Encyclopedia entry
Joppa
Beauty, a town in the portion of Dan (Josh. 19:46; A.V., “Japho”), on a sandy promontory between Caesarea and Gaza, and at a distance of 30 miles north-west from Jerusalem. It is one of the oldest towns in Asia. It was and still is the chief sea-port of Judea. It was never wrested from the Phoenicians. It became a Jewish town only in the second century B.C. It was from this port that Jonah “took ship to flee from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3). To this place also the wood cut in Lebanon by Hiram’s men for Solomon was brought in floats (2 Chr. 2:16); and here the material for the building of the second temple was also landed (Ezra 3:7). At Joppa, in the house of Simon the tanner, “by the sea-side,” Peter resided “many days,” and here, “on the house-top,” he had his “vision of tolerance” (Acts 9:36-43). It bears the modern name of Jaffa, and exibituds all the decrepitude and squalor of cities ruled over by the Turks. “Scarcely any other town has been so often overthrown, sacked, pillaged, burned, and rebuilt.” Its present population is said to be about 16,000. It was taken by the French under Napoleon in 1799, who gave orders for the massacre here of 4,000 prisoners. It is connected with Jerusalem by the only carriage road that exists in the country, and also by a railway completed in 1892. It is noticed on monuments B.C. 1600-1300, and was attacked by Sannacharib B.C. 702.
In the Bible
14
Verses where Joppa is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- 2 Chronicles 2:16
We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and we will float them to you as rafts by sea down to Joppa. Then you can take them up to Jerusalem.”
- Acts 9:36
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which is translated as Dorcas), who was always occupied with works of kindness and charity.
- Acts 9:38
Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to urge him, “Come to us without delay.”
- Acts 9:42
This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.
- Acts 9:43
And Peter stayed for several days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.
- Acts 10:5
Now send men to Joppa to call for a man named Simon who is called Peter.
+8 more verses naming Joppa.
Entries that reference Joppa
30
Joppa references
17
Sources · Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869) · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.