Biblical Geography: Jerusalem and the Region of Judea

NOTE: Paul alone also uses four other words derived from the same Ioud- root:
Ioudaizō (verb, “to live as a Jew”; Gal 2:14); Ioudaikōs (adverb, “in a Jewish manner”; Gal 2:14);
Ioudaikos (adjective, “Jewish”; Titus 1:14); Ioudaismos (noun, “Judaism”; Gal 1:13-14)

NT Texts mentioning Judea and/or Jerusalem:

Matt 2:1 – In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
Matt 2:3 – When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;
Matt 2:5 – They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
Matt 2:22 – But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee.
Matt 3:1 – In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming,
Matt 3:5 – Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan,
Matt 4:25 – And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Matt 5:35 – or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Matt 15:1 – Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,
Matt 16:21 – From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Matt 19:1 – When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.
Matt 20:17-18 – While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, / “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death;
Matt 21:1 – When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
Matt 21:10 – When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”
Matt 23:37 (2x) – “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Matt 24:16 – then those in Judea must flee to the mountains;

Mark 1:5 – And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem (lit. Jerusalemites) were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Mark 3:8 – hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon.
Mark 3:22 – And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”
Mark 7:1 – Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him,
Mark 10:1 – He left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan. And crowds again gathered around him; and, as was his custom, he again taught them.
Mark 10:32-33 – They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, / saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles;”
Mark 11:1 – When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples
Mark 11:11 – Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Mark 11:15 – Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves;
Mark 11:27 – Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple,
Mark 13:14 – “But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains;
Mark 15:41 – These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

Luke 1:5 – In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Luke 1:39 – In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country,
Luke 1:65 – Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea.
Luke 2:4 – Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.
Luke 2:22 – When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
Luke 2:25 – Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.
Luke 2:38 – At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:41 – Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.
Luke 2:43 – When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.
Luke 2:45 – When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.
Luke 3:1 – In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene,
Luke 4:9 – Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,
Luke 4:44 – So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.
Luke 5:17 – One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting near by (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.
Luke 6:17 – He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.
Luke 7:17 – This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.
Luke 9:31 – They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51 – When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
Luke 9:53 – but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
Luke 10:30 – Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
Luke 13:4 – Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them--do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?
Luke 13:22 – Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.
Luke 13:33-34 (3x) – Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ / Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Luke 17:11 – On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.
Luke 18:31 – Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.
Luke 19:11 – As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.
Luke 19:28 – After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
Luke 21:20-21 – “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. / Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it;
Luke 21:24 – they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Luke 23:5 – But they were insistent and said, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.”
Luke 23:7 – And when he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.
Luke 23:28 – But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
Luke 24:13 – Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,
Luke 24:18 – Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”
Luke 24:33 – That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.
Luke 24:47 – and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Luke 24:52 – And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy;

John 1:19 – This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
John 2:13 – The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
John 2:23 – When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing.
John 3:22 – After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized.
John 4:3 – he left Judea and started back to Galilee.
John 4:20-21 – Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” / Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
John 4:45 – When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival.
John 4:47 – When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
John 4:54 – Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
John 5:1-2 – After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. / Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes.
John 7:1 – After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him.
John 7:3 – So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing;
John 7:25 – Now some of the people of Jerusalem (lit. Jerusalemites) were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill?
John 10:22 – At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter,
John 11:7 – Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
John 11:18 – Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away,
John 11:55 – Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
John 12:12 – The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.

Acts 1:4 – While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me;
Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:12 (2x) – Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.
Acts 1:19 – This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
Acts 2:5 – Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
Acts 2:9 – Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Acts 2:14 – But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
Acts 4:5 – The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,
Acts 4:16 – They said, “What will we do with them? For it is obvious to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable sign has been done through them; we cannot deny it.
Acts 5:16 – A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.
Acts 5:28 – saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.”
Acts 6:7 – The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
Acts 8:1 – And Saul approved of their killing him. That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.
Acts 8:14 – Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
Acts 8:25-27 – Now after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans. / Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) / So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship
Acts 9:2 – and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Acts 9:13 – But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem;
Acts 9:21 – All who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”
Acts 9:26 – When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.
Acts 9:28 – So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.
Acts 9:31 – Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
Acts 10:37 – That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced:
Acts 10:39 – We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree;
Acts 11:1-2 – Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. / So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him,
Acts 11:22 – News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
Acts 11:27 – At that time prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
Acts 11:29 – The disciples determined that according to their ability, each would send relief to the believers living in Judea;
Acts 12:19 – When Herod had searched for him and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then Peter went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
Acts 12:25 – Then after completing their mission Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem and brought with them John, whose other name was Mark.
Acts 13:13 – Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem;
Acts 13:27 – Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him.
Acts 13:31 – and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people.
Acts 15:1-2 – Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” / And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.
Acts 15:4 – When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.
Acts 16:4 – As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.
Acts 18:22 – When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
Acts 19:21 – Now after these things had been accomplished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go through Macedonia and Achaia, and then to go on to Jerusalem. He said, “After I have gone there, I must also see Rome.”
Acts 20:16 – For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; he was eager to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.
Acts 20:22 – And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,
Acts 21:4 – We looked up the disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
Acts 21:10 – While we were staying there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
Acts 21:11-13 – He came to us and took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” / When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. / Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Acts 21:15 – After these days we got ready and started to go up to Jerusalem.
Acts 21:17 – When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly.
Acts 21:31 – While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
Acts 22:5 – as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.
Acts 22:17-18 – “After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance / and saw Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’
Acts 23:11 – That night the Lord stood near him and said, “Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.”
Acts 24:11 – As you can find out, it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem.
Acts 25:1 – Three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem
Acts 25:3 – and requested, as a favor to them against Paul, to have him transferred to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, planning an ambush to kill him along the way.
Acts 25:7 – When he arrived, the Jews who had gone down from Jerusalem surrounded him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.
Acts 25:9 – But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?”
Acts 25:15 – When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him and asked for a sentence against him.
Acts 25:20 – Since I was at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wished to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.
Acts 25:24 – And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all here present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish community petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.
Acts 26:4 – “All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.
Acts 26:10 – And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death.
Acts 26:20 – but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance.
Acts 28:17 – Three days later he called together the local leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, yet I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.
Acts 28:21 – They replied, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken anything evil about you.

Rom 15:19 – by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ.
Rom 15:25-26 – At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem in a ministry to the saints; / for Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to share their resources with the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.
Rom 15:31 – that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
1Cor 16:3 – And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem.
2Cor 1:16 – I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea.
Gal 1:17-18 – nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus. / Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days;
Gal 1:22 – and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ;
Gal 2:1 – Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.
Gal 4:25-26 – Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. / But the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is our mother.
1Thess 2:14 – of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews,

Heb 12:22 – But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,

Rev 3:12 – If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
Rev 21:2 – And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:10 – And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

Historical Growth of Jerusalem:

References:

• https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/jerusalem/ancient-jerusalem/

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