Images and Media: Maps
Maps can make the biblical world easier to understand by placing people, events, journeys, kingdoms, and cities within their geographical setting.
The maps in this section are designed as reusable visual references for the Berean Bible Study Project. They may be linked from Weekly Bible Studies, Biblical Background studies, Biblical Themes, and other parts of the website.
Where appropriate, individual maps include brief explanatory notes and links to related studies.
Old Testament Maps
The Tribal Territories of Israel
A map of the traditional tribal regions of ancient Israel, useful for understanding the period of Joshua, Judges, Saul, David, and the later monarchy.
Israel During the Period of the Judges
A map showing the tribal setting of premonarchic Israel and important locations associated with the judges.
The Kingdom of Saul
A map of major locations connected with Saul’s life and reign, including Gibeah, Gilgal, Michmash, Endor, Mount Gilboa, and Jabesh-gilead.
The Kingdom of David
A map showing the approximate extent of David’s kingdom, with important locations such as Bethlehem, Hebron, Jerusalem, and surrounding territories.
King Solomon’s Territory
A map showing the approximate extent of Solomon’s kingdom at the height of the united monarchy, with Jerusalem as the capital and key neighboring regions and strategic centers.
The Divided Kingdom
A map showing the division of the united monarchy into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah after Solomon’s death.
Exile and Return
A map showing the major regions and routes associated with the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles and the later return to Judah.
New Testament Maps
Palestine in the Time of Jesus
A map of Judea, Galilee, Samaria, the Decapolis, and surrounding regions during the first century.
Galilee and Judea
A closer view of the principal regions in which Jesus taught and traveled.
Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus
A map of Jerusalem and its surrounding area during the Second Temple period.
Bethlehem and the Surrounding Region
A map showing Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and the wider geographical setting of the birth narratives.
The Roman Empire in the First Century
A broad map of the Roman Empire during the New Testament period, showing major provinces and cities.
Roman Roads and the Spread of Early Christianity
A map of the major Roman roads, secondary routes, and Mediterranean sea lanes that connected the empire and helped make long-distance travel, communication, and missionary activity possible.
The Via Egnatia and Macedonia
A map showing the important Roman road through Macedonia and cities such as Philippi and Thessalonica.
Paul’s Missionary Journeys
Maps showing the principal routes and cities associated with Paul’s missionary travels as described in Acts.
Corinth and the Roman World
A map showing Corinth’s strategic location within the Roman transportation and trade network.
Rome and the Early Church
A map showing Rome and its relationship to the wider Mediterranean world of early Christianity.
Thematic and Historical Maps
The Spread of Christianity in the Roman World
A map illustrating the geographical expansion of Christian communities from Jerusalem into Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, and beyond.
Early Jewish Christianity and Messianic Movements
A map showing important geographical regions associated with early Jewish-Christian communities and later developments.
Major Centers of Early Christianity
A map of important early Christian centers such as Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Ephesus, Corinth, Rome, and Constantinople.
Church Councils and Major Christian Centers
A map showing the locations of major councils, synods, and centers of Christian theological development.
How to Use These Maps
The maps in this section are intended to supplement the biblical text rather than replace it.
They can help readers:
- visualize journeys and distances,
- understand political and tribal boundaries,
- locate major cities and regions,
- trace missionary travel,
- understand the importance of roads and trade routes,
- and place biblical events within their broader historical setting.
Because ancient boundaries and road systems are not always known with absolute precision, many maps are necessarily approximate. Where reconstruction is uncertain or debated, that should be clearly stated.
Related Sections
02 — Weekly Bible Studies
Maps are linked where geography materially helps explain a passage.
05 — Biblical Themes
Some thematic studies may link to maps showing the geographical development of biblical ideas and historical events.
07 — Biblical Background
Background studies provide the historical, cultural, and geographical context that the maps visually support.
09 — Images & Media
This Maps section forms part of the project’s reusable visual reference library.
A Berean Note on Maps
Maps are interpretive tools.
They can clarify geography, routes, distances, and political relationships, but they also depend upon historical reconstruction.
For that reason, maps should be used with the same care as other secondary resources.
Where Scripture is explicit, Scripture remains our primary authority.
Where geography, boundaries, chronology, or routes must be reconstructed, the map should be treated as a historically informed aid rather than as part of the biblical text itself.