Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal map
Map Ephraim territory
Hill People, the Israelites
Map of 33 cities the Israelites conquered
Map of 33 cities the Israelites conquered
Map of Canaan cities
Map of Judah and Israel
Two nations: Israel and Judah
Bible map of cities in ancient Israel
Bible map of cities in ancient Israel
Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.For more Bible features
Bible map of Assyria’s provinces in Israel
Edom, Israel, Judah
Bible map of Judah and Edom
Bible map of Judah and Edom
Boss of Edom, Moab
Boss of Edom, Moab
Bosses of the Promised Land
Kings of Israel and Judah controlled their neighbor countries of Edom and Moab for part of the era of Israelite kings. Moab had apparently lived under the dominance of Israel since David conquered the nation (2 Samuel 8:12). This likely meant, in part, that they paid annual tribute to Israel’s king—essentially tax payments. This marks a turning point in the history of the northern Jewish kingdom, the beginning of the end of their empire.2 Kings 1-4, Israel's king, about to die
"1When King Ahab of Israel died, Moab decided to declare its independence from Israel. 2Israel’s King Ahaziah fell through the latticework of an upper window in Samaria. Injured, he wanted to know if he would recover. So, he sent messengers to ask Baalzebub, god of the people in the city of Ekron. 3But a messenger from the LORD told Elijah, a prophet from the town of Tishbe, to go and intercept the king’s people. Elijah was to say, “Tell me this, why are you going to Ekron to consult Baalzebub? Don’t we have a God here in Israel? 4Take this message as a reminder that we do. Tell the king the LORD says this: ‘You won’t leave your sickbed. You’ll die there.’” Elijah delivered that message."2 Kings 2:1-9, Moab declares independence
Israel declares war
Moab stops paying Israel
4King Mesha of Moab bred sheep. When King Ahab was alive and Israel was powerful, Mesha had to pay him to live in peace. Mesha gave Ahab 100,000 lambs and wool from 100,000 sheep. 5But Ahab was dead now. So, Mesha was done with that. He declared his independence by refusing to make those payments.Israel declares war
6King Joram mustered his army, pulling fighters in from all over Israel. They marched out of Samaria. 7Along the way, Joram sent a message to King Jehoshaphat in Judah: “Moab’s king has rebelled. Will you join the battle with me and fight Moab?” Jehoshaphat said, “I will. We are one. My people are your people. My horses are your horses. 8Which way should we go?” Joram said, “We’ll attack from the south, from Edom’s desert.”Moab's last city refuses to fall
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Israel and Judah, one nation divided
Israel and Judah, one nation divided
CONSTANT WAR
Israel and Judah live in perpetual hostility toward one another. They are brothers in blood, united to their common and revered ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they remain bitter rivals for as long as they exist...until one at a time, invaders from what is now Iraq, erase them from the world map. JUDAH AND SYRIA FIGHT ISRAEL War between Israel and Judah continued throughout the lives of King Asa and King Baasha of Israel. King Baasha reinforced the border town of Ramah. He wanted to shut the door on anyone trying to come or go between Israel and Judah.King ASA BUYS AN ALLY
Asa collected all the silver and gold in the Temple treasury. He told some officials to deliver it to King Ben-hadad at Damascus in Syria. Ben-hadad was the son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion. Asa sent this message to Ben-hadad: “Let’s become allies. King Baasha of Israel is trying to invade and defeat me. I need your help. Please accept this gift of silver and gold. Then walk away from your treaty with Baasha, join forces with me, and help me push Baasha back where he belongs.It's a deal
Ben-hadad agreed to Asa’s deal. Then he unleashed his commanders and their armies. They attacked Israel and captured the cities of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all the territory of Chinneroth and all the tribal land of Naphtali. When Baasha heard what Syria was doing, he stopped work on Ramah and retreated to the safety of his capital at Tirzah.Taking down Ramah
King Asa drafted all the men in Judah, no exceptions. He mobilized everyone to carry stones and timber that Baasha used to fortify Ramah. He used the material to fortify the town of Geba in the tribe of Benjamin, along with the town of Mizpah. (1 Kings 15:16-22)Pharaoh Shishak attacks Israel
Pharaoh Shishak attacks Israel
Pharaoh Shishak raids Judah, Israel
Egypt's ruler, Pharaoh Shishak, saw a chance to enrich his kingdom when King Solomon's Israel fell apart, collapsing into two competing nations. Shishak attacked scattered cities throughout both nations, Judah in the south and Israel in the north. Israel broke in half when Solomon's son and successor, Rehoboam, refused to lighten up on the forced labor and high taxes Solomon had imposed, to maintain his aggressive building projects. Instead, he threatened to get tougher. The northern tribes took a walk and never came back. Rehoboam was left ruling only his own tribe of Judah, in the south.On the Bible's record
Bible writers report only that Shishak threatened Jerusalem and that Judah's king Rehoboam saved the city by emptying the Temple treasury and giving it to Shishak. This payoff convinced the Egyptian to go home. The story appears in 1 Kings 14:25-28 and in 2 Chronicles 12:2-12."During the fifth year of King Rehoboam’s reign, Egypt’s King Shishak invaded and attacked Jerusalem. 26He stole everything of value from the Temple. And he took the golden shields Solomon had made. Rehoboam replaced the shields, but he used bronze instead of gold. And he ordered the royal palace guards at the front door to keep them safe. Whenever the king went to the Temple, the guards who escorted him brought the shields with them. When they returned, they stored the shields in a guarded room." (1 Kings 14:25-28)This could have been when the Israelites lost their most sacred relic, the chest with the stones of the Ten Commandments. The gold-covered chest is also known as the Ark of The Covenant. King Shishak, usually linked with Pharaoh Shoshenq I, allied himself with King Jeroboam of Israel instead of Rehoboam of Judah. Some of his war records were found, with lists of Judean cities he conquered. Jerusalem isn’t among them. Bible writers say he attacked with too many soldiers to count, a cavalry of 60,000, and a chariot corps of 1,200 (2 Chronicles 12).
On the Egyptian record
Egyptian records are more involved than the short snippet in the Bible. An ancient inscription on the Amon temple in the Egyptian city of Luxor reports a military campaign that took him throughout both nations of Judah and Israel. The inscription identifies many target cities by name.For more Bible features
Stephen M. Miller's website , The Casual English Bible, and Bible YouTube channelTirzah to Shiloh
Tirzah to Shiloh
THE QUEEN’S SECRET MISSION
King Jeroboam’s son Abijah, got sick. The king told his wife, “I want you to disguise yourself and go to Shiloh. Find Ahijah, the prophet who predicted I would be king. Take him some gifts: 10 loaves of bread, a few of those little sweet cakes, and a jug of honey. Then ask him about our son. He’ll tell you what’s going to happen.”The queen and the prophet
Jeroboam’s wife went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh. The prophet was old and blind by this time. But the LORD had told him, “Jeroboam’s wife will be coming to ask you about her son. He is sick. She will pretend she’s another woman. So, here’s what I want you to say.” And God gave him the message. Ahijah heard her footsteps when she stepped inside. He said, “Come on in. Jeroboam’s wife is welcome here. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have some heavy news for you to carry home.GOD’S MESSAGE FOR THE KING
Here’s what you need to tell Jeroboam. Tell him this message comes from the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘I picked you out of the vast crowd and made you leader of my people, Israel. I tore a huge part of the kingdom away from David’s family. His children weren’t like David, and neither are you. David obeyed the law. He stayed devoted to me with all his heart. He wanted nothing more than to please me. You’ve got more evil in you than all the evil people who ever lived. You invented your own gods, stuck them in a mold, and turned them into statues. You made me angry, and you made me your enemy. I’m going to toss you out like yesterday’s trash. No male under your roof will survive—sons or slaves, it won’t matter which. Your family dynasty will disappear like dried manure thrown into a fire. If your people die in the city, their bodies will feed the dogs. If they die in fields, birds will pick them apart.’GOD’S MESSAGE FOR THE QUEEN
Now go back home to your family. When you step foot into the city, your son will die. Taken from 1 Kings 14:1-12For more Bible features
Stephen M. Miller's website , The Casual English Bible, and Bible YouTube channelBethel’s gold calf
Bethel's gold calf
Bethel's gold calf
After Israel split in two, Jeroboam, first king of the northern tribes set up gold calf shrines. Apparently, he didn't want his people of Israel going back to Jerusalem's Temple to worship. For if the northerners got too friendly with the southern tribe of Judah, they might want to reunite under a king from David's family. Excerpt from 1 Kings 13 1-6:PROPHET PREDICTS KING WILL SACRIFICE PAGAN PRIESTS
King Jeroboam went to the altar at the golden calf shrine at Bethel to burn some incense as a sacrificial offering. But a man, prompted by the LORD, had come up from Judah to criticize the pagan shrine. He spoke directly to the altar there. “Bad news for you, altar! I’ve got terrible news for you, and this comes from the LORD. A son is coming from David’s family—a boy named Josiah. He’s going to offer sacrifices here. But he’ll be sacrificing your priests who serve on hilltop shrines. They won’t be burning incense anymore. They’ll be burning. And they’ll leave behind a pile of their bones. Here’s how you’ll know the LORD has sent this message. This altar will get torn down. And the ashes of sacrifices burned on it will get thrown out as trash.” When the king heard that, he pointed at the man of God and said, “Arrest him!” But when the king stuck out his hand, it was bent up, withered, and paralyzed. He couldn’t even pull it back in. The altar collapsed and its ashes poured out onto the ground—exactly the sign the man had given. The king said to the man, “Ask your God to fix my hand and make it like it was before.” So the man did, and the LORD did. The king had his good hand back.For more Bible features
Stephen M. Miller's website , The Casual English Bible, and Bible YouTube channelSolomon’s wives on the map
Solomon's wives on the map
SOLOMON MARRIES IDOL-LOVING WOMEN
Putting Solomon's wives on the map: King Solomon loved women. He loved his Egyptian wife, the daughter of Pharaoh. But he loved hundreds of other women, too. He married many women who weren’t Israelites. He married women from the nations of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, as well as Hittites. These are the same nations the LORD told people in Israel to avoid. He said, “Don’t marry them. If you do, they’ll convince you to worship their gods.” But Solomon loved who he loved.Solomon's harem
Solomon married 700 princesses and 300 concubines. Dramatically outnumbered, Solomon lost the battle of the gods to his foreign wives. They turned him away from the LORD. By the time Solomon grew into an old man, his wives had completely eroded his devotion to the LORD. Solomon’s father, David, had stayed true to God. Solomon did not. He worshiped other gods. Solomon worshiped Astarte, goddess of Sidon. And he worshiped Milcom, the disgusting filth of a god that the people of Ammon worship. Solomon got it wrong. His father David got it right; he obeyed the LORD. But Solomon decided not to obey God.Pagan gods in Israel's hills
Solomon built a hilltop shrine for worshiping Chemosh, god of Moab. And on the Mount of Olives, the ridge of hills east of Jerusalem, he built a shrine to worship Molech, another repulsive god of Ammon. He built similar places of worship for all his foreign wives, so they could continue worshiping their own gods by burning incense and offering sacrifices. The LORD was furious with Solomon. The LORD had already appeared to Solomon twice and talked with him. Yet the king still decided to reject his own God, the God of Israel. Solomon did that even though God had personally told him not to worship other gods. (1 Kings 11:1-10, Casual English Bible) For features about the Bible Stephen M. Miller's website & YouTube channelJoab murders Abner
Joab murders Abner
Joab murders Abner, Israel's general
2 Samuel 3:17-27 PREPING TO DECLARE DAVID KING OF ISRAEL
17Abner sent a message to leaders throughout the northern tribes of Israel. He said, “You’ve been wanting David as your king for a long time. 18Now is the time to make it happen. God gave David this promise: ‘I’m going to save my people of Israel from the Philistines and all their enemies. I’m going to use you to do it.’”19Abner delivered this message in person to leaders of his tribe, Benjamin. Then he went to David, in Hebron, and told him that Israel was ready to transfer power to him.
20David threw a feast to welcome Abner and the 20 men who came with him. 21Abner said, “Let me go back and call the people together so everyone in Israel can pledge their allegiance to you. Then you can begin to rule wherever you like.” David sent Abner on his way to do that.
JOAB MURDERS ABNER
22Abner left peacefully about the time Joab and his men returned from raiding enemies. They came loaded with property they stole from places they raided.23Someone told Joab, “Just so you know, Abner the son of Ner was here to see the king. Afterward, the king sent him on his way in peace.” 24Joab went to the king and said, “What are you doing? Abner came here and you let him go? Why did you do that? 25Don’t you realize he came here on a scouting mission, to learn as much as possible about you and what you’re up to?”
26Joab stormed out of that meeting with David and secretly sent messengers to Abner. They caught up with him at the cistern well of Sirah. 27Abner went back to Hebron. Joab met him at the city gate and asked him to step to the side so they could have a private talk. Instead, Joab stabbed him in the stomach. It was payback for killing Joab’s brother, Asahel.
David’s kingdom of Judah
David's kingdom of Judah
David becomes king of his own tribe
The map of Israel and Judah changed after Philistines killed King Saul and most of his sons in battle. David's tribe of Judah crowned him king of the powerful tribe. The other tribes up north and east of the Jordan River stayed with Saul's son Ishbosheth. He was a weak king, easily intimated by his commanding general, who seems to have slept with one of the woman in the king's herem. Not kosher. Initially, the general, Abner, supported Ishbosheth. He even went to battle against David, to defend the crown for Saul's family. But Abner lost to David's forces, and would later broker a deal to join forces with David.Battle for Israel and Judah
That didn't work out so well, David's general, Joab, murdered him. It was revenge for Abner reluctantly killing Joab's brother in battle. After the battle, Joab's brother, Asahel, who "ran like a wild gazelle," targeted Abner, who was retreating for home.Asahel refused to fight anyone else. He kept eyes on his bullseye, the enemy commander running away. Abner looked back and yelled, “Is that you, Asahel?” He said, “You bet it’s me.” Abner said, “Go after one of these other men and take what you want.” Asahel kept gaining on him. Abner said, “Pick someone else. I don’t want to kill you. If I do, how could I ever face your brother Joab?” Asahel kept running. He ran right into the butt end of Abner’s spear. It bore through his stomach and broke through his back. Asahel, David’s nephew, dropped dead. When fellow warriors came to his body, they stood for a time in silence. (2 Samul 2:19-23)Before long, the map of Israel and Judah would change again. David would unite the tribes and use the force of his armies to pacify Israel's neighbors.
For other Bible versions see Bible Gateway. Website of Casual English Bible paraphraser and mapmaker, Stephen M. Miller.