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Jerusalem


Ji-roo´suh-luhm

The central city of Judah, situated on the crest of the Judean mountains, some twenty miles west of the Dead Sea’s northern end and thirty miles east of the Mediterranean Sea. Jerusalem was taken for David by his uncle, Joab (2Sam 5:6-8; 1Chr 11:4-6), winning for the latter the position of commanding general of David’s armies from that time on. Seven years later, David transferred his capital from the Judahite town of Hebron to the more tribally neutral Jerusalem, whose citadel became known as the “City of David.” Recognizing the need to centralize the Israelite identity of the fractious tribes around the monarchy, David brought to Jerusalem the Ark of the Covenant, the central pilgrimage shrine object and symbol of unity of all Israel. The city thus became the cultic as well as the political and military administrative center of the nation. Solomon continued David’s policies, constructing a Temple north of the City of David. This Temple remained the principal (and, eventually, exclusive) site for approved worship. Jerusalem was destroyed and depopulated by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE and lay for the next half century in the desolation described so vividly in Lamentations. A group of Jewish returnees completed a modest rebuilding of the Temple between 521 and 515 BCE. Much later, Herod the Great completely changed the face of Jerusalem to that of a typical classical city, building a royal palace and expanding the Temple. The beautification of the city made it that much more appealing to pilgrims, who came in tens of thousands for the major holy days. Christian and Jewish writers alike would seize upon Jerusalem as a symbol for the spiritual abode of God. The author of (Rev 21:9-22:5) draws heavily upon the New Temple imagery in (Ezek 40-48) to describe the “holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.” In 70 CE, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman armies, an event that proved cataclysmic for both Jews and Christians.

  • Powell, Mark Allan, ed. HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. Abridged Edition. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009.