Jabneel

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Jabneel. 1. A town on the N. border of Judah, near Mt. Baalah, and close to the sea (  Joshua 15:11 ). In   2 Chronicles 26:6 it is mentioned under the name Jabneh , along with Gath and Ashdod, as one of the cities captured from the Philistines by Uzziah. Although these are the only Ot references, it is frequently mentioned (under the name Jamnia ) in the Books of Maccabees ( 1Ma 4:15; 1Ma 5:58; 1Ma 10:69; 1Ma 15:40 , 2Ma 12:8-9; 2Ma 12:40 ) and in Josephus. Judas is said to have burned its harbour; it was captured by Simon from the Syrians. In Jdt 2:28 it is called Jemnaan . After various vicissitudes it was captured in the war of the Jews by Vespasian. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Jabneel, now called Jamnia, became the home of the Sanhedrin. At the time of the Crusades the castle Ibelin stood on the site. To-day the village of Yebna stands on the ruined remains of these ancient occupations. It stands 170 feet above the sea on a prominent hill S. of the Wady Rubin . The ancient Majumas or harbour of Jamnia lies to the West. ‘The port would seem to be naturally better than any along the coast of Palestine S. of Cæsarea’ (Warren).

2. An unknown site on the N. boundary of Naphtali not far from the Jordan (  Joshua 19:33 ).

E. W. G. Masterman.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Jab'ne-el. (building of God).

1. One of the points on the northern boundary of Judah, not quite at the sea, though near it.  Joshua 15:11. There is no sign, however, of its ever having been occupied by Judah. Josephus attributes it to the Danites.

There was a constant struggle going on between that tribe and the Philistines, for the possession of all the places in the Shefelah , or lowland plains, and it is not surprising that the next time we meet with Jabneel, it should be in the hands of the latter.  2 Chronicles 26:6.

Uzziah dispossessed them of it and demolished its fortifications. Called also Jabneh . At the time of the fall of Jerusalem, Jabneh was one of the most populous places of Judea. The modern village of Yebna , more accurately Ibna , stands about two miles from the sea, on a slight eminence just south of the Nahr Rubin .

2. One of the landmarks on the boundary of Naphtali,  Joshua 19:33, in upper Galilee.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

(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.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

A town on the border of Naphtali ( Joshua 19:33 ). Its later name was Kefr Yemmah, "the village by the sea," on the south shore of Lake Merom.

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Jabneel'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/j/jabneel.html. 1897.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Jabneel (jăb'ne-el or jăb'ne el ), Jehovah causes to be built. A town of Judah; called also Jabneh.  Joshua 15:11;  2 Chronicles 26:6. Uzziah captured it from the Philistines. It was called by Josephus, Jamnia, and after the destruction of Jerusalem was for some time the seat of a famous Jewish school of learning. It is identified with Yebnah, a Tillage about 170 feet above the Mediterranean and 12 miles south of Joppa.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 15:11 2 Chronicles 26:6

Later the city was called Jamnia and became a center of scribal activity for the Jews. See  Joshua 19:33 ); modern tell en-Naam or khirbet Yemma, west-southwest of the Sea of Galilee and northeast of Mount Tabor.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Hebrew Yabneel', יִבְנְאֵל , built by God; Sept. Ι᾿αβνήλ, but Ι᾿αβιήλ in  Joshua 19:33), the name of two places.

1. A town on the northern boundary of Judah, between Mount Baalah and the Mediterranean ( Joshua 15:11); probably the same elsewhere ( 2 Chronicles 26:6) called Jabneh (See Jabneh) (q.v.) or Jamniani ( 1 Maccabees 4:15, etc.).

2. A city on the border of Naphtali, mentioned between Nekeb and Lakum ( Joshua 19:33). Schwarz (Palest. p. 181, 182) affirms that the later name of Jabneel was Ker Yameah, "the village, by the sea," and on Talmudical grounds (comp. Reland's Palcest. p. 545, 716) locates it on the southern shore of Lake Merom, and thinks it identical with the Jaminia or Jainnuith mentioned by Josephus as lying in this section of Upper Galilee (Ι᾿άμνια, Life, 37; Ι᾿αμνίθ , War, 2, 20, 6). This is ‘ not improbable, as the boundary-line here described appears to have extended from the northern limit of Palestine along the eastern bounds of Naphtali to the Jordan proper. It is perhaps the village Ja'tneh, visited by Dr. Robinson, on the declivity of the western mountain south of Lake Huleh, with a wady containing a small stream on the south of the village, and a few ruins of the Jewish type (Later Researches, p. 361,362).