{
  "id": "dict_002645",
  "term": "Ijon",
  "slug": "ijon",
  "letter": "I",
  "entry_type": "place_name",
  "entry_family": "theological_term",
  "depth_profile": "standard",
  "short_definition": "A biblical town in northern Israel, mentioned in Old Testament historical narratives. It is a place-name rather than a theological term.",
  "simple_one_line": "Ijon was a town in northern Israel mentioned in the Old Testament.",
  "tooltip_text": "A northern Israelite town named in accounts of invasion and conquest.",
  "aliases": [],
  "scripture_references": [],
  "original_language_terms": [],
  "related_entries": [
    "Dan",
    "Abel-beth-maacah",
    "Naphtali",
    "Tiglath-pileser III",
    "Aram-Damascus",
    "Kedesh"
  ],
  "see_also": [
    "Geography of Israel",
    "Northern Kingdom",
    "Assyrian invasion",
    "Biblical cities and towns"
  ],
  "lede_intro": "Ijon was a town in the far north of Israel, mentioned in Old Testament historical records of warfare and territorial change. Its significance in Scripture is primarily geographical and historical.",
  "at_a_glance_definition": "A biblical town in northern Israel, known from passages describing foreign invasions and boundary regions.",
  "at_a_glance_key_points": [
    "A real place-name in the biblical record.",
    "Appears in accounts of Aramean and Assyrian activity.",
    "Likely located in the northern border region near Dan and Abel-beth-maacah.",
    "Important historically, but not a doctrinal term."
  ],
  "description_academic_short": "Ijon was a town in northern Israel, likely in the border region of Naphtali near Dan and Abel-beth-maacah. Scripture mentions it in connection with military campaigns and territorial upheaval, especially in the northern kingdom period. It is best classified as a biblical place-name rather than a theological concept.",
  "description_academic_full": "Ijon is a biblical town in the far north of Israel, associated with the northern border region of the kingdom and mentioned in historical narratives that describe foreign incursions into the land. The Old Testament connects Ijon with the campaigns of Ben-hadad of Aram and later Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, indicating that it stood in a strategically vulnerable area affected by invasion and conquest. Scripture does not develop Ijon as a theological idea; its importance is mainly historical and geographical. For that reason, it should be treated as a place entry rather than a doctrine or theological term.",
  "background_biblical_context": "Ijon appears in lists and narratives tied to conflict in northern Israel. Its mention helps locate the impact of regional warfare and divine judgment in the historical books.",
  "background_historical_context": "The town likely stood in the northern frontier zone of Israel, near other settlements in the Upper Galilee / Naphtali region. Its repeated association with invasion suggests strategic significance in border warfare.",
  "background_jewish_ancient_context": "As with many biblical towns, Ijon is known only from scattered scriptural references. Later Jewish historical memory preserves its name chiefly as part of the geography of the northern kingdom.",
  "key_texts_primary": [
    "1 Kings 15:20",
    "2 Kings 15:29",
    "2 Chronicles 16:4"
  ],
  "key_texts_secondary": [
    "Deuteronomy 28:49-52 (broad covenant context for invasion)",
    "Isaiah 10:28-32 (northern advance imagery, if discussed broadly)"
  ],
  "original_language_note": "Hebrew: עִיּוֹן (Iyyon), a place-name. The meaning is uncertain in detail, but the term functions as a proper noun in the biblical text.",
  "theological_significance": "Ijon has no direct doctrinal teaching of its own. Its significance lies in illustrating the historical reality of covenant judgment, border vulnerability, and the geopolitical setting of Israel’s northern kingdom.",
  "philosophical_explanation": "Ijon is best understood as a concrete historical referent, not an abstract concept. In biblical theology, places often matter because they anchor events in real history and real geography.",
  "interpretive_cautions": "Do not turn Ijon into an allegory or doctrinal symbol. Its value is historical, and location details remain approximate because Scripture does not provide a full geographic profile.",
  "major_views_note": "The main question is identification rather than meaning: scholars generally treat Ijon as a northern Israelite town, though its exact site is uncertain.",
  "doctrinal_boundaries": "This entry should not be used to support speculative claims about doctrine, prophecy, or typology. It is a geographical term anchored in biblical history.",
  "practical_significance": "Ijon reminds readers that Scripture is rooted in real places and events. Even small towns in the biblical record contribute to the larger story of Israel’s history and God’s dealings with His people.",
  "meta_description": "Ijon was a biblical town in northern Israel mentioned in Old Testament historical accounts of invasion and conquest.",
  "public_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/ijon/",
  "json_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/data/dictionary/ijon.json",
  "final_disposition": "PUBLISH_CANONICAL"
}