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 appear 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 the Talmud as Ben Gufnin , a " city of priests " . The latter portion of its Talmudic name derive from the Hebrew root word gefen , meaning " vine " .