Joppa
Joppa is an ancient city mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments, located in the region of Coastal Plain in modern-day Israel. Known today as Jaffa. It appears across 14 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Joppa, the ancient Mediterranean port city, plays a recurring role across both Testaments. It first appears in Joshua 19:46 as part of the territory allotted to Dan. In 2 Chronicles 2:16, Solomon arranged for cedars of Lebanon to be floated as rafts down the coast to Joppa for the construction of the Jerusalem temple, and Ezra 3:7 records the same arrangement for the Second Temple. The prophet Jonah famously fled to Joppa to board a ship to Tarshish, seeking to escape God's call to preach to Nineveh (Jonah 1:3). In the New Testament, Joppa becomes a pivotal site in the early church. The disciple Tabitha (Dorcas) was raised from the dead by Peter in Joppa (Acts 9:36-43), and Peter stayed there with Simon the tanner. Most significantly, it was on the rooftop in Joppa that Peter received the vision of the sheet with unclean animals, which prepared him to bring the gospel to the Gentile Cornelius (Acts 10:5-23). Joppa thus served as the gateway for the gospel's expansion beyond Jewish boundaries.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Joppa is identified with modern Jaffa (Yafo), now part of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality on Israel's Mediterranean coast. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited port cities in the world, with archaeological evidence of occupation dating back to the Middle Bronze Age. Excavations conducted by Jacob Kaplan and others from the 1950s through the 1990s uncovered Egyptian, Philistine, Israelite, Persian, and Hellenistic remains. Notable finds include a Late Bronze Age gate, a Ramesses II inscribed doorjamb, and Hellenistic fortifications. The ancient harbor, though now silted, is still visible. Old Jaffa has been extensively restored as a tourist and cultural district, preserving its historic character while overlooking the Mediterranean, with a traditional site of Simon the Tanner's house still shown to visitors.
Verse Appearances (14)
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →