town or village

Joppa

• Today Jaffa

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Events

1. AD 1192Richard I and Saladin make a three-year truce (the Treaty of Jaffa); pilgrims may visit Jerusalem

In ancient writers

• Strabo, Geography 16.2.28 — At Joppa the coast bends north; here, some say, Andromeda was exposed to the sea monster. The town stands high and is said to command a view of Jerusalem; the Jews used it as their arsenal when they came down to the sea.
• Josephus, Jewish War 3.414–416 — In AD 67 refugees rebuilt Joppa, which Cestius had left desolate, built many ships and turned pirate along the coasts of Syria, Phoenicia and Egypt until Vespasian sent troops against them.

History

Joppa, today Jaffa in Tel Aviv-Yafo, stands on a rocky headland with a small natural harbour, the chief port of the central coast. It came under Egypt in the fifteenth century BC, when Thutmose III listed it among his conquests; an Egyptian tale on Papyrus Harris 500, the Taking of Joppa, tells how his general Djehuty brought soldiers into the town hidden in sacks. In the Amarna age it held Egyptian royal granaries, and excavators have uncovered the gateway of the Egyptian fortress, known as the Ramesses Gate.

Joshua names Joppa at the border of the lot of Dan. Cedar from Lebanon was floated in rafts to Joppa for Solomon's temple and again for the temple rebuilt after the exile, and Jonah went down to Joppa to find a ship for Tarshish. In 701 BC Sennacherib of Assyria took Joppa, then a town of Sidqa, king of Ashkelon. In the Persian period the sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II of Sidon records that the Persian king gave Dor and Joppa to the Sidonians.

In the Maccabean wars Judas burned Joppa's harbour after its people had drowned the Jews living among them; Jonathan took the city, and Simon garrisoned it and made it the Jews' port. Pompey freed Joppa in 63 BC, Julius Caesar returned it to the Jews under Hyrcanus II, and Augustus gave it to Herod. In AD 66 Cestius Gallus took Joppa, killed its people and burned it; when refugees made it a base for piracy, Vespasian's troops took it again in 67. Josephus mentions the rocks there where, by legend, Andromeda had been chained.

In Acts the disciple Tabitha, also called Dorcas, died at Joppa, and Peter, called from nearby Lydda, raised her to life. He stayed many days with Simon a tanner, whose house was by the sea; on its roof he saw the vision of the sheet let down from heaven, and from here he went with the messengers of Cornelius to Caesarea. Describing Paula's pilgrimage in the 380s, Jerome mentions Joppa, close to her road at Lydda, as the port of Jonah's flight, and by the fifth century the town had its own bishop.

Scripture: Josh 19:46; 2 Chr 2:16; Ezra 3:7; Jonah 1:3; Acts 9:36–43; Acts 10:5–23; Acts 11:5–11

Checked against its sources; not yet read by a historian.

Verses (14)

Josh 19:46

And Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border before Japho.

2 Chr 2:16

And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.

Ezra 3:7

They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.

Jonah 1:3

But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Acts 9:36

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.

Acts 9:38

And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them.

Acts 9:42

And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord.

Acts 9:43

And it came to pass, that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner.

Acts 10:5

And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:

Acts 10:8

And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.

Acts 10:23

Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

Acts 10:32

Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.

Acts 11:5

I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

Acts 11:13

And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;

King James Version

Tours through this place

• Jonah →
• The first return and the second Temple →
• The apostle Peter →