Jaffa overview

Israel has a very flat coastline and few places for ships to dock. Though it’s not a major port, one exception is in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv. This video shows the small harbor at Jaffa, with Tel Aviv in the distance. It’s a good illustration for the story of Jonah, since he boarded a ship in Joppa. Solomon oversaw a vibrant shipping industry, and the king of Tyre floated lumber from the Cedars of Lebanon to Israel on the Mediterranean (1 Kings 5:9). The most logical place for Solomon to have received the shipment was at Joppa. If not at Joppa, the shipment would have landed near this location and have then been transported overland by the Aijalon (Ayalon) Valley. By the time of the New Testament, the town went by the name Jaffa. Simon Peter lived here for a short while with a tanner named Simon. Cornelius sent for Simon Peter at Jaffa. Be sure to see our video, “Jaffa to Caesarea” for more on that story.