About the Casual English Bible Maps..

Bible maps make the Bible clearer

The Casual English Bible® maps tell Bible stories in a captivating way that engages even people who have never read the Bible. Lavishly detailed maps only make the stories of Jesus and others more compelling and easier to picture and to understand.

These 3D-style maps of Bible lands are created from blended high resolution satellite images, matched to precise elevation data from international space agencies.

How to search for maps

—Type “Galilee” into the Casual English Bible’s map search engine, below. Instantly, you’ll see dozens of beautiful maps…many in 3D style. Each one tracks with a different Bible story. These aren’t generic maps with a hundred place names.
—Type “Samson” into the Bible map search engine. You’ll see the tiny village where he lived in the Judean foothills below Jerusalem.
—Type “Corinthians” and you’ll see a gallery full of maps associated with Paul’s letters of 1, 2 Corinthians, to the church in Corinth, Greece.

3D sense of the lay of the land

Get a feel for the lay of the land:

—Ararat Mountains, where Noah’s boat ran aground. The Bible doesn’t say it was Mount Ararat.
—Judean hills where Joshua and the Israelites found most of their battles for the Promised Land. They avoided the plains, where their enemies with armored chariots had the advantage over Israel’s foot soldiers.
—Jesus’ 20-mile climb from Jericho and the Jordan River Valley upward half a mile high, to the crest of the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem.
—One surprise for some readers is the Jesus Triangle, a plug of ground between three cities. It’s where Jesus spent most of his ministry time. A person can walk that entire triangle in a single day. Type “Jesus triangle” to see it.

Gibeon

Bible Book: 2 Samuel Type: Maps Location: Ai, Beth-horan, Bethel, Geba, Gibeah, Gibeon, Gilboa Mouontains, Greater Jerusalem, Jebus, Jerusalem, Michmash, Mizpah, Mt Gerizim, Mt. Ebal, Ramah, Shechem Era: Heroes, kings

Gibeon, civil war begins

2 Samuel 2

BATTLE OF GIBEON

12Abner marched the soldiers of King Ishbosheth out of Mahanaim, across the Jordan River, and to the banks of a pool at Gibeon. 13David’s commander, Joab son of Zeruiah, marched his men to the other side of the pool. So, the two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool. 14Abner called out to Joab, “Hey, let’s have some of our men step forward and show us what they’re made of.” Joab agreed, “Okay, let them come.” 15Men stepped up and counted off. Generals limited the fight to a dozen men from each side—mortal combat, tribe against tribe. Twelve stood from Ishbosheth’s tribe of Benjamin and 12 from David’s tribe of Judah. 16Each man grabbed an enemy by the head and stabbed him in the side. They all fell together. That spot in Gibeon became known as Flint Field, for the blades that fell on the ground. 17The battle that followed was intense. David’s men won, defeating Abner’s army.

RUNNING RETREAT

18David’s sister, Zeruiah, had three sons: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel ran like a wild gazelle. 19He targeted Abner, who was retreating from the lost battle. Asahel refused to fight anyone else. He kept eyes on his bullseye, the enemy commander running away. 20Abner looked back and yelled, “Is that you, Asahel?” He said, “You bet it’s me.” 21Abner said, “Go after one of these other men and take what you want” Asahel kept gaining on him. 22Abner said, “Pick someone else. I don’t want to kill you. If I do, how could I ever face your brother Joab?” 23Asahel 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.

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King Saul’s retreat from Philistines

King Saul's retreat from Philistines

Bible Book: 1 Samuel Type: Maps Location: Ai, Beth-horan, Bethel, Geba, Gibeah, Gibeon, Gilboa Mouontains, Greater Jerusalem, Jebus, Jerusalem, Michmash, Mizpah, Mt Gerizim, Mt. Ebal, Ramah, Shechem Era: Heroes, kings, Prophets, Jews exiled

King Saul's retreat from Philistines

It starts when his son destroys a Philistine camp

King Saul's hasty retreat from the Philistine army began when Prince Jonathan, with a battalion of 1,000 men, attacks and destroys a Philistine camp in a small town near what is now Jerusalem. His father , King Saul, backs him up by leading 2,000 men into the area to patrol the towns and communities. Philistines retaliate with overwhelming force: 3,000 chariots pulled by 6,000 horses. And there are more infantry than anyone can count. "When Israel saw they were in trouble, most of the army retreated to anything they could crawl into or behind: caves, rocks, tombs, dry wells called cisterns, and dirt holes in the ground. They got invisible fast. Some jumped the Jordan. They crossed the Jordan River into territory of Gad’s tribe and the land of Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal, with a lot of terrified Israelite citizens" (1 Samuel 13:6-7). Saul waited to attack for seven days, to give time for Samuel to get there. Samuel told him to do that. But Saul’s fighters were quickly slipping out of camp and running away. Meanwhile, Philistines set up camp in the hills around Michmash, in the area where the Israelite had been before they ran away. One more thing: "On the day of the battle, Saul and his son Jonathan each had a sword and spear. No one else did. There weren’t any weapons in town. A company of Philistines advanced to set up camp at the valley pass of Michmash." Israel didn’t have any ironsmiths who could make iron weapons or tools. Philistines outlawed it. They said, “Hebrews aren’t allowed to make swords or spears for themselves.” So, Israelites couldn’t sharpen or repair their iron plow tips, picks, axes, and sickles. They had to go to Philistine ironsmiths for that. A bronze sword doesn't hold up well against an iron one.

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3D Bible map of the Battle of Jabesh Gilead

Bible map of the battle of Jabesh for the Casual English Bible

3D Bible map of the Battle of Jabesh Gilead

Bible Book: 1 Samuel Type: Maps Location: Abel-keramim, Adam, Ammon, Arnon River Moab, Aroer, Beth-shan, Bethel, Bezek, Gibeah, Gibeon, Heshbon, Jabbok River, Jabesh-gilead, Jebus, Jerusalem, Khirbet Ibziq, Medeba, Mt Gerizim, Mt. Ebal, Mt. Hermon, Rabbah, Ramoth Gilead, Succoth, Tell Maqlub, Zaphon Era: Heroes, kings, Prophets, Jews exiled

3D Bible map of the Battle of Jabesh in Gilead

Battle for Israel's right eyeballs and depth perception

Ammonite King Nahash takes his army and surrounds the Israelite town of Jabesh in Gilead. Centuries earlier, Moses and the invading Hebrews won the land from Ammon in a war the Ammonites started. Now King Nahash was coming to take it back...and to humiliate Israel in the process. When city leaders ask for peace terms, the king says, “Sure, I’ll give you peace. But you give me your right eyes. I’ll use this to disgrace Israel” (1 Samuel 11:2). King Saul of Israel gets the news at the end of a day of herding and farming. "God’s Spirit filled Saul and anger set him on fire. He slaughtered a team of two oxen, cut them to pieces, and dropped them in the mail—special delivery. He gave them to couriers to spread them throughout Israel. The meat came with a message: 'What happened to this ox will happen to you if you don’t come now and follow Saul and Samuel.' That terrified people. They came in a big way." He rallies an army of 300,000 Israelites.. "Saul told the messengers to say this to the people of Jabesh in Gilead, 'We’ll rescue you by the time the sun gets hot tomorrow.' People in Jabesh were elated to hear that. Jabesh Jews weren’t entirely honest with the Ammonites. They said, “We’ll surrender tomorrow, and you can do whatever you want to us.” When tomorrow came, so did King Saul. He divided his massive army into three battalions. And he surprised the enemy with a wake-up call during the early morning watch, sometime between 2-6 a.m. He slaughtered Ammonites all morning and into the heat of the day. Enemy survivors ran for their lives, scattered so wildly that each man ran on his own. Not even two ran together.". Saul preserves Israel's honor and depth perception. You can read the story in 1 Samuel 11. And you can check it out in other Bible translations at Bible Gateway.

Battle of Jabesh

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Map Ramah to Shiloh

Bible Book: 1 Samuel Type: Maps Location: Ai, Ararat Mountains, Beitin, Bethel, Gibeah, Gibeon, Jerusalem Temple, Jezreel Valley, Mizpah, Mt Gerizim, Mt. Ebal, Mt. Hermon, Samaria, Sea of Galilee, Shechem, Shiloh Era: Heroes, kings

Bible map Ramah to Shiloh. Ramah was a short version of the city’s full name, Ramathaim—a bit like LA is short for Los Angeles and KC is short for Kansas City. Ramah is usually linked to ruins called Al-Ram. It’s about 5 miles (8 km) north of Jerusalem and about 15 miles (24 km) south of Shiloh. That’s almost a day’s walk to Shiloh. Some scholars link Rama to another ruin about five miles southwest, Nabi Samwil. At the time, Jerusalem was still a generation away from when King David would capture it and turn it into his capital, the City of David.

Road from Ramah to Shiloh

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Map Persian province of Judah

Map of Judah as a Persian province in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah

Map Persian province of Judah

Bible Book: Ezra, Nehemiah Type: Maps Location: Adullam, Ai, Ammon, Anathoth, Azekah, Azmaveth, Beth Horon, Bethel, Bethlehem, Damascus, Dan, Geba, Gibeah, Gibeon, Hadid, Jarmuth, Jericho, Judah, Judeah, Keilah, Kiriath-jearim, Lod, Michmash, Mizpah, Mt Gerizim, Mt. Carmel, Mt. Ebal, Neballat, Netophah, Nob, Ono, Ramah, Samaria, Shechem, Shiloh, Tekoa, Zanoah, Zorah Era: Back from exile

Map of the Persian province of Judah After the Jewish nation of Judah fell to Babylonian invaders in 586, many survivors lived in exile. Some returned 50 years later, when Persians freed them. It was only a partial freedom. The Jews lived for the next 200 years as a tiny province of Persia: Yehud, which is translated "Judah" or "Judea." It was roughly a 40-mile-wide square plug of ground (60 km), in territory that became known as Palestine. The Jewish province included Jerusalem and beyond, into what are now central parts of Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories. Jerusalem is where Jews sacrificed animals to God. So when the Jews returned, they built a new temple and later restored some of the walls around the city, but not to the larger size it was before the defeat.

Map of Judah as a Persian province

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