Jabneel
Jabneel is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Galilee in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tel Yin’am. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
This northern Jabneel is mentioned in Joshua 19:33, where it marks a point on the boundary of the tribal territory of Naphtali. The border description places Jabneel near Lakkum and extends from Heleph to the oak at Zaanannim, situating this city in the lower Galilee region near the southwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Unlike its southern namesake on the coastal plain, this Jabneel is referenced only in the boundary description and does not appear in other biblical narratives. Nevertheless, the territory of Naphtali in which it sat became the setting for significant events in Israelite history. The region witnessed Barak and Deborah's victory over the Canaanite general Sisera (Judges 4-5), and Naphtali's warriors were praised for their bravery in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:18). Centuries later, this Galilean territory was among the first to fall to the Assyrian invasion under Tiglath-pileser III in 733 BC (2 Kings 15:29). In the New Testament era, the broader region became the primary setting for Jesus' ministry, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy that "in Galilee of the nations" a great light would dawn (Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:15-16).
Archaeological & Historical Notes
This northern Jabneel is identified with Tel Yin'am (also known as Tell en-Na'am), a prominent mound located southwest of the Sea of Galilee at the junction of the Jezreel Valley and the Jordan Rift. The site commands an important crossroads where routes from the coast, the Jezreel Valley, and the Jordan Valley converged. Excavations and surveys have revealed occupation layers spanning the Early Bronze Age through the Iron Age. Egyptian texts from the New Kingdom period mention the site as a Canaanite city, and Thutmose III lists it among his conquests. The tell's strategic position explains its long occupation history. Archaeological remains include fortification walls, domestic structures, and pottery assemblages typical of Galilean settlement patterns during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages.
Verse Appearances (1)
Josh
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]