Gen.12-Gen.50

Ancient kingdom of the Nile. Refuge of Abraham and Joseph, then a house of slavery, then the place from which Moses led Israel out.

Ancient crossroads city where Abraham first stopped in Canaan and Jacob bought land. Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman at its well.

City of the plain destroyed by God with fire and brimstone because of its wickedness. Lot escaped; his wife looked back and became a pillar …

Ancient Sumerian city on the Euphrates in southern Mesopotamia. Abraham's birthplace, called 'Ur of the Chaldeans'.

Father of the Hebrew people. Called from Ur to Canaan and given the covenant promise. Lived around 2000 BC.

Firstborn twin of Jacob, a skilled hunter and his father's favorite. He sold his birthright for a bowl of stew and lost his blessing to dece…

Son of promise born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age (Gen.21). Bound on Mount Moriah, husband of Rebekah, father of Esau and Jacob, and…

Firstborn son of Abraham and Hagar, named "God hears" by an angel. Though not the child of the covenant promise, God pledged to make him a g…

Younger son of Isaac and Rebekah, renamed Israel after wrestling at Peniel (Gen.32.28). Father of the twelve tribes, third of the patriarchs…

Eleventh son of Jacob, sold by his brothers into Egypt, rising from slavery and prison to be second only to Pharaoh. Saved his family and th…

First wife of Jacob, given to him by deception on his wedding night. Unloved but fruitful, she bore six sons including Judah and Levi — thro…

Nephew of Abraham who traveled with him from Ur to Canaan. Lot chose the fertile Jordan plain at Bethel and settled in Sodom. Rescued by Abr…

Beloved wife of Jacob, for whom he worked fourteen years. She was initially barren, then bore Joseph and died giving birth to Benjamin. Jere…

Chosen as Isaac's wife through a remarkable sign at a well, Rebekah left her family for Canaan and became the mother of Jacob and Esau. She …

Daughter-in-law of Judah, twice widowed and denied her rights. She took matters into her own hands; Judah said "she is more righteous than I…

From their capital at Hattusa in central Anatolia, the Hittites (c. 1600–1178 BC) ruled an empire that rivalled Egypt. The Bible knows them …

From Joseph’s rise in Pharaoh’s court to Moses’ birth and the Exodus, Israel lived in Egypt for 430 years (Exod 12:40), growing from seventy…

From about 2112 to 2004 BC the Third Dynasty of Ur ruled a centralised Sumerian empire on the lower Euphrates — the most powerful civilisati…

The hospitality act of washing the dust off a guest's feet on arrival. In a society of dusty roads and open sandals, it was a basic kindness…

The first tree to flower each year in Israel — and the source of a Hebrew wordplay linking Jeremiah's calling to God's watchful alertness.

The great desert transport of the ancient Near East — and the largest, most unwieldy animal Jesus's listeners could imagine.

The scapegoat of Leviticus 16 carried Israel's sins into the wilderness — the animal behind the Day of Atonement ritual.

'My Lord' in Hebrew. The reverent substitute Jewish readers used (and still use) in place of the divine name YHWH — which is why English Bib…

A binding agreement between two parties, sealed by a sign — a meal, a sacrifice, a mark on the body. Used throughout the Bible for the agree…

'God Most High' — the name by which Melchizedek blesses Abraham and by which the Psalms acclaim God's universal sovereignty over the nations…

'God Almighty' — the name by which God revealed himself to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Traditionally translated 'Almighty'; po…

'The LORD will provide' — the name Abraham gave the place on Mount Moriah where God provided a ram in place of Isaac. The first of the compo…

Two of the five “cities of the plain” destroyed by fire and sulphur in Genesis 19. The biblical text places them in the well-watered Jordan …