Places of Scripture

Each light is one place named in the Bible, set at its most likely location. The bigger the light, the more verses name that place. Its colour is the section of the Bible that names it first.

• Torah
• Prophets
• Writings
• New Testament

Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it.Genesis 13:17 (ASV)

How this picture was made

The places

OpenBible.info's Bible Geocoding Data lists 1,342 places named in the Bible. For each place it lists every location that scholars have proposed, with a score out of 1,000 for how confident scholarship is. 500 or more means at least 50% confident.

What was kept

• Only the best location for each place, and only if it scores 500 or more: 712 places.
• Left off: 566 places whose best location is less certain, 57 places with no verse in the 66 books, and 7 with no location proposed.

How it was drawn

The land is the coastline only: no borders and no modern names. The area of each light grows with the number of verses that name the place. Colour is the section that names it first, reading in Tanakh order.

What it shows

• The places named in the most verses are Jerusalem (955), Egypt (658), Babylon (296) and the Jordan (202).
• Torah 146 places, Prophets 377, Writings 73, New Testament 116. The blue lights reach west across Asia Minor, Greece and Italy.

What it does not show

Where scholars are unsure, the place is left off rather than guessed. Journeys and borders are not drawn.