 It was suggested by Edward Robinson that Jifna was <unk> 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 <unk> <unk> 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 <unk> , situated north of <unk> ( al @-@ <unk> ) , and is also mentioned in the Talmud as Ben <unk> , a " city of priests " . The latter portion of its <unk> name derives from the Hebrew root word <unk> , meaning " vine " . 
