Eth-kazin
Eth-kazin is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Galilee in modern-day Israel. Known today as Kefr Kenna. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Eth-kazin is a boundary marker mentioned in Joshua 19:13 as part of the delineation of the tribal territory of Zebulun during the initial allocation of the land of Canaan. The text describes the boundary of Zebulun as passing through Gath-hepher, Eth-kazin, and reaching to Rimmon, then turning toward Neah before bending north to Hannathon with the valley of Iphtah-el marking the western limit. The town thus functioned primarily as a fixed reference point in the cadastral survey of Canaan's tribal boundaries rather than as a prominent settlement with its own narrative history. Its precise location in lower Galilee placed it in the fertile agricultural zone of the Jezreel and Beth Netofa valleys, territory that sustained dense settlement throughout the biblical period. The identification of such boundary markers is important for reconstructing the administrative geography of early Israel, even when the sites themselves have left no independent historical record.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Eth-kazin is tentatively identified with Kefr Kenna (also spelled Kafr Kanna), a village in lower Galilee northeast of Nazareth, modern Israel. Kefr Kenna is better known as the traditional site of Cana of Galilee where Jesus performed his first miracle (John 2:1–11), though some scholars prefer Khirbet Qana further north for that identification. Survey work at Kefr Kenna has identified pottery spanning the Iron Age through the Byzantine period, consistent with long-term occupation in the region. The lower Galilee zone around the Beth Netofa Valley was densely settled in antiquity, with numerous Iron Age sites attesting to Zebulunite territorial presence. The identification of Eth-kazin with Kefr Kenna remains tentative and unconfirmed by excavation.
Verse Appearances (1)
Josh
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →