Jorkeam
Jorkeam is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Khirbet er Raqqa. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Jorkeam appears in 1 Chronicles 2:44, within the genealogical records of the tribe of Judah. In this passage, Raham is identified as the father of Jorkeam, though the context indicates that Jorkeam is a settlement founded or populated by Raham's descendants rather than a personal name alone. This is a common pattern in the Chronicles genealogies, where place names and personal names intermingle, reflecting the close identification between clan founders and the towns they established. Jorkeam thus belonged to the Calebite branch of Judah, the descendants of Caleb who settled in the southern hill country and Negev region. Many scholars identify Jorkeam with Jokdeam of Joshua 15:56, as both names share similar Hebrew consonants and are located in the same general area of the Judean highlands. This Calebite settlement was part of the network of towns that formed the territorial base of Judah's most prominent clan, the family of Caleb, who was renowned for his wholehearted faithfulness to God during the wilderness wandering and conquest.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Jorkeam, likely identical with Jokdeam, is tentatively identified with Khirbet er-Raqqa in the Judean hill country south of Hebron. The identification is based on the convergence of the genealogical data in 1 Chronicles 2 with the geographical lists in Joshua 15, both pointing to the same region of Calebite settlement. The site lies in an area rich with Iron Age remains, consistent with the period of Israelite settlement and the Judean monarchy. Surface surveys have noted pottery sherds and architectural fragments, but no formal excavation has been conducted. The surrounding landscape of terraced hillsides and seasonal wadis reflects the agricultural character of the Judean highlands that sustained these ancient communities.
Verse Appearances (1)
1Chr
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]