northern Galilee, not far from Capernaum and Bethsaida; it is mentioned only in Matt 11:21 and Luke 10:13
  • Cyrene – a city of eastern North Africa; home to Simon of Cyrene who helped carry Jesus’ cross
  • Dalmanutha – a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, likely situated between Magdala and Tiberias (though Dalmanutha is less likely to be named on a map because its location is less certain than that of those two towns)
  • Dan
  • Dead Sea – a large body of salt water situated along the western border of Judea; the Jordan River flows into it from the north, having flowed first through the Sea of Galilee.
  • Decapolis – a region to the east and across the Jordan River from Israel, so-called because it was comprised of ten cities (“deca” = ten, and “polis” = city)
  • Edom
  • Emmaus – a village not far from Jerusalem.
  • Galilee – the northern region of Israel; it includes the Sea of Galilee
  • Gennesaret – a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, just south of Capernaum; also, “Lake of Gennesaret” is another name for the Sea of Galilee, as is “Sea of Tiberias”
  • Gethsemane – a place (perhaps a garden or olive grove) at the base of the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed the night before he was tried by the Jews and crucified by the Romans.
  • Golgotha
  • The Holy Land
  • Idumea
  • Israel
  • Ituraea – a part of the Herodian Tetrarchy (see Luke 3:1, tetrarch, and Herod’s territories in Maps)
  • Jericho – a city in northern Judea, situated between Jerusalem and the Jordan River; this is the same Jericho of Joshua’s famed battle
  • JERUSALEM
  • Jordan River – a river running from north of Israel, through the Sea of Galilee, all the way south to the Dead Sea. Israel is bounded by the Jordan River on the east and the Mediterranean Sea on the west; sometimes referred to simply as “the Jordan.”
  • Judea – the southern region of Israel; so named because it was the original inheritance of Jacob’s son Judah
  • Lake of Gennesaret – same as Sea of Galilee
  • Magadan – (in Matt 15:39) same as, or near, Magdala; also in or near the district of Dalmanutha
  • Magdala – a town on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, between Gennesaret and Tiberias
  • Mount of Olives – a mountain just outside Jerusalem’s eastern wall; the garden of Gethsemane was at its base; also called Olivet. This is the location from which Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse.
  • Mount Seir
  • Nain – a village in Galilee
  • Nazareth – the village in Galilee where Jesus was raised by Mary and Joseph
  • Olivet – see Mount of Olives above.
  • Palestine
  • Paradise – a garden, park, or place of beauty and peace
  • Phoenicia – a region just to the north of Galilee, approximately the same as modern Lebanon; it included the cities of Tyre and Sidon
  • The Promised Land
  • Samaria – the central region of Israel, Galilee being the region to the north, and Judea the region to the south; Samaritans and Jews did not get along (John 4:9)
  • SEA OF GALILEE
  • SEA OF TIBERIAS
  • Sidon – along with Tyre, a leading city of the region of Phoenicia, both cities being situated on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea – Sidon lying about 20 miles north of Tyre
  • Mount Seir
  • Siloam – a neighborhood on the south side of Jerusalem; the tower of Siloam is mentioned in Luke 13:4 and the pool of Siloam is mentioned in John 9:6-11
  • (PLACE OF A) SKULL
  • Sychar – a city in central Samaria, mentioned only in John 4:5
  • Syrophoenician – a person from the region of Phoenicia; the prefix of “Syro” was added because it was part of the Roman province of Syria.
  • Tiberias – a town on the southwest shore of the Sea of Tiberius (more often called the Sea of Galilee, south of Gennesaret and Magdala
  • Trachonitis – a part of the Herodian Tetrarchy (see Luke 3:1, tetrarch, and Herod’s territories in Maps)
  • Tyre – along with Sidon, a leading city of the region of Phoenicia, both cities being situated on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea – Tyre lying about 20 miles south of Sidon
  • ZION

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