Bible Location
Meaning: approaching; drawing near · 11 cross references · Modern-day map available
This Goshen entry refers to the district in Egypt where Jacob's family settled and where the Israelites lived before the Exodus, not the smaller secondary Goshen page elsewhere in the dataset. It is important because it became the home of Israel in Egypt and the setting of both preservation and eventual oppression. First appears in Gen 45:10.1
Place meaning
approaching; drawing near
Coordinates
30.73, 31.80
First appears
Gen 45:10
AI summary: Goshen is a foundational place in Israel's memory because it is where the family of Jacob settles under Joseph's care and grows into a people. Its fertile character helps explain why it could sustain them, but it also becomes the same region from which the story of oppression and deliverance unfolds. Because of this, Goshen stands at the beginning of Israel's life in Egypt and therefore at the beginning of the long narrative arc that leads to the Exodus. The cross references present Goshen as a place of settlement, increase, and the prehistory of redemption.1
Place meaning
approaching; drawing near
Latitude
30.73
Longitude
31.80
Bible references
11
A district in Egypt where Jacob and his family settled, and in which they remained till the Exodus (Gen. 45:10; 46:28, 29, 31, etc.). It is called “the land of Goshen” (47:27), and also simply “Goshen” (46:28), and “the land of Rameses” (47:11; Ex. 12:37), for the towns Pithom and Rameses lay within its borders; also Zoan or Tanis (Ps. 78:12). It lay on the east of the Nile, and apparently not far from the royal residence. It was “the best of the land” (Gen. 47:6, 11), but is now a desert. It is first mentioned in Joseph’s message to his father. It has been identified with the modern Wady Tumilat, lying between the eastern part of the Delta and the west border of Palestine. It was a pastoral district, where some of the king’s cattle were kept (Gen. 47:6). The inhabitants were not exclusively Israelites (Ex. 3:22; 11:2; 12:35, 36). 3
Source note: this 1893 dictionary language reflects its period and may be culturally insensitive or outdated. It is presented as historical source material, not as ai-BIBLE’s language, interpretation, or endorsement.
| Book | Cross-References |
|---|---|
| Gen | |
| Exod |
Figure1: A table of cross references between the selected passage and other passages (Data from Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.)
AI-assisted summary prepared for ai-BIBLE and stored as page content, based on dictionary material, place metadata, and linked Bible cross references.
Alistair de Blacquiere-Clarkson, “ai-BIBLE Bible Names JSON Factsheet Aggregating Material from Smith’s Bible Dictionary & Hitcocks’s New and Complete Analysis of the Bible.” ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
M.G.Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.