jabneel Summary and Overview

built by God. (1.) A town in the north boundary of Judah (Josh. 15:11), called afterwards by the Greeks Jamnia, the modern Yebna, 11 miles south of Jaffa. After the fall of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), it became one of the most populous cities of Judea, and the seat of a celebrated school. (2.) A town on the border of Naphtali (Josh. 19:33). Its later name was Kefr Yemmah, "the village by the sea," on the south shore of Lake Merom.

JAB'NEEL (Jehovah causes to be built). 1. A town of Judah; called also Jabneh. Josh 15:11; 2 Chr 26:6. Uzziah captured it from the Philistines and destroyed its fortifications. It was noted during the wars of the Maccabees, and called by Josephus, Jamnia. It was a large and populous place, and after the destruction of Jerusalem was for some time the seat of a famous Jewish school of learning and of the Sanhedrin. It is identified with Yebnah, a considerable village about 3 miles from the Mediterranean and 12 miles south of Joppa. The Crusaders built a fortress here, of which the ruins still remain. A tomb is shown, reputed as the tomb of Gamaliel, a descendant of the noted Gamaliel who instructed Paul. There are the ruins of an ancient church. The port of Yebnah is naturally one of the best on the coast of Palestine below Csesarea, but there are dangerous reefs hidden beneath the waters. 2. A place in Naphtali, Josh 19:33; called, in the Talmud, Caphar Yama. Conder identifies it with Yemma, 4 miles south-west of the Sea of Galilee.

(See LIBNAB ). 1. On the northern boundary of Judah, near the sea (Joshua 15:11); Josephus (Ant. 5:1, section 22) assigns it to Daniel That tribe and the Philistines were in constant warfare for the towns in the lowland. So in 2 Chronicles 26:6 it was in the Philistines’ possession, and had its wall broken down by Uzziah. Its harbour, like that of Ascalon and Gaza, was called Majumas, "the place on the sea." it had a school of learned doctors at the time of the fall of Jerusalem. The burial place of Gamaliel, according to Jewish tradition. Under the crusaders it was called Ibelin, and gave a title to a line of counts. Now Yebna or Ibna, 11 miles S. of Jaffa, four from Akir (Ekron). 2. A landmark on Naphtali’ s boundary (Joshua 19:33); in the hills N.W. of the lake of Galilee.