Everything visual from the study, gathered in one place: the three maps and the tribal explorer, the cities of refuge, the cycle of the judges, the line from Ruth to Christ, and a profile of every major figure. Click any map to enlarge it.
The Maps
The world of the story
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The Conquest of Canaan
Israel's road out of Egypt and into the land, with the central, southern, and northern campaigns of Joshua (weeks 1–3).
Map: Biblica, Inc. — “Open Bible Maps,” CC BY-SA 4.0
The Kingdom of Saul and David
Saul's kingdom (orange), David's far larger reach (blue), and Solomon's later sphere (green). The stage for 1–2 Samuel (weeks 8–15).
Map: Biblica, Inc. — “Open Bible Maps,” CC BY-SA 4.0
The Twelve Tribal Allotments
Explore each tribe
Once the land was taken, it was divided by lot among the tribes (week 3). Click any tribe to read its inheritance and what the rest of Scripture says about it.
Map: Biblica, Inc. — “Open Bible Maps,” CC BY-SA 4.0
Explore each tribe
Tribal Allotment
Pick a tribe
Choose any tribe above to read who settled there, the cities they held, and what the rest of Scripture says about them.
Note the half-tribe of Manasseh, split by the Jordan, and that Levi received no land at all.
Tribal Allotment
Asher
The northwest, a strip of fertile coast running up toward Phoenicia (Joshua 19:24–31). The name means "happy" or "blessed."
Key area
The coastal plain near Acco and Mount Carmel's slopes.
Watch for
Asher never drove out the coastal Canaanites and "lived among" them (Judges 1:31–32).
Tribal Allotment
Naphtali
The northern hill country west of the Sea of Galilee (Joshua 19:32–39), with Hazor on its border and Kedesh, a city of refuge, within it.
Key cities
Kedesh-Naphtali, near Hazor.
Watch for
Barak came from Kedesh (Judges 4). Isaiah promised this dark region would see a great light (Isaiah 9:1–2).
Tribal Allotment
Zebulun
Lower Galilee, set between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean (Joshua 19:10–16).
Key area
The hills around what would later be Nazareth.
Watch for
Jesus grew up in territory once allotted to Zebulun and Naphtali (Matthew 4:13–16).
Tribal Allotment
Issachar
The rich farmland of the Jezreel Valley (Joshua 19:17–23).
Key area
The Jezreel (Esdraelon) Valley, below Mount Tabor.
Watch for
Issachar produced men "who had understanding of the times" (1 Chronicles 12:32).
Tribal Allotment
Manasseh — the divided tribe
Joseph's elder son, given a double portion split by the Jordan (Joshua 13; 17).
Key fact
The daughters of Zelophehad received their father's inheritance here (Joshua 17:3–6).
Watch for
Being split by the river left East Manasseh exposed to invasion.
Tribal Allotment
Ephraim
Joseph's younger son, given the greater blessing. Central hill country holding Shiloh and Shechem (Joshua 16).
Key cities
Shiloh and Shechem.
Watch for
Joshua was an Ephraimite; the name became shorthand for the northern kingdom.
Tribal Allotment
Dan
First given a small coastal territory beside the Philistines (Joshua 19:40–48); much of the tribe later migrated north and seized Laish (Judges 18).
Key fact
Samson was a Danite.
Watch for
"From Dan to Beersheba" described Israel's whole length.
Tribal Allotment
Benjamin
The smallest tribe, wedged between Ephraim and Judah (Joshua 18:11–28), holding the border around Jerusalem.
Key fact
Saul and the apostle Paul both came from Benjamin.
Watch for
Judges ends with a civil war that nearly wipes Benjamin out (Judges 19–21).
Tribal Allotment
Judah — the royal tribe
The largest southern territory (Joshua 15), the tribe of the scepter (Genesis 49:10), containing Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem.
Key cities
Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem.
Watch for
David came from Judah; Jesus is "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" (Revelation 5:5).
Tribal Allotment
Simeon
Given towns inside Judah's southern territory (Joshua 19:1–9), including Beersheba.
Key fact
Jacob prophesied Simeon would be "divided" and "scattered" (Genesis 49:7).
Watch for
Simeon was largely absorbed into Judah, as foretold.
Tribal Allotment
Gad
East of the Jordan in the heart of Gilead (Joshua 13:24–28), chosen for its good pasture.
Key city
Ramoth-Gilead, a city of refuge.
Watch for
Fierce warriors "swift as gazelles" (1 Chronicles 12:8), but exposed to raiders.
Tribal Allotment
Reuben
Jacob's firstborn who forfeited his birthright (Genesis 49:3–4), settling east of the Jordan (Joshua 13).
Key fact
Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh built the great altar of witness by the Jordan (Joshua 22).
Watch for
Settling outside the Jordan kept them on the margins.
The Six Cities of Refuge
Where the innocent could flee
Six towns, three west of the Jordan and three east, spaced so no Israelite was ever far from refuge (Joshua 20; week 3).
West of the Jordan
Kedesh Far to the north, in the hills of Naphtali.
Shechem In the central hill country of Ephraim.
Hebron In the southern territory of Judah.
East of the Jordan
Golan In Bashan, in the half-tribe of Manasseh.
Ramoth-Gilead In Gilead, in the territory of Gad.
Bezer On the eastern plateau of Reuben.
The Cycle of the Judges
The engine of the book of Judges
The same five stages turn through nearly every chapter, each turn sinking lower (week 4). Click each stage to read it.
Stage One
Rebellion
"The people of Israel did what was evil… and served the Baals" (2:11). The root sin was forgetting; a people who lose the memory of grace reach for another god.
Stage Two
Retribution
"He sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies" (2:14). God withdrew His hand and let the consequence of idolatry arrive as oppression.
Stage Three
Repentance — or a cry
"The people of Israel cried out to the Lord" (3:9). Pain drove them back, and God listened even when their hearts were only half in it.
Stage Four
Rescue
"The Lord raised up a deliverer" (3:9). God keeps showing up, rescuing a people who did nothing to earn it. The deliverance is always grace.
Stage Five
Rest — until it isn't
"And the land had rest forty years" (3:11). But the peace was only as durable as the leader, and the leaders kept dying.
The Royal Line
From Ruth to David to Christ
The genealogy that closes the book of Ruth becomes the royal road to the Messiah (week 7). It deliberately keeps the outsider women the New Testament remembers.
