Thrive · 2026 Memory Passages & Study Passage
The places that come up most across the Memory Passages, from Galilee — where the whole Study Passage takes place — down through the empire cities tied to Paul's letters. Jericho is left for Map 2 since it's a local Israel town, not a world-stage place. Shown at world scale so you can see how far apart these really are.
| Letter | Place | Why it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Babylon | Empire that destroyed Jerusalem and exiled Judah in 586 BC, starting the Dispersion that 1 Pet 1:1 and Jas 1:1 address | |
| Corinth | Major Achaian port city; recipient of 1 & 2 Corinthians | |
| Egypt | Where Israel was enslaved and from which Moses led them out | |
| Ephesus | Leading city of Roman Asia; Paul's longest single stay (Acts 19), recipient of Ephesians | |
| Galilee | Northern Israel; the setting of the whole Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5–7) | |
| Israel | The covenant land as a whole, promised to Abraham's descendants | |
| Jerusalem | Capital of Judah, site of the temple; named in Matt 5:35 as “the city of the great King” | |
| Jordan | Israel's principal river, crossed entering Canaan (Josh 3–4) | |
| Judah | Jacob's son and the southern kingdom/territory named for him | |
| Macedonia | Northern Greek province; the churches Paul praises for generosity (2 Cor 8–9) | |
| Rome | Capital of the empire; where 1 Peter was likely written from (“Babylon,” 1 Pet 5:13) |
Zoomed in on the land itself — the hill-country towns, coastal plain, and regions east of the Jordan that show up across the Memory Passages. Galilee, Judah and Jerusalem are lettered on Map 1 instead, and Jerusalem gets its own close-up on Map 4.
| Letter | Place | Why it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Anathoth | Priestly village in Benjamin; Jeremiah's hometown (Jer 1) | |
| Bashan | Fertile region east of the Jordan, famed for cattle and oaks — part of Manasseh (Josh 17) | |
| Bethel | Where Jacob saw the ladder (Gen 28:10–22); God calls himself “the God of Bethel” in Gen 31:13 | |
| Caesarea | Caesarea Maritima, the Roman port on the coast — not Caesarea Philippi; where Cornelius and Peter met (Acts 10) | |
| Canaan | The land as a whole before Israel’s conquest — the promised inheritance | |
| Capernaum | Jesus' home base for his Galilean ministry, on the lake's northwest shore | |
| En-tappuah / Michmethath | Boundary landmarks between Ephraim and Manasseh, next to Shechem (Josh 17) | |
| Gaza | Southernmost of the five Philistine cities (Josh 13:3); Midian's raiders reached it (Judg 6:4) | |
| Gibeon | Site of the great high place where Solomon asked God for wisdom (1 Kings 3) | |
| Gilead | Region east of the Jordan; its northern part fell to Manasseh (Josh 17), the rest to Gad and Reuben | |
| Gilgal | Israel's first camp after crossing the Jordan (Josh 4:19) | |
| Great Sea | The Mediterranean, Israel's western boundary (Josh 23:4) | |
| Jericho | City near the Jordan; Rahab hid the Israelite spies here (Josh 2), and Zacchaeus met Jesus here (Luke 19) | |
| Judea | Roman-era name for the territory of Judah, around Jerusalem — Judah itself is on Map 1 | |
| Kadesh | Oasis on Israel's wilderness route, also called Kadesh-barnea | |
| Lebanon | Mountain country north of Israel, famous for its cedars | |
| Mount Carmel | The coastal ridge where Elijah faced Baal's prophets (1 Kings 18) — not Carmel the town in Judah | |
| Nazareth | Jesus's hometown; village near Galilee's trade routes | |
| Negeb | The arid region south of Judah, not merely a compass direction (Ps 126:4) | |
| Ono / Hakkephirim | Coastal-plain town, and the site nearby where Nehemiah's enemies tried to lure him (Neh 6:2) | |
| Ophrah | Gideon's hometown, in Manasseh (Judg 6) | |
| Samaria | Central region between Galilee and Judea; home of the woman at the well (John 4) | |
| Sea of Galilee (Tiberias) | Same lake, two names — "Sea of Tiberias" in John 21 | |
| Sharon | The fertile coastal plain south of Mount Carmel (Isa 35:2) | |
| Shechem | Israel's covenant renewal site (Josh 24); in the hill country of Ephraim/Manasseh | |
| Sidon | Phoenician port north of Tyre; a Gentile city Jesus is asked about (Mark 7) | |
| Tyre | Phoenician port city, not part of Israel; paired with Sidon in Mark 7 and Luke 6 | |
| Way of Holiness | Isaiah's named highway (Isa 35:8) pictured running through this plain toward Zion — a symbolic road, not a surveyed one |
Everything beyond Israel and its neighbours — the Greek and Roman cities of the epistles, the empires that conquered and exiled God's people, the homeland Abraham left, and the wilderness Israel and Job knew. Same map scale as Map 1, so Rome, Macedonia, Ephesus, Israel, Egypt and Babylon appear here only as gray orientation labels.
| Letter | Place | Why it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Achaia | Roman province covering southern Greece; Corinth was its capital | |
| Antioch | Antioch in Syria (not Pisidian Antioch); base of Paul's missionary journeys and where believers were first called Christians | |
| Assyria | Empire that conquered and exiled the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kgs 17); later itself judged (Nah 1) | |
| Ethiopia | The region south of Egypt (ancient Cush), not the modern nation — paired with Ophir in Job 28's survey of far-off wealth | |
| Media | Kingdom paired with Persia throughout Esther | |
| Midian | Region in northwest Arabia where Moses fled and married Zipporah; later oppressed Israel in Gideon's day | |
| Ophir | A distant land proverbial for its fine gold (Job 28); its exact location is debated — shown here in Arabia, one traditional guess | |
| Paddan-aram | The Mesopotamian home of Laban's family, near Haran — where Jacob fled to and married (Gen 28-29) | |
| Persia | Empire that conquered Babylon; ruled the world of Esther and Nehemiah | |
| Plains of Moab | The staging ground east of the Jordan where Israel camped before entering Canaan | |
| Red Sea | The sea Israel crossed leaving Egypt (Ex 14); Rahab recalls it in Josh 2:10 | |
| Sinai / Horeb | Two names for the same mountain where God gave the Law to Moses | |
| Smyrna | City on the Asia Minor coast; one of the seven churches addressed in Revelation | |
| Susa | Winter capital of the Persian empire, setting of Esther | |
| Ur | Abram's birthplace, in Chaldea (Nehemiah 9:7), before he moved to Canaan | |
| Uz | Job's homeland, outside Israel, likely near Edom or northern Arabia |
A handful of Proper Nouns aren't separate towns at all — they're specific features of Jerusalem. Old Jerusalem sits on two hills, with deep valleys on three sides that meet in a V at the south end. The walled ridge on the east side goes by more than one name. North is at the top; this is a schematic city plan, not Maps 1–4.
| Letter | Place | Why it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Jebus | The older, pre-Israelite name of Jerusalem, before David captured it (1 Chr 11:4) | |
| Millo | A terraced earthwork rampart, not a building — David built out from it (1 Chr 11:8) and Solomon later built it up (1 Kgs 9:15) | |
| Mount of Olives | The hill facing the city across the Kidron Valley | |
| Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) | Ravine wrapping the west and south sides of the city, rendered "hell" in Matt 5:22, 29, 30 — a real place used as a picture of judgment | |
| Water Gate | Gate in Jerusalem's wall; the square before it is where Ezra read the Law aloud (Neh 8:1–3) | |
| Zion / Mount Zion | Originally the fortress ridge David captured — the City of David (1 Chr 11:5); the name later stretched to cover the temple hill and the whole city (Zeph 3:14) |