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Biblical Context Explorer

The Gospels happen in a real place and time. Click an event on the timeline to see where it sits on the land of first-century Israel — and what that setting meant to the people who were there.

Keep the first readers in view

This map is a schematic of the land as it was in Jesus' day — the regions, towns, and waters named in the Gospels, not a modern street map. Geography was theology to these writers: where something happened often carried as much meaning as what happened.

Mediterranean Sea Sea of Galilee Dead Sea Jordan River Galilee Decapolis Samaria Perea Judea

Schematic, not to scale — relative positions of the places named in the Life of Jesus.

Start exploring

Click any event →

Choose an event on the timeline to light up its place on the map and read about its setting.