it was suggested by edward robinson that jifna was ophni of benjamin, mentioned in the book of joshua as one of the "twelve cities." nothing thereafter is recorded in its history until the time of the roman conquest during the 1st century bce, when it appears in various records as "gophna". gophna was described by flavius josephus as the second city of judea, after jerusalem, in his account of the first jewish-roman wars during the 1st century ce. the town is depicted as gophna in the map of madaba, situated north of gibeon (al-jib), and is also mentioned in rabbinic literature as "beit gūfnīn", literally meaning a "house of vineyards". the talmud mentions the place as being inhabited by priests of aaron's lineage.