International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
JERUSALEMje-roo'-sa-lem:
I. THE NAME
1. In Cuneiform
2. In Hebrew
3. In Greek and Latin
4. The Meaning of Jerusalem
5. Other Names
II. GEOLOGY, CLIMATE AND SPRINGS
1. Geology
2. Climate and Rainfall
3. The Natural Springs
III. THE NATURAL SITE
1. The Mountains Around
2. The Valleys
3. The Hills
IV. GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY OF JERUSALEM
1. Description of Josephus
2. Summary of the Names of the Five Hills
3. The Akra
4. The Lower City
5. City of David and Zion
V. EXCAVATIONS AND ANTIQUITIES
1. Robinson
2. Wilson, and the Palestine Exploration Fund (1865)
3. Warren and Conder
4. Maudslay
5. Schick
6. Clermont-Ganneau
7. Bliss and Dickie
8. Jerusalem Archaeological Societies
VI. THE CITY'S WALLS AND GATES
1. The Existing Walls
2. Wilson's Theory
3. The Existing Gates
4. Buried Remains of Earlier Walls
5. The Great Dam of the Tyropoeon
6. Ruins of Ancient Gates
7. Josephus' Description of the Walls
8. First Wall
9. Second Wall
10. Third Wall
11. Date of Second Wall
12. Nehemiah's Account of the Walls
13. Valley Gate
14. Dung Gate
15. Fountain Gate
16. Water Gate
17. Horse Gate
18. Sheep Gate
19. Fish Gate
20. The "Old Gate"
21. Gate of Ephraim
22. Tower of the Furnaces
23. The Gate of Benjamin
24. Upper Gate of the Temple
25. The Earlier Walls
VII. ANTIQUARIAN REMAINS CONNECTED WITH THE WATER SUPPLY
1. Gihon: The Natural Spring
2. The Aqueduct of the Canaanites
3. Warren's Shaft
4. Hezekiah's "Siloam" Aqueduct
5. Other Aqueducts at Gihon
6. Bir Eyyub
7. Varieties of Cisterns
8. Birket Israel
9. Pool of Bethesda
10. The Twin Pools
11. Birket Chammam el BaTrak
12. Birket Mamilla
13. Birket es Sultan
14. "Solomon's Pools"
15. Low-Level Aqueduct
16. High-Level Aqueduct
17. Dates of Construction of these Aqueducts
VIII. TOMBS, ANTIQUARIAN REMAINS AND ECCLESIASTICAL SITES
1. "The Tombs of the Kings"
2. "Herod's Tomb"
3. "Absalom's Tomb"
4. The "Egyptian Tomb"
5. The "Garden Tomb"
6. Tomb of "Simon the Just"
7. Other Antiquities
8. Ecclesiastical Sites
IX. HISTORY
1. Tell el-Amarna Correspondence
2. Joshua's Conquest
3. Site of the Jebusite City
4. David
5. Expansion of the City
6. Solomon
7. Solomon's City Wall
8. The Disruption (933 B.C.)
9. Invasion of Shishak (928 B.C.)
10. City Plundered by Arabs
11. Hazael King of Syria Bought Off (797 B.C.)
12. Capture of the City by Jehoash of Israel
13. Uzziah's Refortification (779-740 B.C.)
14. Ahaz Allies with Assyria (736-728 B.C.)
15. Hezekiah's Great Works
16. Hezekiah's Religious Reforms
17. Manasseh's Alliance with Assyria
18. His Repair of the Walls
19. Josiah and Religious Reforms (640-609 B.C.)
20. Jeremiah Prophesies the Approaching Doom
21. Nebuchadnezzar Twice Takes Jerusalem (586 B.C.)
22. Cyrus and the First Return (538 B.C.)
23. Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls
24. Bagohi Governor
25. Alexander the Great
26. The Ptolemaic Rule
27. Antiochus the Great
28. Hellenization of the City under Antiochus Epiphanes
29. Capture of the City (170 B.C.)
30. Capture of 168 B.C.
31. Attempted Suppression of Judaism
32. The Maccabean Rebellion
33. The Dedication of the Temple (165 B.C.)
34. Defeat of Judas and Capture of the City
35. Judas' Death (161 B.C.)
36. Jonathan's Restorations
37. Surrender of City to Antiochus Sidetes (134 B.C.)
38. Hasmonean Buildings
39. Rome's Intervention
40. Pompey Takes the City by Storm
41. Julius Caesar Appoints Antipater Procurator (47 B.C.)
42. Parthian Invasion
43. Reign of Herod the Great (37-4 B.C.)
44. Herod's Great Buildings
45. Herod Archelaus (4 B.C.-6 A.D.)
46. Pontius Pilate
47. King Agrippa
48. Rising against Florus and Defeat of Gallus
49. The City Besieged by Titus (70 A.D.)
50. Party Divisions within the Besieged Walls
51. Capture and Utter Destruction of the City
52. Rebellion of Bar-Cochba
53. Hadrian Builds Ella Capitolina
54. Constantine Builds the Church of the Anastasis
55. The Empress Eudoxia Rebuilds the Walls
56. Justinian
57. Chosroes II Captures the City
58. Heracleus Enters It in Triumph
59. Clemency of Omar
60. The Seljuk Turks and Their Cruelties
61. Crusaders Capture the City in 1099
62. The Kharizimians
63. Ottoman Turks Obtain the City (1517 A.D.)
X. MODERN JERUSALEM
1. Jews and "Zionism"
2. Christian Buildings and Institutions
LITERATURE I. The Name.
1. In Cuneiform:
The earliest mention of Jerusalem is in the Tell el-Amarna Letters (1450 B.C.), where it appears in the form Uru-sa-lim; allied with this we have Ur-sa-li-immu on the Assyrian monuments of the 8th century B.C.
The most ancient Biblical form is yerushalem, shortened in Psalm 76:2 (compare Genesis 14:18) to Salem, but in Massoretic Text we have it vocalized yerushalaim. In Jeremiah 26:18 Esther 2:6 2 Chronicles 25:1; 2 Chronicles 32:9 we have yerushalayim, a form which occurs on the Jewish coins of the Revolt and also in Jewish literature; it is commonly used by modern Talmudic Jews.
2. In Hebrew:
The form Hebrew with the ending -aim or -ayim is interpreted by some as being a dual, referring to the upper and lower Jerusalem, but such forms occur in other names as implying special solemnity; such a pronunciation is both local and late.
3. In Greek and Latin:
In the Septuagint we get (Ierousalem), constantly reflecting the earliest and the common Hebrew pronunciation, the initial letter being probably unaspirated; soon, however, we meet with (Hierousalem)-with the aspirate-the common form in Josephus, and (Hierosoluma) in Maccabees (Books II through IV), and in Strabo. This last form has been carried over into the Latin writers, Cicero, Pliny, Tacitus and Suetonius. It was replaced in official use for some centuries by Hadrian's Aelia Capitolina, which occurs as late as Jerome, but it again comes into common use in the documents of the Crusades, while Solyma occurs at various periods as a poetic abbreviation.
In the New Testament we have (Hierousalem), particularly in the writings of Luke and Paul, and (ta Hierosoluma) elsewhere. The King James Version of 1611 has Ierosalem in the Old Testament and Hierusalem in the New Testament. The form Jerusalem first occurs in French writings of the 12th century.
4. The Meaning of Jerusalem:
With regard to the meaning of the original name there is no concurrence of opinion. The oldest known form, Uru-sa-lim, has been considered by many to mean either the "City of Peace" or the "City of (the god) Salem," but other interpreters, considering the name as of Hebrew origin, interpret it as the "possession of peace" or "foundation of peace." It is one of the ironies of history that a city which in all its long history has seen so little peace and for whose possession such rivers of blood have been shed should have such a possible meaning for its name.
5. Other Names:
Other names for the city occur. For the name Jebus see JESUS. In Isaiah 29:1, occurs the name 'ari'el probably "the hearth of God," and in 1:26 the "city of righteousness." In Psalm 72:16 Jeremiah 32:24; Ezekiel 7:23, we have the term ha`ir, "the city" in contrast to "the land." A whole group of names is connected with the idea of the sanctity of the site; `ir ha-qodhesh, the "holy city" occurs in Isaiah 48:2; Isaiah 52:1 Nehemiah 11:1, and yerushalayim ha-qedhoshah, "Jerusalem the holy" is inscribed on Simon's coins. In Matthew 4:5; Matthew 27:53 we have he hagia polis, "the holy city," and in Philo, Hieropolis, with the same meaning.
In Arabic the common name is Beit el Maqdis, "the holy house," or el Muqaddas, "the holy," or the common name, used by the Moslems everywhere today, el Quds, a shortened form of el Quds esh Sheref, "the noble sanctuary."
Non-Moslems usually use the Arabic form Yerusalem.
II. Geology, Climate, and Springs.
1. Geology:
The geology of the site and environs of Jerusalem is comparatively simple, when studied in connection with that of the land of Palestine as a whole (see GEOLOGY OF PALESTINE). The outstanding feature is that the rocks consist entirely of various forms of limestone, with strata containing flints; there are no primary rocks, no sandstone (such as comes to the surface on the East of the Jordan) and no volcanic rocks. The lime stone formations are in regular strata dipping toward the Southeast, with an angle of about 10 degrees.
On the high hills overlooking Jerusalem on the East, Southeast and Southwest there still remain strata of considerable thickness of those chalky limestones of the post-Tertiary period which crown so many hilltops of Palestine, and once covered the whole land. On the "Mount of Olives," for example, occurs a layer of conglomerate limestone known as Nari, or "firestone," and another thicker deposit, known as Ka`kuli, of which two distinct strata can be distinguished. In these layers, especially the latter, occur pockets containing marl or haur, and in both there are bands of flint.
Over the actual city's site all this has been denuded long ages ago. Here we have three layers of limestone of varying density very clearly distinguished by all the native builders and masons:
(1) Mizzeh helu, literally, "sweet mizzeh," a hard, reddish-grey layer capable of polish, and reaching in places to a depth of 70 ft. or more. The "holy rock" in the temple-area belongs to this layer, and much of the ancient building stone was of this nature.
(2) Below this is the Melekeh or "royal" layer, which, though not very thick-35 ft. or so-has been of great importance in the history of the city. This rock is peculiar in that when first exposed to the air it is often so soft that it can be cut with a knife, but under the influence of the atmosphere it hardens to make a stone of considerable durability, useful for ordinary buildings. The great importance of this layer, however, lies in the fact that in it have been excavated the hundreds of caverns, cisterns, tombs and aqueducts which honeycomb the city's site.
(3) Under the Melekeh is a Cenomanian limestone of great durability, known as Mizzeh Yehudeh, or "Jewish mizzeh." It is a highly valued building stone, though hard to work. Geologically it is distinguished from Mizzeh helu by its containing ammonites. Characteristically, it is a yellowish-grey stone, sometimes slightly reddish. A variety of a distinctly reddish appearance, known as Mizzeh ahmar, or "red mizzeh," makes a very ornamental stone for columns, tombstones, etc.; it takes a high polish and is sometimes locally known as "marble."
This deep layer, which underlies the whole city, comes to the surface in the Kidron valley, and its impermeability is probably the explanation of the appearance there of the one true spring, the "Virgin's Fount." The water over the site and environs of Jerusalem percolates with ease the upper layer, but is conducted to the surface by this hard layer; the comparatively superficial source of the water of this spring accounts for the poorness of its quality.
2. Climate and Rainfall:
The broad features of the climate of Jerusalem have probably remained the same throughout history, although there is plenty of evidence that there have been cycles of greater and lesser abundance of rain. The almost countless cisterns belonging to all ages upon the site and the long and complicated conduits for bringing water from a distance, testify that over the greater part of history the rainfall must have been, as at present, only seasonal.
As a whole, the climate of Jerusalem may be considered healthy. The common diseases should be largely preventable-under an enlightened government; even the malaria which is so prevalent is to a large extent an importation from the low-lying country, and could be stopped at once, were efficient means taken for destroying the carriers of infection, the abundant Anopheles mosquitoes. On account of its altitude and its exposed position, almost upon the watershed, wind, rain and cold are all more excessive than in the maritime plains or the Jordan valley. Although the winter's cold is severely felt, on account of its coinciding with the days of heaviest rainfall (compare Ezra 10:9), and also because of the dwellings and clothes of the inhabitants being suited for enduring heat more than cold, the actual lowest cold recorded is only 25 degrees F., and frost occurs only on perhaps a dozen nights in an average year. During the rainless summer months the mean temperature rises steadily until August, when it reaches 73, 1 degrees F., but the days of greatest heat, with temperature over 100 degrees F. in the shade at times, occur commonly in September. In midsummer the cool northwest breezes, which generally blow during the afternoons and early night, do much to make life healthy. The most unpleasant days occur in May and from the middle of September until the end of October, when the dry southeast winds-the sirocco-blow hot and stifling from over the deserts, carrying with them at times fine dust sufficient in quantity to produce a marked haze in the atmosphere. At such times all vegetation droops, and most human beings, especially residents not brought up under such conditions, suffer more or less from depression and physical discomfort; malarial, "sandfly," and other fevers are apt to be peculiarly prevalent. "At that time shall it be said.... to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse" (Jeremiah 4:11).
During the late summer-except at spells of sirocco-heavy "dews" occur at night, and at the end of September or beginning of October the "former" rains fall-not uncommonly in tropical downpours accompanied by thunder. After this there is frequently a dry spell of several weeks, and then the winter's rain falls in December, January and February. In some seasons an abundant rainfall in March gives peculiar satisfaction to the inhabitants by filling up the cisterns late in the season and by producing an abundant harvest. The average rainfall is about 26 inches, the maximum recorded in the city being 42, 95 inches in the season 1877-78, and the minimum being 12, 5 inches in 1869-70. An abundant rainfall is not only important for storage, for replenishment of the springs and for the crops, but as the city's sewage largely accumulates in the very primitive drains all through the dry season, it requires a considerable force of water to remove it. Snow falls heavily in some seasons, causing considerable destruction to the badly built roofs and to the trees; in the winter of 1910-11 a fall of 9 inches occurred.
3. The Natural Springs:
There is only one actual spring in the Jerusalem area, and even to this some authorities would deny the name of true spring on account of the comparatively shallow source of its origin; this is the intermittent spring known today as `Ain Umm edition deraj (literally, "spring of the mother of the steps"), called by the native Christians `Ain Sitti Miriam (the "spring of the Lady Mary"), and by Europeans commonly called "The Virgin's Fount." All the archaeological evidence points to this as the original source of attraction of earliest occupants of the site; in the Old Testament this spring is known as GIHON (which see). The water arises in the actual bottom, though apparent west side, of the Kidron valley some 300 yards due South of the south wall of the Charam. The approach to the spring is down two flights of steps, an upper of 16 leading to a small level platform, covered by a modern arch, and a lower, narrower flight of 14 steps, which ends at the mouth of a small cave. The water has its actual source in a long cleft (perhaps 16 ft. long) running East and West in the rocky bottom of the Kidron valley, now many feet below the present surface. The western or higher end of the cleft is at the very entrance of the cave, but most of the water gushes forth from the lower and wider part which lies underneath the steps. When the water is scanty, the women of Siloam creep down into the cavity under the steps and fill their water-skins there; at such times no water at all finds its way into the cave. At the far end of the cave is the opening of that system of ancient tunnel-aqueducts which is described in VI, below. This spring is "intermittent," the water rising rapidly and gushing forth with considerable force, several times in the 24 hours after the rainy season, and only once or twice in the dry. This "intermittent" condition of springs is not uncommon in Palestine, and is explained by the accumulation of the underground water in certain cavities or cracks in the rock, which together make up a reservoir which empties itself by siphon action. Where the accumulated water reaches the bend of the siphon, the overflow commences and continues to run until the reservoir is emptied. Such a phenomenon is naturally attributed to supernatural agency by the ignorant-in this case, among the modern fellahin, to a dragon-and natives, specially Jews, visit the source, even today, at times of its overflow, for healing. Whether this intermittent condition of the fountain is very ancient it is impossible to say, but, as Jerome (Comm. in Esa, 86) speaks of it, it was probably present in New Testament times, and if so we have a strong argument for finding here the "Pool of Bethesda."
SeeBETHESDA.
In ancient times all the water flowed down the open, rocky valley, but at an early period a wall was constructed to bank up the water and convert the source into a pool. Without such an arrangement no water could find its way into the cave and the tunnels. The tunnels, described below (VI), were constructed for the purpose
(1) of reaching the water supply from within the city walls, and
(2) of preventing the enemies of the Jews from getting at the water (2 Chronicles 32:4).
The water of this source, though used for all purposes by the people of Siloam, is brackish to the taste, and contains a considerable percentage of sewage; it is quite unfit for drinking. This condition is doubtless due to the wide distribution of sewage, both intentionally (for irrigation of the gardens) and unintentionally (through leaking sewers, etc.), over the soil overlying the rocks from which the water flows. In earlier times the water was certainly purer, and it is probable, too, that the fountain was more copious, as now hundreds of cisterns imprison the waters which once found their way through the soil to the deep sources of the spring.
The waters of the Virgin's Fount find their way through the Siloam tunnel and out at `Ain Silwan (the "spring" of Siloam), into the Pool of Siloam, and from this source descend into the Kidron valley to water the numerous vegetable gardens belonging to the village of Siloam (see SILOAM).
The second source of water in Jerusalem is the deep well known as Bir Eyyub, "Job's well," which is situated a little below the point where the Kidron valley and Hinnom meet. In all probability it derives its modern name from a legend in the Koran (Sura 38 5, 40-41) which narrates that God commanded Job to stamp with his foot, whereupon a spring miraculously burst up. The well, which had been quite lost sight of, was rediscovered by the Crusaders in 1184 A.D., and was by them cleaned out. It is 125 ft. deep. The supply of water in this well is practically inexhaustible, although the quality is no better than that of the "Virgin's Fount"; after several days of heavy rain the water overflows underground and bursts out a few yards lower down the valley as a little stream. It continues to run for a few days after a heavy fall of rain is over, and this "flowing Kidron" is a great source of attraction to the native residents of Jerusalem, who pour forth from the city to enjoy the rare sight of running water. Somewhere in the neighborhood of Bir Eyyub must have lain `En-Rogel, but if that were once an actual spring, its source is now buried under the great mass of rubbish accumulated here (see EN-ROGEL).
Nearly 600 yards South of Bir Eyyub is a small gravelly basin where, when the Bir Eyyub overflows, a small spring called `Ain el Lozeh (the "spring of the almond") bursts forth. It is not a true spring, but is due to some of the water of Job's well which finds its way along an ancient rock-cut aqueduct on the west side of the Wady en Nar, bursting up here.
The only other possible site of a spring in the Jerusalem area is the Chammam esh Shefa, "the bath of healing." This is an underground rock-basin in the Tyropeon valley, within the city walls, in which water collects by percolation through the debris of the city. Though once a reservoir with probably rock-cut channels conducting water to it, it is now a deep well with arches erected over it at various periods, as the rubbish of the city gradually accumulated through the centuries. There is no evidence whatever of there being any natural fountain, and the water is, in the dry season, practically pure sewage, though used in a neighboring Turkish bath.
G.A. Smith thinks that the JACKAL'S WELL (which see) mentioned by Nehemiah (2:13), which must have been situated in the Valley of Hinnom, may possibly have been a temporary spring arising there for a few years in consequence of an earthquake, but it is extremely likely that any well sunk then would tap water flowing a long the bed of the valley. There is no such "spring" or "well" there today.
III. The Natural Site.
Modern Jerusalem occupies a situation defined geographically as 31 degrees 46 feet 45 inches North latitude., by 35 degrees 13 feet 25 inches East longitude. It lies in the midst of a bare and rocky plateau, the environs being one of the most stony and least fruitful districts in the habitable parts of Palestine, with shallow, gray or reddish soil and many outcrops of bare limestone. Like all the hill slopes with a southeasterly aspect, it is so thoroughly exposed to the full blaze of the summer sun that in its natural condition the site would be more or less barren. Today, however, as a result of diligent cultivation and frequent watering, a considerable growth of trees and shrubs has been produced in the rapidly extending suburbs. The only fruit tree which reaches perfection around Jerusalem is the olive.
1. The Mountains Around:
The site of Jerusalem is shut in by a rough triangle of higher mountain ridges: to the West runs the main ridge, or water parting, of Judea, which here makes a sweep to the westward. From this ridge a spur runs Southeast and East, culminating due East of the city in the MOUNT OF OLIVES (which see), nearly 2,700 ft. above sea-level and about 300 ft. above the mean level of the ancient city. Another spur, known as Jebel Deir abu Tor, 2,550 ft. high, runs East from the plateau of el Buqei`a and lies Southwest of the city; it is the traditional "Hill of Evil Counsel." The city site is thus dominated on all sides by these higher ranges-"the mountains (that) are round about Jerus" (Psalm 125:2)-so that while on the one hand the ancient city was hidden, at any considerable distance, from any direction except the Southeast, it is only through this open gap toward the desert and the mountains of Moab that any wide outlook is obtainable. This strange vision of wilderness and distant mountain wall-often of exquisite loveliness in the light of the setting sun-must all through the ages have been the most familiar and the most potent of scenic influences to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
2. The Valleys:
Within the enfolding hills the city's proper site is demarked by two main valleys. That on the West and Southwest commences in a hollow occupied by the Moslem cemetery around the pool Birket Mamilla. The valley runs due East toward the modern Jaffa Gate, and there bends South, being known in this upper part of its course as the Wady el Mes. In this southern course it is traversed by a great dam, along which the modern Bethlehem road runs, which converts a large area of the valley bed into a great pool, the Birket es Sultan. Below this the valley-under the name of Wady er Rabadi-bends Southeast, then East, and finally Southeast again, until near Bir Eyyub it joins the western valley to form the Wady en Nar, 670 ft. below its origin. This valley has been very generally identified as the Valley of Hinnom (see HINNOM, VALLEY OF.)
The eastern valley takes a wider sweep. Commencing high up in the plateau to the North of the city, near the great water-parting, it descends as a wide and open valley in a southeasterly direction until, where it is crossed by the Great North Road, being here known as Wady el Joz (the "Valley of the Walnuts"), it turns more directly East. It gradually curves to the South, and as it runs East of the city walls, it receives the name of Wady Sitti Miriam (the "Valley of the Lady Mary"). Below the Southeast corner of the temple-area, near the traditional "Tomb of Absalom," the valley rapidly deepens and takes a direction slightly to the West of South. It passes the "Virgin's Fount," and a quarter of a mile lower it is joined by el Wad from the North, and a little farther on by the Wady er Rababi from the West. South of Bir Eyyub, the valley formed by their union is continued under the name of Wady en Nar to the Dead Sea. This western valley is that commonly known as the Brook Kidron, or, more shortly, the "Brook" (hachal), or ravine (see KIDRON), but named from the 5th century onward by Christians the Valley of Jehoshaphat (see JEHOSHAPHAT, VALLEY OF). The rocky tongue of land enclosed between these deep ravines, an area, roughly speaking, a little over one mile long by half a mile wide, is further subdivided into a number of distinct hills by some shallower valleys. The most prominent of these-indeed the only one noticeable to the superficial observer today-is the great central valley known to modern times by the single name el Wad, "the valley." It commences in a slight depression of the ground a little North of the modern "Damascus Gate," and after entering the city at this gate it rapidly deepens-a fact largely disguised today by the great accumulation of rubbish in its course. It traverses the city with the Charam to its east, and the Christian and Moslem quarters on rapidly rising ground to its west. Its course is observed near the Babylonian es Silseleh, where it is crossed by an ancient causeway, but farther South the valley reappears, having the walls of the Charam (near the "wailing place" and "Robinson's arch") on the East, and steep cliffs crossed by houses of the Jewish quarter on the West. It leaves the city at the "Dung Gate," and passes with an open curve to the East, until it reaches the Pool of Siloam, below' which it merges in the Wady Sitti Miriam. This is the course of the main valley, but a branch of great importance in the ancient topography of the city starts some 50 yards to the West of the modern Jaffa Gate and runs down the Suwaikat Allun generally known to travelers as "David's Street," and thus easterly, along the Tarik bab es Silseleh, until it merges in the main valley. The main valley is usually considered to be the Tyropeon, or "Cheesemongers' Valley" of Josephus, but some writers have attempted to confine the name especially to this western arm of it.
Another interior valley, which is known rather by the rock contours, than by surface observations, being largely filled up today, cuts diagonally across the Northeast corner of the modern city. It has no modern name, though it is sometimes called "St. Anne's Valley." It arises in the plateau near "Herod's Gate," known as es Sahra, and entering the city about 100 yards to the East of that gate, runs South-Southeast., and leaves the city between the Northeast angle of the Charam and the Golden Gate, joining the Kidron valley farther Southeast. The Birket Israel runs across the width of this valley, which had far more influence in determining the ancient topography of the city than has been popularly recognized. There is an artificially made valley between the Charam and the buildings to its north, and there is thought by many to be a valley between the Southeast hill, commonly called "Ophel" and the temple-area. Such, then, are the valleys, great and small, by which the historic hills on which the city stood are defined. All of them, particularly in their southern parts, were considerably deeper in ancient times, and in places the accumulated debris is 80 ft. or more. All of them were originally torrent beds, dry except immediately after heavy rain. The only perennial outflow of water is the scanty and intermittent stream which overflows from the Pool of Siloam, and is used to irrigate the gardens in the Wady Sitti Miriam.
3. The Hills:
The East and West valleys isolate a roughly quadrilateral tongue of land running from Northwest-West to South-Southeast, and tilted so as to face Southeast. This tongue is further subdivided by el Wad into two long ridges, which merge into each other in the plateau to the North. The western ridge has its actual origin considerably North of the modern wall, being part of the high ground lying between the modern Jaffa road to the West, and the commencement of the Kidron valley to the East. Within the city walls it rises as high as 2,581 ft. near the northwestern corner. It is divided by the west branch of the Tyropeon valley into two parts: a northern part-the northwestern hill-on which is situated today the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the greater part of the "Christian quarter" of the city, and a southern hill-the southwestern-which is connected with the northwestern hill by but a narrow saddle-50 yards wide-near the Jaffa Gate. This hill sustains the citadel (the so-called "Tower of David"), the barracks and the Armenian quarter within the walls, and the Coenaculum and adjacent buildings outside the walls. This hill is from 2,500 to 2,350 ft. high along its summit, but drops rapidly on its southwestern, southern and southeastern sides. In its central part it falls much more gently toward the eastern hill across the now largely filled valley el Wad.
The eastern ridge may be reckoned as beginning at the rocky hill el-Edhemiyeh-popularly known as Gordon's Calvary-but the wide trench made here by quarrying somewhat obscures this fact. The ridge may for convenience be regarded as presenting three parts, the northeastern, central or central-eastern, and southeastern summits.
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JERUSALEM, NEW
(Hierousalem kaine): This name occurs in Revelation 21:2 (21:10, "holy city"). The conception is based on prophecies which predict a glorious future to Jerusalem after the judgment (Isaiah 52:1). In Revelation, however, it is not descriptive of any actual locality on earth, but allegorically depicts the final state of the church ("the bride," "the wife of the Lamb," Revelation 21:2, 9), when the new heaven and the new earth shall have come into being. The picture is drawn from a twofold point of view: the new Jerusalem is a restoration of Paradise (Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:1, 2, 14); it is also the ideal of theocracy realized (Revelation 21:3, 12, 14, 22). The latter viewpoint explains the peculiar representation that the city descends "out of heaven from God" (Revelation 21:2, 10), which characterizes it as, on the one hand, a product of God's supernatural workmanship, and as, on the other hand, the culmination of the historic process of redemption. In other New Testament passages, where theocratic point of view is less prominent, the antitypical Jerusalem appears as having its seat in heaven instead of, as here, coming down from heaven to earth (compare Galatians 4:26 Hebrews 11:10; Hebrews 12:22).
See also REVELATION OF JOHN.
Geerhardus Vos
NEW JERUSALEM
See JERUSALEM, NEW; REVELATION OF JOHN.
RAINFALL IN JERUSALEM IN INCHES
Year Amount
1861 27.30"
1862 21.86"
1863 26.54"
1864 15.51"
1865 18.19"
1866 18.55"
1867 29.42"
1868 29.10"
1869 18.61"
1870 13.19"
1871 23.17"
1872 22.26"
1873 22.72"
1874 29.75"
1875 27.01"
1876 14.41"
1877 26.00"
1878 32.21"
1879 18.04"
1880 32.11"
1881 16.50"
1882 26.72"
1883 31.92" 1884 23.16"
1885 29.47"
1886 31.69"
1887 29.81"
1888 37.79"
1889 13.16"
1890 35.51"
1891 34.72"
1892 31.23"
1893 30.54"
1894 35.38"
1895 23.15"
1896 32.90"
1897 41.62"
1898 28.66"
1899 22.43"
1900 21.20"
1901 17.42"
1902 25.51"
1903 18.04"
1904 34.48"
1905 34.22"
1906 28.14"
1907 27.22"
1908 31.87"
1909 21.13"
1910 24.64"
The amount of rainfall in ancient times was probably about the same as in present times, though it may have been distributed somewhat differently through the year, as suggested by Huntington. Conder maintains that the present amount would have been sufficient to support the ancient cities (Tent-Work in Palestine). Trees are without doubt fewer now, but meteorologists agree that trees do not produce rain.
4. Dry and Rainy Seasons;
The rainfall is largely on the western slopes of the mountains facing the sea, while on the eastern slopes there is very little. The moisture-laden air comes up from the sea with the west and southwest wind. When these currents strike the hills they are thrown higher up into the cooler strata, and the moisture condenses to form clouds and rain which increases on the higher levels. Having passed the ridge of the hills, the currents descend on the other side to warmer levels, where the moisture is easily held in the form of vapor so that no rain falls and few clouds are seen, except in the cold mid-winter months.
The summer months are practically rainless, with very few clouds appearing in the sky. From May 1 to the middle of October one can be sure of no rain; "The winter is past; the rain is over" (Songs 2:11), so many sleep on the roofs of the houses or in tents of leaves and branches in the fields and vineyards throughout the summer. The continuous hot droughts make the people appreciate the springs and fountains of fresh running water and the cool shade of rock and tree.
The rainy season from October to May may be divided into three parts, the former, the winter, and the latter rains, and they are often referred to under these names in the Old Testament.
The "former rains" are the showers of October and the first part of November. They soften the parched ground so that the winter grain may be sown before the heavy continuous rains set in. The main bulk of the rain falls in the months of December, January and February. Although in these months the rains are frequent and heavy, a dark, foggy day is seldom seen. The "latter rains" of April are the most highly appreciated, because they ripen the fruit and stay the drought of summer. They were considered a special blessing: Yahweh "will come.... as the latter rain that watereth the earth" (Hosea 6:3); "They opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain" (Job 29:23); and as a reason for worshipping Yahweh who sent them, "Let us now fear Yahweh our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season" (Jeremiah 5:24).
The rain storms always come from the sea with a west or southwest wind. The east wind is a hot wind and the "north wind driveth away rain" (Proverbs 25:23, the King James Version). "Fair weather cometh out of the north" (Job 37:22, the King James Version).
5. Biblical Uses:
The Psalmist recognizes that the "showers that water the earth" (Psalm 72:6) are among the choicest blessings from the hand of Yahweh: "The early rain covereth it with blessings" (Psalm 84:6). The severest punishment of Yahweh was to withhold the rain, as in the time of Ahab and Elijah, when the usual rain did not fall for three years (1 Kings 17); "the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and ye perish quickly" (Deuteronomy 11:17). Too much rain is also a punishment, as witness the flood (Genesis 7:4) and the plague of rain and hail (Ezra 10:9). Sending of rain was a reward for worship and obedience: "Yahweh will open unto thee his good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand" (Deuteronomy 28:12). Yahweh controls the elements and commands the rain: "He made a decree for the rain" (Job 28:26); "For he saith to the snow, Fall thou on the earth; likewise to the shower of rain" (Job 37:6). LITERATURE
Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly; meteorological observations from the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Jaffa and Tiberias; various observers; Zeitschrift des deutschen Paldstina-Vereins; H. Hilderscheid, Die Niederschlagsverhdltnisse Paldstinas in alter and neuer Zeit; C. R. Conder, Tent-Work in Palestine; Edward Hull, Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine; Ellsworth Huntington, Palestine and Its Transformation; bulletin of the Syrian Protestant College Observatory, Meteorological Observations in Beirut and Syria.
Alfred H. Joy
Greek
2414. Hierosoluma -- Jerusalem, the capital of united Isr. and ... ... Hierosoluma. 2415 .
Jerusalem, the capital of united Isr.
... See 2419 (, the feminine
noun-form). [OT Hebrew uses only gender (term) for "
Jerusalem" (OT 3389).].
... //strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2414.htm - 7k2419. Ierousalem -- Jerusalem, the capital of united Isr. and ...
... Ierousalem. 2420 . Jerusalem, the capital of united Isr. ... Word Origin of Hebrew
origin Yerushalaim Definition Jerusalem, the capital of united Isr. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2419.htm - 7k
2415. Hierosolumites -- an inhabitant of Jer.
... Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Hierosolumites Phonetic Spelling: (hee-er-os-ol-
oo-mee'-tace) Short Definition: an inhabitant of Jerusalem Definition: an ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2415.htm - 7k
4611. Siloam -- Siloam, a pool in Jer.
... Siloam Phonetic Spelling: (sil-o-am') Short Definition: Siloam Definition: Siloam,
a spring within the walls, in the south-east corner of Jerusalem. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4611.htm - 6k
367. Ananias -- Ananias, the name of three Israelites
... Phonetic Spelling: (an-an-ee'-as) Short Definition: Ananias Definition: Ananias,
(a) husband of Sapphira, a member of the early church at Jerusalem, (b) a ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/367.htm - 6k
964. Bethesda -- Bethesda, a pool in Jer.
... Noun, Indeclinable Transliteration: Bethesda Phonetic Spelling: (bay-thes-dah')
Short Definition: Bethesda Definition: Bethesda, name of a pool in Jerusalem. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/964.htm - 6k
1067. geenna -- Gehenna, a valley W. and South of Jer., also a ...
... geenna Phonetic Spelling: (gheh'-en-nah) Short Definition: Gehenna Definition: Gehenna,
and originally the name of a valley or cavity near Jerusalem, a place ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1067.htm - 7k
2748. Kedron -- Kidron, a brook and wadi near Jer.
... of Speech: Proper Noun, Indeclinable Transliteration: Kedron Phonetic Spelling:
(ked-rone') Short Definition: Kidron Definition: Kidron, a valley near Jerusalem ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2748.htm - 6k
4622. Sion -- Zion, a mountain of Jer. or the city of Jer.
... Proper Noun, Indeclinable Transliteration: Sion Phonetic Spelling: (see-own') Short
Definition: Zion Definition: Zion, the hill; used for Jerusalem or heaven. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4622.htm - 6k
1115. Golgotha -- Golgotha, a hill near Jer.
... Indeclinable Transliteration: Golgotha Phonetic Spelling: (gol-goth-ah') Short
Definition: Golgotha Definition: Golgotha, a knoll outside the wall of Jerusalem ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1115.htm - 6k
Strong's Hebrew
3389. Yerushalaim -- probably "foundation of peace," capital city ...... Transliteration: Yerushalaim or Yerushalayim Phonetic Spelling: (yer-oo-shaw-
lah'-im) Short Definition:
Jerusalem. Word
... 1).
Jerusalem.
... /hebrew/3389.htm - 6k 3390. Yerushalem -- the capital city of all Isr.
... the capital city of all Isr. Transliteration: Yerushalem Phonetic Spelling:
(yer-oo-shaw-lame') Short Definition: Jerusalem. ... NASB Word Usage Jerusalem (26). ...
/hebrew/3390.htm - 6k
5883. En Rogel -- a place near Jer.
... En-Rogel, a place near Jerusalem. From ayin and the active participle of ragal;
fountain of a traveller; En-Rogel, a place near Jerusalem: see HEBREW ayin. ...
/hebrew/5883.htm - 6k
1619. Gareb -- one of David's heroes, also a hill near Jer.
... NASB Word Usage Gareb (3). Gareb. From the same as garab; scabby; Gareb, the name
of an Israelite, also of a hill near Jerusalem -- Gareb. see HEBREW garab. ...
/hebrew/1619.htm - 6k
7996. Shalleketh -- "(gate of) casting forth," a temple gate on ...
... Shalleketh. The same as shalleketh; Shalleketh, a gate in Jerusalem -- Shalleketh.
see HEBREW shalleketh. 7995, 7996. Shalleketh. 7997 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/7996.htm - 6k
3072. Yhvh Tsidqenu -- "the LORD is our righteousness," a symbolic ...
... From Yhovah and tsedeq with pronominal suffix; Jehovah (is) our right; Jehovah-Tsidkenu,
a symbolical epithet of the Messiah and of Jerusalem -- the Lord our ...
/hebrew/3072.htm - 6k
6726. Tsiyyon -- a mountain in Jer., also a name for Jer.
... Zion. The same (regularly) as tsiyuwn; Tsijon (as a permanent capital), a mountain
of Jerusalem -- Zion. see HEBREW tsiyuwn. 6725, 6726. Tsiyyon. 6727 . ...
/hebrew/6726.htm - 6k
2777. charsuth -- potsherd
... east. From cherec (apparently in the sense of a red tile used for scraping); a potsherd,
ie (by implication) a pottery; the name of a gate at Jerusalem -- east. ...
/hebrew/2777.htm - 6k
5538. Silla -- a place in Jer.
... NASB Word Usage Silla (1). Silla. From calal; an embankment; Silla, a place in
Jerusalem -- Silla. see HEBREW calal. 5537, 5538. Silla. 5539 . Strong's Numbers
/hebrew/5538.htm - 6k
3968. Meah -- a tower on the N. wall of Jer.
... NASB Word Usage hundred (2). Meah. The same as me'ah; Meah, a tower in Jerusalem --
Meah. see HEBREW me'ah. 3967, 3968. Meah. 3969 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/3968.htm - 6k
Library
Lectures of S. Cyril of Jerusalem
Lectures of S. Cyril of Jerusalem. <. Lectures of S. Cyril of Jerusalem St.
Cyril of Jerusalem. Schaff, Philip (Editor) Table of Contents. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/cyril/lectures of s cyril of jerusalem/
The Journey to Jerusalem
... THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM. THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM 8,7,8,7,8,8. ... Jesus! what
was that which drew Thee. To Jerusalem's ancient gate? Ah! ...
/.../borthwick/hymns from the land of luther/the journey to jerusalem.htm
The Jerusalem Climate.
... The Tragic Break in the Plan The Jerusalem Climate. Then Jesus came. ... He came
into the peculiar climate of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is Judea. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/gordon/quiet talks about jesus/the jerusalem climate.htm
The Destruction of Jerusalem.
... 1. THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. [Illustration: The Destruction Of Jerusalem] ...
From the crest of Olivet, Jesus looked upon Jerusalem. ...
/.../1 the destruction of jerusalem.htm
The New Jerusalem.
... EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE. The New Jerusalem. "And there came to me
one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls full of ...
/.../bliss/a brief commentary on the apocalypse/the new jerusalem.htm
Jerusalem
... A Chorographical Century. Chapters 21-30 Chapter 21 Jerusalem. The ... degrees.
And the latitude of Jerusalem is three-and-thirty degrees.". ...
/.../lightfoot/from the talmud and hebraica/chapter 21 jerusalem.htm
Bishops of Jerusalem.
... Supplementary Notes and Tables. Bishops of Jerusalem. James. Justus. Gaius I. Dius.
Symeon. Levi. Symmachus. Germanio. Justus. Ephres. Gaius II. Gordius. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pamphilius/church history/bishops of jerusalem.htm
A Cry of Comfort for Jerusalem
... LYRICS A CRY OF COMFORT FOR JERUSALEM. Prelude to the Rhapsody of 'Zion Redeemed'.
JEHOVAH. ... [Voices carry on the tidings across the desert to Jerusalem. ...
/.../various/select masterpieces of biblical literature/a cry of comfort for.htm
The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Coming of Christ. Ch. 21:5-38
... THE CLOSING MINISTRY. CHS. 19:29 TO 21:38 I. The Destruction Of Jerusalem And The
Coming Of Christ. Ch. 21:5-38. ... 2. The Destruction of Jerusalem. Ch.21:20-24. ...
/.../erdman/the gospel of luke an exposition/i the destruction of jerusalem.htm
The Bishops of Jerusalem from the Age of Our Saviour to the Period ...
... Book IV. Chapter V."The Bishops of Jerusalem from the Age of our Saviour
to the Period under Consideration. 1. The chronology of ...
/.../pamphilius/church history/chapter v the bishops of jerusalem.htm
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
Jerusalemvision of peace
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Jerusalem(the habitation of peace), Jerusalem stands in latitude 31 degrees 46? 35" north and longitude 35 degrees 18? 30" east of Greenwich. It is 32 miles distant from the sea and 18 from the Jordan, 20 from Hebron and 36 from Samaria. "In several respects," says Dean Stanley, "its situation is singular among the cities of Palestine. Its elevation is remarkable; occasioned not from its being on the summit of one of the numerous hills of Judea, like most of the towns and villages, but because it is on the edge of one of the highest table-lands of the country. Hebron indeed is higher still by some hundred feet, and from the south, accordingly (even from Bethlehem), the approach to Jerusalem is by a slight descent. But from any other side the ascent is perpetual; and to the traveller approaching the city from the east or west it must always have presented the appearance beyond any other capital of the then known world --we may say beyond any important city that has ever existed on the earth --of a mountain city; breathing, as compared with the sultry plains of Jordan, a mountain air; enthroned, as compared with jericho or Damascus, Gaza or Tyre, on a mountain fastness." --S. & P. 170,
- Jerusalem, if not actually in the centre of Palestine, was yet virtually so. "It was on the ridge, the broadest and most strongly-marked ridge of the backbone of the complicated hills which extend through the whole country from the plain of Esdraelon to the desert." Roads. --There appear to have been but two main approaches to the city:--
- From the Jordan valley by Jericho and the Mount of Olives. This was the route commonly taken from the north and east of the country.
- From the great maritime plain of Philistia and Sharon. This road led by the two Beth-horons up to the high ground at Gibeon, whence it turned south, and came to Jerusalem by Ramah and Gibeah, and over the ridge north of the city. Topography. --To convey an idea of the position of Jerusalem, we may say, roughly, that the city occupies the southern termination of the table-land which is cut off from the country round it on its west, south and east sides by ravines more than usually deep and precipitous. These ravines leave the level of the table-land, the one on the west and the other on the northeast of the city, and fall rapidly until they form a junction below its southeast corner. The eastern one --the valley of the Kedron, commonly called the valley of Jehoshaphat --runs nearly straight from north by south. But the western one --the valley of Hinnom-- runs south for a time, and then takes a sudden bend to the east until it meets the valley of Jehoshaphat, after which the two rush off as one to the Dead Sea. How sudden is their descent may be gathered from the fact that the level at the point of junction -about a mile and a quarter from the starting-point of each-- is more than 600 feet below that of the upper plateau from which they began their descent. So steep is the fall of the ravines, so trench-like their character, and so close do they keep to the promontory at whose feet they run, as to leave on the beholder almost the impression of the ditch at the foot of a fortress rather than of valleys formed by nature. The promontory thus encircled is itself divided by a longitudinal ravine running up it from south to north, called the valley of the Tyropoeon, rising gradually from the south, like the external ones, till at last it arrives at the level of the upper plateau, dividing the central mass into two unequal portions. Of these two, that on the west is the higher and more massive, on which the city of Jerusalem now stands, and in fact always stood. The hill on the east is considerably lower and smaller, so that to a spectator from the south the city appears to slope sharply toward the east. Here was the temple, and here stands now the great Mohammedan sanctuary with its mosques and domes. The name of MOUNT, MOUNT, MOUNTAIN ZION has been applied to the western hill from the time of Constantine to the present day. The eastern hill, called MOUNT, MOUNT, MOUNTAIN MORIAH in (2 Chronicles 3:1) was as already remarked, the site of the temple. It was situated in the southwest angle of the area, now known as the Haram area, and was, as we learn from Josephus, an exact square of a stadium, or 600 Greek feet, on each side. (Conder ("Bible Handbook," 1879) states that by the latest surveys the Haram area is a quadrangle with unequal sides. The west wall measures 1601 feet, the south 922, the east 1530, the north 1042. It is thus nearly a mile in circumference, and contains 35 acres. --ED.) Attached to the northwest angle of the temple was the Antonia, a tower or fortress. North of the side of the temple is the building now known to Christians as the Mosque of Omar, but by Moslems called the Dome of the Rock. The southern continuation of the eastern hill was named OPHEL, which gradually came to a point at the junction of the valleys Tyropoeon and Jehoshaphat; and the norther BEZETHA, "the new city," first noticed by Josephus, which was separated from Moriah by an artificial ditch, and overlooked the valley of Kedron on the east; this hill was enclosed within the walls of Herod Agrippa. Lastly, ACRA lay westward of Moriah and northward of Zion, and formed the "lower city" in the time of Josephus. Walls. --These are described by Josephus. The first or old wall was built by David and Solomon, and enclosed Zion and part of Mount Moriah. (The second wall enclosed a portion of the city called Acra or Millo, on the north of the city, from the tower of Mariamne to the tower of Antonia. It was built as the city enlarged in size; begun by Uzziah 140 years after the first wall was finished, continued by Jotham 50 years later, and by Manasseh 100 years later still. It was restored by Nehemiah. Even the latest explorations have failed to decide exactly what was its course. (See Conder's Handbook of the Bible, art. Jerusalem.) The third wall was built by King Herod Agrippa, and was intended to enclose the suburbs which had grown out on the northern sides of the city, which before this had been left exposed. After describing these walls, Josephus adds that the whole circumference of the city was 33 stadia, or nearly four English miles, which is as near as may be the extent indicated by the localities. He then adds that the number of towers in the old wall was 60, the middle wall 40, and the new wall 99. Water Supply --(Jerusalem had no natural water supply, unless we so consider the "Fountain of the Virgin," which wells up with an intermittent action from under Ophel. The private citizens had cisterns, which were supplied by the rain from the roofs; and the city had a water supply "perhaps the most complete and extensive ever undertaken by a city," and which would enable it to endure a long siege. There were three aqueducts, a number of pools and fountains, and the temple area was honeycombed with great reservoirs, whose total capacity is estimated at 10,000,000 gallons. Thirty of these reservoirs are described, varying from 25 to 50 feet in depth; and one, call the great Sea , would hold 2,000,000 gallons. These reservoirs and the pools were supplied with water by the rainfall and by the aqueducts. One of these, constructed by Pilate, has been traced for 40 miles, though in a straight line the distance is but 13 miles. It brought water from the spring Elam, on the south, beyond Bethlehem, into the reservoirs under the temple enclosure. --ED.) Pools and fountains. --A part of the system of water supply. Outside the walls on the west side were the Upper and Lower Pools of GIHON, the latter close under Zion, the former more to the northwest on the Jaffa road. At the junction of the valleys of Hinnom and Jehoshaphat was ENROGEL, the "Well of Job," in the midst of the king's gardens. Within the walls, immediately north of Zion, was the "Pool of Hezekiah." A large pool existing beneath the temple (referred to in Ecclus. 1:3) was probably supplied by some subterranean aqueduct. The "King's Pool" was probably identical with the "Fountain of the Virgin," at the southern angle of Moriah. It possesses the peculiarity that it rises and falls at irregular periods; it is supposed to be fed form the cistern below the temple. From this a subterranean channel cut through solid rock leads the water to the pool of SILOAH, THE POOL OF or SILOAM, which has also acquired the character of being an intermittent fountain. The pool of which tradition has assigned the name of BETHESDA is situated on the north side of Moriah; it is now named Birket Israil . Burial-grounds. --The main cemetery of the city seems from an early date to have been where it is still --on the steep slopes of the valley of the Kedron. The tombs of the kings were in the city of David, that is, Mount Zion. The royal sepulchres were probably chambers containing separate recesses for the successive kings. Gardens. --The king's gardens of David and Solomon seem to have been in the bottom formed by the confluence of the Kedron and Himmon. (Nehemiah 3:15) The Mount of Olives, as its name, and the names of various places upon it seem to imply, was a fruitful spot. At its foot was situated the garden of Gethsemane. At the time of the final siege the space north of the wall of Agrippa was covered with gardens, groves and plantations of fruit trees, enclosed by hedges and walls; and to level these was one of Titus' first operations. We know that the Gennath (i.e. "of gardens") opened on this side of the city. Gates. --The following is a complete list of the gates named in the Bible and by Josephus, with the reference to their occurrence:--
- Gate of Ephraim. (2 Chronicles 25:23; Nehemiah 8:16; 12:39) This is probably the same as the--
- Gate of Benjamin. (Jeremiah 20:2; 37:13; Zechariah 14:10) If so, it was 400 cubits distant from the--
- Corner gate. (2 Chronicles 25:23; 26:9; Jeremiah 31:38; Zechariah 14:10)
- Gate of Joshua, governor of the city. (2 Kings 23:8)
- Gate between the two walls. (2 Kings 25:4; Jeremiah 39:4)
- Horse gate. (Nehemiah 3:28; 2 Chronicles 23:15; Jeremiah 31:40)
- Ravine gate (i.e. opening on ravine of Hinnom). (2 Chronicles 26:9; Nehemiah 2:13,15; 3:13)
- Fish gate. (2 Chronicles 33:14; Nehemiah 3:13; Zephaniah 1:10)
- Dung gate. (Nehemiah 2:13; 3:13)
- Sheep gate. (Nehemiah 3:1,32; 12:39)
- East gate. (Nehemiah 3:29)
- Miphkad. (Nehemiah 3:31)
- Fountain gate (Siloam?). (Nehemiah 12:37)
- Water gate. (Nehemiah 12:37)
- Old Gate. (Nehemiah 12:39)
- Prison gate. (Nehemiah 12:39)
- Gate Harsith (perhaps the Sun; Authorized Version East gate). (Jeremiah 19:2)
- First gate. (Zechariah 14:10)
- Gate Gennath (gardens). Jos B.J. v. 4, - 4.
- Essenes' gate. Jos. B.J. 4, - 2. To these should be added the following gates to the temple: --Gate Sur, (2 Kings 11:6) called also gate of foundation. (2 Chronicles 23:5) Gate of the guard, or behind the guard, (2 Kings 11:6,19); called the high gate. (2 Kings 15:35; 2 Chronicles 23:20; 27:3) Gate Shallecheth. (1 Chronicles 26:16) At present the chief gates are --
- The Zion's gate and the dung gate, in the south wall;
- St. Stephen's gate and the golden gate (now walled up), in the east wall;
- The Damascus gate and
- Herod's gate, in the north wall; and
- The Jaffa gate, in the west wall. Population. --Taking the area of the city enclosed by the two old walls at 750,000 yards, and that enclosed by the wall of Agrippa at 1,500,000 yards, we have 2,250,000 yards for the whole. Taking the population of the old city at the probable number of the one person to 50 yards, we have 15,000 and at the extreme limit of 30 yards we should have 25,000 inhabitants for the old city, and at 100 yards to each individual in the new city about 15,000 more; so that the population of Jerusalem, in its days of greatest prosperity, may have amounted to from 30,000 to 45,000 souls, but could hardly ever have reached 50,000; and assuming that in times of festival one-half was added to this amount, which is an extreme estimate, there may have been 60,000 or 70,000 in the city when Titus came up against it. (Josephus says that at the siege of Jerusalem the population was 3,000,000; but Tacitus' statement that it was 600,000 is nearer the truth. This last is certainly within the limits of possibility. Streets, houses, etc. --Of the nature of these in the ancient city we have only the most scattered notices. The "east street," (2 Chronicles 29:4) the "street of the city," i.e. the city of David, (2 Chronicles 32:6) the "street facing the water gate," (Nehemiah 8:1,3) or, according to the parallel account in 1 Esdr. 9:38, the "broad place of the temple towards the east;" the "street of the house of God," (Ezra 10:9) the "street of the gate of Ephraim," (Nehemiah 8:16) and the "open place of the first gate toward the east," must have been not "streets," in our sense of the word, so much as the open spaces found in easter towns round the inside of the gates. Streets, properly so called, there were, (Jeremiah 5:1; 11:13) etc.; but the name of only one, "the bakers' street," (Jeremiah 37:21) is preserved to us. The Via Dolorosa, or street of sorrows, is a part of the street thorough which Christ is supposed to have been led on his way to his crucifixion. To the houses we have even less clue; but there is no reason to suppose that in either houses or streets the ancient Jerusalem differed very materially from the modern. No doubt the ancient city did not exhibit that air of mouldering dilapidation which is now so prominent there. The whole of the slopes south of the Haram area (the ancient Ophel), and the modern Zion, and the west side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, presents the appearance of gigantic mounds of rubbish. In this point at least the ancient city stood in favorable contrast with the modern, but in many others the resemblance must have been strong. Annals of the city. --If, as is possible, Salem is the same with Jerusalem, the first mention of Jerusalem is in (Genesis 14:18) about B.C. 2080. It is next mentioned in (Joshua 10:1) B.C. 1451. The first siege appears to have taken place almost immediately after the death of Joshua --cir. 1400 B.C. Judah and Simeon "fought against it and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire." (Judges 1:8) In the fifteen centuries which elapsed between this siege and the siege and destruction of the city by Titus, A.D. 70, the city was besieged no fewer than seventeen times; twice it was razed to the ground, on two other occasions its walls were levelled. In this respect it stands without a parallel in any city, ancient or modern. David captured the city B.C. 1046, and made it his capital, fortified and enlarged it. Solomon adorned the city with beautiful buildings, including the temple, but made no additions to its walls. The city was taken by the Philistines and Arabians in the reign of Jehoram, B.C. 886, and by the Israelites in the reign of Amaziah, B.C. 826. It was thrice taken by Nebuchadnezzar, in the years B.C. 607, 597 and 586, in the last of which it was utterly destroyed. Its restoration commenced under Cyrus, B.C. 538, and was completed under Artaxerxes I., who issued commissions for this purpose to Ezra, B.C. 457, and Nehemiah, B.C. 445. In B.C. 332 it was captured by Alexander the Great. Under the Ptolemies and the Seleucidae the town was prosperous, until Antiochus Epiphanes sacked it, B.C. 170. In consequence of his tyranny, the Jews rose under the Maccabees, and Jerusalem became again independent, and retained its position until its capture by the Romans under Pompey, B.C. 63. The temple was subsequently plundered by Crassus, B.C. 545, and the city by the Parthians, B.C. 40. Herod took up his residence there as soon as he was appointed sovereign, and restored the temple with great magnificence. On the death of Herod it became the residence of the Roman procurators, who occupied the fortress of Antonia. The greatest siege that it sustained, however, was at the hands of the Romans under Titus, when it held out nearly five months, and when the town was completely destroyed, A.D. 70. Hadrian restored it as a Roman colony, A.D. 135, and among other buildings erected a temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on the site of the temple. He gave to it the name of AElia Capitolina, thus combining his own family name with that of the Capitoline Jupiter. The emperor Constantine established the Christian character by the erection of a church on the supposed site of the holy sepulchre, A.D. 336. Justinian added several churches and hospitals about A.D. 532. It was taken by the Persians under Chosroes II in A.D. 614. The dominion of the Christians in the holy city was now rapidly drawing to a close. In A.D. 637 the patriarch Sophronius surrendered to the khalif Omar in person. With the fall of the Abassides the holy city passed into the hands of the Fatimite dynasty, under whom the sufferings of the Christians in Jerusalem reached their height. About the year 1084 it was bestowed upon Ortok, chief of a Turkman horde. It was taken by the Crusaders in 1099, and for eighty-eight years Jerusalem remained in the hand of the Christians. in 1187 it was retaken by Saladin after a siege of several weeks. In 1277 Jerusalem was nominally annexed to the kingdom of Sicily. In 1517 it passed under the sway of the Ottoman sultan Selim I., whose successor Suliman built the present walls of the city in 1542. Mohammed Aly, the pasha of Egypt, took possession of it in 1832; and in 1840, after the bombardment of Acre, it was again restored to the sultan. (Modern Jerusalem , called by the Arabs el-Khuds , is built upon the ruins of ancient Jerusalem. The accumulated rubbish of centuries is very great, being 100 feet deep on the hill of Zion. The modern wall, built in 1542, forms an irregular quadrangle about 2 1/2 miles in circuit, with seven gates and 34 towers. It varies in height from 20 to 60 feet. The streets within are narrow, ungraded, crooked, and often filthy. The houses are of hewn stone, with flat roofs and frequent domes. There are few windows toward the street. The most beautiful part of modern Jerusalem is the former temple area (Mount Moriah), "with its lawns and cypress tress, and its noble dome rising high above the wall." This enclosure, now called Haram esh-Sherif , is 35 acres in extent, and is nearly a mile in circuit. On the site of the ancient temple stands the Mosque of Omar, "perhaps the very noblest specimen of building-art in Asia." "It is the most prominent as well as the most beautiful building in the whole city." The mosque is an octagonal building, each side measuring 66 feet. It is surmounted by a dome, whose top is 170 feet from the ground. The church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is claimed, but without sufficient reason, to be upon the site of Calvary, is "a collection of chapels and altars of different ages and a unique museum of religious curiosities from Adam to Christ." The present number of inhabitants in Jerusalem is variously estimated. Probably Pierotti's estimate is very near the truth, --20,330; of whom 5068 are Christians, 7556 Mohammedans (Arabs and Turks), and 7706 Jews. --ED.)
ATS Bible Dictionary
JerusalemThe chief city of the Holy Land, and to the Christian the most illustrious in the world. It is situated in 31 degrees 46-43" N. lat., and 35 degrees 13- E. long. on elevated ground south of the center of the country, about thirty-seven miles from the Mediterranean, and about twenty-four from the Jordan. Its site was early hallowed by God's trial of Abraham's faith, Genesis 22:1-24 2 Chronicles 3:1. It was on the border of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, mostly within the limits of the former, but reckoned as belonging to the latter, because conquered by it, Joshua 15:8 18:16,28 Jude 1:18. The most ancient name of the city was Salem, Genesis 14:18 Psalm 76:2; and it afterwards was called Jebus, as belonging to the Jebusites, Jud 19:10,11. Being a very strong position, it resisted the attempts of the Israelites to become the sole masters of it, until at length its fortress was stormed by David, 2 Samuel 5:6,9; after which it received its present name, and was also called "the city of David." It now became the religious and political center of the kingdom, and was greatly enlarged, adorned, and fortified. But its chief glory was, that in its magnificent temple the ONE LIVING AND TRUE GOD dwelt, and revealed himself.
After the division of the tribes, it continued the capital of the kingdom of Judah, was several times taken and plundered, and at length was destroyed at the Babylonian captivity, 2 Kings 14:13 2 Chronicles 12:9 21:16 24:23 25:23 36:3,10 17:1-20:37. After seventy years, it was rebuilt by the Jews on their return from captivity about 536 B. C., who did much to restore it to its former splendor. About 332 B. C., the city yielded to Alexander of Macedon; and not long after his death, Ptolemy of Egypt took it by an assault on the Sabbath, when it is said the Jews scrupled to fight. In 170 B. C., Jerusalem fell under the tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanes, who razed its walls, set up an image of Jupiter in the temple, and used every means to force the people into idolatry. Under the Maccabees, however, the Jews, in 163 B. C., recovered their independence. Just a century later, it was conquered by the Romans. Herod the Great expended vast sums in its embellishment. To the city and temple thus renovated the ever-blessed Messiah came, in the fullness of time, and made the place of his feet glorious. By his rejection and crucifixion Jerusalem filled up the cup of her guilt; the Jewish nation perished from off the land of their fathers, and the city and temple were taken by Titus and totally destroyed, A. D. 70-71. Of all the structures of Jerusalem, only three towers and a part of the western wall were left standing. Still, as the Jews began to return thither, and manifested a rebellious spirit, the emperor Adrian planted a Roman colony there in A. D. 135, and banished the Jews, prohibiting their return on pain of death. He changed the name of the city to Aelia Capitolina, consecrated it to heathen deities, in order to defile it as much as possible, and did what he could to obliterate all traces both of Judaism and Christianity. From this period the name Aelia became so common, that the name Jerusalem was preserved only among the Jews and better-informed Christians. In the time of Constantine, however, it resumed its ancient name, which it has retained to the present day. Helena, the mother of Constantine, built two churches in Bethlehem and on mount Olivet, about A. D. 326; and Julian, who, after his father, succeeded to the empire of his uncle Constantine, endeavored to rebuild the temple; but his design, and that of the Jews, whom he patronized, was frustrated, as contemporary historians relate, by an earthquake, and by balls of fire bursting forth among the workmen, A. D. 363.
The subsequent history of Jerusalem may be told in a few words. In 613, it was taken by Chosroes king of Persia, who slew, it is said, 90,000 men, and demolished, to the utmost of his power, whatever the Christians had venerated: in 627, Heraclius defeated Chosroes, and Jerusalem was recovered by the Greeks. Soon after command the long and wretched era of Mohammedanism. About 637, the city was taken from the Christians by the caliph Omar, after a siege of four months, and continued under the caliphs of Bagdad till 868, when it was taken by Ahmed, a Turkish sovereign of Egypt. During the space of 220 years, it was subject to several masters, Turkish and Saracenic, and in 1099 it was taken by the crusaders under Godfrey Bouillon, who was elected king. He was succeeded by his brother Baldwin, who died in 1118. In 1187, Saladin, sultan of the East, captured the city, assisted by the treachery of Raymond, count of Tripoli, who was found dead in his bed on the morning of the day in which he was to have delivered up the city. It was restored, in 1242, to the Latin princes, by Saleh Ismael, emir of Damascus; they lost it in 1291 to the sultans of Egypt, who held it till 1382. Selim, the Turkish sultan, reduced Egypt and Syria, including Jerusalem, in 1517, and his son Solyman built or reconstructed the present walls in 1534. Since then it has remained under the dominion of Turkey, except when held for a short time, 1832-4, by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt. At present, this city is included in the pashalic of Damascus, though it has a resident Turkish governor.
Jerusalem is situated on the central tableland of Judea, about 2,400 feet above the Mediterranean. It lies on ground which slopes gently down towards the east, the slope being terminated by an abrupt declivity, in some parts precipitous, and overhanging the valley of Jehoshaphat or of the Kidron. This sloping ground is also terminated on the south by the deep and narrow valley of Hinnom, which constituted the ancient southern boundary of the city, and which also ascends on its west side, and comes out upon the high ground on the northwest. See GIHON. But in the city itself, there were also two ravines or smaller valleys, dividing the land covered by buildings into three principal parts or hills. ZION, the highest of these, was in the southwest quarter of the city, skirted on the south and west by the deep valley of Hinnom. On its north and east sides lay the smaller valley "of the cheesemongers," or Tyropoeon also united, near the northeast foot of Zion, with a valley coming down from the north. Zion was also called, The city of David; and by Josephus, "the upper city." Surrounded anciently by walls as well as deep valleys, it was the strongest part of the city, and contained the citadel and the king's palace. The Tyropoeon separated it from Acra on the north and Moriah on the northeast. ACRA was less elevated than Zion, or than the ground to the northwest beyond the walls. It is called by Josephus "the lower city." MORIAH, the sacred hill, lay northeast of Zion, with which it was anciently connected at its nearest corner, by a bridge over the Tyropoeon, some remnants of which have been identified by Dr. Robinson. Moriah was at first a small eminence, but its area was greatly enlarged to make room for the temple. It was but a part of the continuous ridge on the east side of the city, overlooking the deep valley of the Kidron; rising on the north, after a slight depression, into the hill Bezetha, the "new city" of Joephus, and sinking away on the south into the hill Ophel. On the east of Jerusalem, and stretching from north to south, lies the Mount of Olives, divided from the city by the valley of the Kidron, and commanding a noble prospect of the city and surrounding county. Over against Moriah, or a little further north, lies the garden of Gethsemane, with its olive trees, at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Just below the city, on the east side of the valley of the Kidron, lies the miserable village of Siloa; farther down, this valley unites with that of Hinnon, at a beautiful spot anciently "the king's gardens;" still below, is the well of Nehemiah, anciently En-rogel; and from this spot the united valley winds among mountains southward and eastward to the Dead sea. In the mouth of the Tyropoeon, between Ophel and Zion, is the pool of Siloam. In the valley west and northwest of Zion are the two pools of Gihon, the lower being now broken and dry. In the rocks around Jerusalem, and chiefly in the sides of the valleys of the Kidron and Hinnom opposite the city, are many excavated tombs and caves.
Of the WALLS of ancient Jerusalem, the most ancient that of David and Solomon, encircled the whole of Mount Zion, and was also continued around Moriah and Ophel. The depth of the valleys south and east of Jerusalem, rendered it comparatively easy to fortify and defend it on these sides. This southern wall, in the period of kings and of Christ, traversed the outmost verge of those hills, inclosing the pool of Siloam, Ophel, and portions apparently of the valleys of Hinnom and the Kidron, 2 Chronicles 33:14 Nehemiah 2:14 3:15.
A second wall, built by Jotham, Hezekiah, and Manasseh, made some changes on the southern line, and inclosed a large additional space on the north. It commenced somewhat east of the tower of Hippicus, on the northwest border of Zion, included Acra and part of Bezetha, and united with the old wall on the east. This wall was destroyed, as well as the first, at the captivity, but both were afterwards reerected, it is believed, on nearly the same lines, and were substantially the same at the time of Christ. The precise course of the second wall may perhaps be ascertained by future excavations, but is now more disputed than any other point of the topography of Jerusalem. To ascertain the exact location of "the tower Gennath," where this wall began, and trace its course "in a circuit" to Antonia, would show whether the traditional site of Calvary, now far within the city limits, lay within or without the ancient wall. The arguments from topography are strongly against the tradition; and it would seem that this whole region, if not actually within the wall, must have been at least occupied by the city suburbs at that time.
The third wall, commenced by Herod Agrippa only ten years after the crucifixion of Christ, ran from the tower Hippicus nearly half a mile northwest to the tower of Psephinos, and sweeping round by the "tombs of the kings," passed down east of Bezetha, and joined the old eastern wall. The whole circumference of the city at that time was a little over four miles. Now it is only two and three quarters at the most; and the large space on the north, which the wall of Agrippa inclosed, is proved to have been built upon by the numerous cisterns which yet remain, and the marble fragments which the plough often turns up.
The preceding plan of Ancient Jerusalem exhibits the walls, gates, towers, and other prominent objects in and around the city, with as much accuracy as can be secured, now that it has borne the ravages of so many centuries, been nearly a score of times captured, and often razed to the ground. Fuller descriptions of many of the localities referred to may be found under their respective heads.
MODERN JERUSALEM, called by the Arabs El-Kuds, the holy, occupies unquestionably the site of the Jerusalem of the Bible. It is still "beautiful for situation," and stands forth on its well-defined hills "as a city that is compact together," Psalm 48:2,12 122:3,4 125:1,2. The distant view of its stately walls and numerous domes and minarets is highly imposing. But its old glory has departed; its thronging myriads are no more; desolation covers the barren mountains around it, and the tribes go up to the house of the Lord no longer. She that once sat as a queen among them, now sitteth solitary, "trodden down of the Gentiles," "reft of her sons, and mid her foes forlorn." "Zion is ploughed as a field," and the soil is mixed with the rubbish of ages, to the depth in some places of forty feet.
The modern wall, built in 1542, varies from twenty to sixty feet in height, and is about two and a half miles in circuit. On the eastern and shortest side, its course is nearly straight; and it coincides, in the southern half on this side, with the wall of the sacred area now called El-Haram, the holy. This area, 510 yards long from north to south, and 310 to 350 yards in breadth, is inclosed by high walls, the lower stones of which are in many parts very large, and much more ancient than the superstructure. It is occupied by the great octagonal mosque called Kubbet es-Sukhrah, or Dome of the Rock, and the mosque El-Aksa, with their grounds. It covers the site of the ancient temple and of the great tower Antonia. See TEMPLE. At its southeast corner, where the wall is seventy-seven feet high, the ground at its base is one hundred and fifty feet above the dry bed of the Kidron. From this corner, the wall runs irregularly west by south, crosses mount Zion, leaving the greater part of it uninclosed on the south, and at its western verge turns north to the Jaffa gate, where the lower part of a very old and strong tower still remains. The upper part of this tower is less ancient and massive. It is known as "the tower of David," and is generally thought to have been the Hippicus of Josephus. Thence the wall sweeps irregularly round to the northeast corner. It is flanked at unequal distances by square towers, and has battlements running all around on its summit, with loopholes in them for arrows or muskets. There are now in use only four gates: the Jaffa or Bethlehem gate on the west, the Damascus gate on the north, St. Stephen's gate on the east, and Zion gate on the south. In the eastern wall of El-Haram is the Golden gate, long since blocked up, and in the city wall two smaller gates, more recently closed, namely, Herod's gate on the north-east, and Dung gate in the Tyropoeon on the south.
Within the city walls are seen narrow and often covered streets, ungraded, ill-paved, and in some parts filthy, though less so than in most oriental cities. The houses are of hewn stone, with few windows towards the streets. Their flat roofs are strengthened and ornamented by many small domes. The most beautiful part of the city is the area of the great mosque-from which until recently all Christians have been rigorously excluded for six centuries-with its lawns and cypress trees, and the noble dome rising high above the wall. On mount Zion, much of the space within the wall is occupied by the huge Armenian convent, with the Syrian convent, and the church of St. James. Beyond the wall and far to the south is a Mohammedan mosque, professedly over the tomb of David. This is more jealously guarded against Christians than even the mosque of Omar. Near it is the small cemetery of the American missionaries. At the northwest corner of Zion rises the high square citadel above referred to, ancient and grand. Still farther north is the Latin convent, in the most westerly part of Jerusalem; and between it and the center of the city stands the church of the Holy Sepulchre, over the traditional scenes of the death and the resurrection of our Lord. See CALVARY. In various parts of the city the minarets of eight or ten mosques arise, amid an assemblage of about two thousand dwellings, not a few of which are much dilapidated.
The present population of Jerusalem may be about 12,000 souls, of whom about two-fifths are Mohammedans, and the remainder Jews and Christians in nearly equal numbers. There is also a considerable garrison, 800 to 1,000, stationed there; and in April of each year many thousands of pilgrims from foreign lands make a flying visit to the sacred places. The Moslemim reside in the center of the city, and towards the north and east. The Jews' quarter is on the northeast side of Zion. The Greek, Latin, Armenian, Syrian, and Coptic Christians are located chiefly around their respective convents, and their burial-places are on mount Zion, as well as that of the American Protestant mission. The Jews bury on Mount Olivet and the Mohammedans in several places, though preferring the eastern brow of Moriah. Jerusalem is but the melancholy shadow of its former self. The nominal Christians residing there are in a state of degraded and ignorant subjection to the Mohammedans, and their petty discords and superstitions are a reproach to the Christian name. The Jews, 3,000 to 5,000 in number, are still more oppressed and abject. Most of them were born in other lands, and have come here to die, in a city no longer their own. Discouraged by endless exactions, they subsist on the charities of their brethren abroad. It is only as a purchased privilege that they are allowed to approach the foundations of the sacred hill where their fathers worshipped the only true God. Here, in a small area near some huge and ancient stones in the base of the western wall of Moriah, they gather, especially on sacred days, to sit weeping and wailing on the ground, taking up the heart-breaking lamentations of Jeremiah-living witnesses of the truth of God's word fulfilled in them. See WALL.
THE NEW JERUSALEM, is a name given to the church of Christ, and signifying is firm foundations in the love, choice, an covenant of God; its strong bulwarks, living fountains, and beautiful palaces; its thronging thousands, its indwelling God, and its consummated glory in heaven, Galatians 4:26 Hebrews 12:22 Revelation 3:12 21:1-27.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the "city of God," the "holy city;" by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning "the holy;" once "the city of Judah" (
2 Chronicles 25:28). This name is in the original in the dual form, and means "possession of peace," or "foundation of peace." The dual form probably refers to the two mountains on which it was built, viz., Zion and Moriah; or, as some suppose, to the two parts of the city, the "upper" and the "lower city." Jerusalem is a "mountain city enthroned on a mountain fastness" (Comp.
Psalm 68:15, 16;
87:1;
125:2;
76:1, 2;
122:3). It stands on the edge of one of the highest table-lands in Palestine, and is surrounded on the south-eastern, the southern, and the western sides by deep and precipitous ravines.
It is first mentioned in Scripture under the name Salem (Genesis 14:18; Comp. Psalm 76:2). When first mentioned under the name Jerusalem, Adonizedek was its king (Joshua 10:1). It is afterwards named among the cities of Benjamin (Judges 19:10; 1 Chronicles 11:4); but in the time of David it was divided between Benjamin and Judah. After the death of Joshua the city was taken and set on fire by the men of Judah (Judges 1:1-8); but the Jebusites were not wholly driven out of it. The city is not again mentioned till we are told that David brought the head of Goliath thither (1 Samuel 17:54). David afterwards led his forces against the Jebusites still residing within its walls, and drove them out, fixing his own dwelling on Zion, which he called "the city of David" (2 Samuel 5:5-9; 1 Chronicles 11:4-8). Here he built an altar to the Lord on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:15-25), and thither he brought up the ark of the covenant and placed it in the new tabernacle which he had prepared for it. Jerusalem now became the capital of the kingdom.
After the death of David, Solomon built the temple, a house for the name of the Lord, on Mount Moriah (B.C. 1010). He also greatly strengthened and adorned the city, and it became the great centre of all the civil and religious affairs of the nation (Deuteronomy 12:5; Comp. 12:14; 14:23; 16:11-16; Psalm 122).
After the disruption of the kingdom on the accession to the throne of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, Jerusalem became the capital of the kingdom of the two tribes. It was subsequently often taken and retaken by the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and by the kings of Israel (2 Kings 14:13, 14; 18:15, 16; 23:33-35; 24:14; 2 Chronicles 12:9; 26:9; 27:3, 4; 29:3; 32:30; 33:11), till finally, for the abounding iniquities of the nation, after a siege of three years, it was taken and utterly destroyed, its walls razed to the ground, and its temple and palaces consumed by fire, by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon (2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36; Jeremiah 39), B.C. 588. The desolation of the city and the land was completed by the retreat of the principal Jews into Egypt (Jeremiah 40-44), and by the final carrying captive into Babylon of all that still remained in the land (52:3), so that it was left without an inhabitant (B.C. 582). Compare the predictions, Deuteronomy 28; Leviticus 26:14-39.
But the streets and walls of Jerusalem were again to be built, in troublous times (Dan. 9:16, 19, 25), after a captivity of seventy years. This restoration was begun B.C. 536, "in the first year of Cyrus" (Ezra 1:2, 3, 5-11). The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah contain the history of the re-building of the city and temple, and the restoration of the kingdom of the Jews, consisting of a portion of all the tribes. The kingdom thus constituted was for two centuries under the dominion of Persia, till B.C. 331; and thereafter, for about a century and a half, under the rulers of the Greek empire in Asia, till B.C. 167. For a century the Jews maintained their independence under native rulers, the Asmonean princes. At the close of this period they fell under the rule of Herod and of members of his family, but practically under Rome, till the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. The city was then laid in ruins.
The modern Jerusalem by-and-by began to be built over the immense beds of rubbish resulting from the overthrow of the ancient city; and whilst it occupies certainly the same site, there are no evidences that even the lines of its streets are now what they were in the ancient city. Till A.D. 131 the Jews who still lingered about Jerusalem quietly submitted to the Roman sway. But in that year the emperor (Hadrian), in order to hold them in subjection, rebuilt and fortified the city. The Jews, however, took possession of it, having risen under the leadership of one Bar-Chohaba (i.e., "the son of the star") in revolt against the Romans. Some four years afterwards (A.D. 135), however, they were driven out of it with great slaughter, and the city was again destroyed; and over its ruins was built a Roman city called Aelia Capitolina, a name which it retained till it fell under the dominion of the Mohammedans, when it was called el-Khuds, i.e., "the holy."
In A.D. 326 Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with the view of discovering the places mentioned in the life of our Lord. She caused a church to be built on what was then supposed to be the place of the nativity at Bethlehem. Constantine, animated by her example, searched for the holy sepulchre, and built over the supposed site a magnificent church, which was completed and dedicated A.D. 335. He relaxed the laws against the Jews till this time in force, and permitted them once a year to visit the city and wail over the desolation of "the holy and beautiful house."
In A.D. 614 the Persians, after defeating the Roman forces of the emperor Heraclius, took Jerusalem by storm, and retained it till A.D. 637, when it was taken by the Arabians under the Khalif Omar. It remained in their possession till it passed, in A.D. 960, under the dominion of the Fatimite khalifs of Egypt, and in A.D. 1073 under the Turcomans. In A.D. 1099 the crusader Godfrey of Bouillon took the city from the Moslems with great slaughter, and was elected king of Jerusalem. He converted the Mosque of Omar into a Christian cathedral. During the eighty-eight years which followed, many churches and convents were erected in the holy city. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt during this period, and it alone remains to this day. In A.D. 1187 the sultan Saladin wrested the city from the Christians. From that time to the present day, with few intervals, Jerusalem has remained in the hands of the Moslems. It has, however, during that period been again and again taken and retaken, demolished in great part and rebuilt, no city in the world having passed through so many vicissitudes.
In the year 1850 the Greek and Latin monks residing in Jerusalem had a fierce dispute about the guardianship of what are called the "holy places." In this dispute the emperor Nicholas of Russia sided with the Greeks, and Louis Napoleon, the emperor of the French, with the Latins. This led the Turkish authorities to settle the question in a way unsatisfactory to Russia. Out of this there sprang the Crimean War, which was protracted and sanguinary, but which had important consequences in the way of breaking down the barriers of Turkish exclusiveness.
Modern Jerusalem "lies near the summit of a broad mountain-ridge, which extends without interruption from the plain of Esdraelon to a line drawn between the southern end of the Dead Sea and the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean." This high, uneven table-land is everywhere from 20 to 25 geographical miles in breadth. It was anciently known as the mountains of Ephraim and Judah.
"Jerusalem is a city of contrasts, and differs widely from Damascus, not merely because it is a stone town in mountains, whilst the latter is a mud city in a plain, but because while in Damascus Moslem religion and Oriental custom are unmixed with any foreign element, in Jerusalem every form of religion, every nationality of East and West, is represented at one time."
Jerusalem is first mentioned under that name in the Book of Joshua, and the Tell-el-Amarna collection of tablets includes six letters from its Amorite king to Egypt, recording the attack of the Abiri about B.C. 1480. The name is there spelt Uru-Salim ??"city of peace"). Another monumental record in which the Holy City is named is that of Sennacherib's attack in B.C. 702. The "camp of the Assyrians" was still shown about A.D. 70, on the flat ground to the north-west, included in the new quarter of the city.
The city of David included both the upper city and Millo, and was surrounded by a wall built by David and Solomon, who appear to have restored the original Jebusite fortifications. The name Zion (or Sion) appears to have been, like Ariel ("the hearth of God"), a poetical term for Jerusalem, but in the Greek age was more specially used of the Temple hill. The priests' quarter grew up on Ophel, south of the Temple, where also was Solomon's Palace outside the original city of David. The walls of the city were extended by Jotham and Manasseh to include this suburb and the Temple (2 Chronicles 27:3; 33:14).
Jerusalem is now a town of some 50,000 inhabitants, with ancient mediaeval walls, partly on the old lines, but extending less far to the south. The traditional sites, as a rule, were first shown in the 4th and later centuries A.D., and have no authority. The results of excavation have, however, settled most of the disputed questions, the limits of the Temple area, and the course of the old walls having been traced.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
(
n.) The chief city of Palestine, intimately associated with the glory of the Jewish nation, and the life and death of Jesus Christ.
Thesaurus
Jerusalem (782 Occurrences)... two mountains on which it was built, viz., Zion and Moriah; or, as some suppose,
to the two parts of the city, the "upper" and the "lower city."
Jerusalem is a
.../j/jerusalem.htm - 89kJerusalem's (7 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Jerusalem's (7 Occurrences). 1 Kings 11:13 However
I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give ...
/j/jerusalem's.htm - 8k
Section (22 Occurrences)
... 2 Kings 14:13 Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash
the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and broke down ...
/s/section.htm - 14k
Sixteen (24 Occurrences)
... 2 Kings 15:2 Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned
fifty-two years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ...
/s/sixteen.htm - 14k
Sheshbazzar (4 Occurrences)
... It is possible that Sheshbazzar came to Jerusalem in the time of Cyrus and laid
the foundations, and that Zerubbabel came later in the time of Darius Hystaspis ...
/s/sheshbazzar.htm - 10k
Silas (22 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Wood, a prominent member of the church at Jerusalem;
also called Silvanus. He and Judas, surnamed Barsabas ...
/s/silas.htm - 21k
Shishak (6 Occurrences)
... 3. Syrian Campaign: So it came to pass that in the 5th year of Rehoboam, Shishak
came up against Jerusalem with 1,200 chariots, and 60,000 horsemen, and people ...
/s/shishak.htm - 13k
Shephe'lah (10 Occurrences)
... 1 Kings 10:27 The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made
he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance. ...
/s/shephe'lah.htm - 9k
Sepulchres (17 Occurrences)
... 2 Chronicles 21:20 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he
reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. ...
/s/sepulchres.htm - 12k
Sennacherib (13 Occurrences)
... and female, together with horses and mules, asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a
countless multitude; and Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital ...
/s/sennacherib.htm - 18k
Bible Concordance
Jerusalem (782 Occurrences)Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Matthew 2:3 When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Matthew 3:5 Then people from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Matthew 4:25 Great multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Matthew 5:35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Matthew 15:1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Matthew 16:21 From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Matthew 20:17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Matthew 20:18 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Matthew 21:1 When they drew near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Matthew 21:10 When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?"
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Matthew 23:37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Mark 1:5 All the country of Judea and all those of Jerusalem went out to him. They were baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Mark 3:8 from Jerusalem, from Idumaea, beyond the Jordan, and those from around Tyre and Sidon. A great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came to him.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Mark 3:22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebul," and, "By the prince of the demons he casts out the demons."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Mark 7:1 Then the Pharisees, and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem.
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Mark 10:32 They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He again took the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Mark 10:33 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Mark 11:1 When they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethsphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
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Mark 11:11 Jesus entered into the temple in Jerusalem. When he had looked around at everything, it being now evening, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
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Mark 11:15 They came to Jerusalem, and Jesus entered into the temple, and began to throw out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of those who sold the doves.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Mark 11:27 They came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders came to him,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Mark 15:41 who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and served him; and many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Luke 2:22 When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Luke 2:25 Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.
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Luke 2:38 Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Luke 2:41 His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Luke 2:42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast,
(WEB KJV DBY WBS YLT)
Luke 2:43 and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother didn't know it,
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Luke 2:45 When they didn't find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him.
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Luke 4:9 He led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Luke 5:17 It happened on one of those days, that he was teaching; and there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every village of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was with him to heal them.
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Luke 6:17 He came down with them, and stood on a level place, with a crowd of his disciples, and a great number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
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Luke 9:31 who appeared in glory, and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
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Luke 9:51 It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem,
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Luke 9:53 They didn't receive him, because he was traveling with his face set towards Jerusalem.
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Luke 10:30 Jesus answered, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
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Luke 13:4 Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?
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Luke 13:22 He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem.
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Luke 13:33 Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it can't be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem.'
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Luke 13:34 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Luke 17:11 It happened as he was on his way to Jerusalem, that he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee.
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Luke 18:31 He took the twelve aside, and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written through the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be completed.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Luke 19:11 As they heard these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the Kingdom of God would be revealed immediately.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Luke 19:28 Having said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
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Luke 19:41 When he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it,
(See NAS NIV)
Luke 21:20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand.
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Luke 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Luke 23:7 When he found out that he was in Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days.
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Luke 23:28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
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Luke 24:13 Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia from Jerusalem.
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Luke 24:18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things which have happened there in these days?"
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Luke 24:33 They rose up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with them,
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Luke 24:47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
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Luke 24:49 Behold, I send forth the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high."
(WEB KJV WBS YLT)
Luke 24:52 They worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
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John 1:19 This is John's testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"
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John 2:13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
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John 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he did.
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John 4:20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship."
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John 4:21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
John 4:45 So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast.
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John 5:1 After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
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John 5:2 Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, "Bethesda," having five porches.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
John 7:25 Therefore some of them of Jerusalem said, "Isn't this he whom they seek to kill?
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John 10:22 It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem.
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John 11:18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away.
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John 11:55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
John 12:12 On the next day a great multitude had come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 1:4 Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, "Don't depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 1:19 It became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem that in their language that field was called'Akeldama,' that is,'The field of blood.'
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 2:5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke out to them, "You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 4:5 It happened in the morning, that their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem.
(WEB WEY ASV BBE DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 4:6 And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
(KJV WBS)
Acts 4:16 saying, "What shall we do to these men? Because indeed a notable miracle has been done through them, as can be plainly seen by all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we can't deny it.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 5:16 Multitudes also came together from the cities around Jerusalem, bringing sick people, and those who were tormented by unclean spirits: and they were all healed.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 5:28 saying, "Didn't we strictly command you not to teach in this name? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man's blood on us."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 6:7 The word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly. A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 8:1 Saul was consenting to his death. A great persecution arose against the assembly which was in Jerusalem in that day. They were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 8:14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 8:25 They therefore, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the Good News to many villages of the Samaritans.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 8:26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 8:27 He arose and went; and behold, there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 9:2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 9:13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 9:21 All who heard him were amazed, and said, "Isn't this he who in Jerusalem made havoc of those who called on this name? And he had come here intending to bring them bound before the chief priests!"
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 9:26 When Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 9:28 He was with them entering into Jerusalem,
(WEB KJV ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 10:39 We are witnesses of everything he did both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they also killed, hanging him on a tree.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 11:2 When Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those who were of the circumcision contended with him,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 11:22 The report concerning them came to the ears of the assembly which was in Jerusalem. They sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 11:27 Now in these days, prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 12:25 Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their service, also taking with them John whose surname was Mark.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 13:13 Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 13:27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they didn't know him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 13:31 and he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Acts 15:2 Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small discord and discussion with them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas, and some others of them, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)
Subtopics
Jerusalem
Jerusalem of Final Restoration of
Jerusalem of Pestilence, Famine, and War In
Jerusalem of the Church
Jerusalem of the Church Glorified
Jerusalem of the Destruction of
Jerusalem was the Tomb of the Prophets
Jerusalem:
Jerusalem: (Its Strong Position) of Saints Under God's Protection
Jerusalem: A Revival Occurs on Pentecost Day At
Jerusalem: Allotted to the Tribe of Benjamin
Jerusalem: Annual Feasts Kept At
Jerusalem: Baker's Street
Jerusalem: Beautiful for Situation
Jerusalem: Beloved
Jerusalem: Besieged by Pekah
Jerusalem: Besieged by Sennacherib
Jerusalem: Besieged by The Philistines
Jerusalem: Buildings: High Priest's Palace
Jerusalem: Calamities of, Mentioned: Besieged But not Taken by Rezin and Pekah
Jerusalem: Calamities of, Mentioned: Besieged But not Taken by Sennacherib
Jerusalem: Calamities of, Mentioned: Besieged by Nebuchadnezzar
Jerusalem: Calamities of, Mentioned: Taken and Burned by Nebuchadnezzar
Jerusalem: Calamities of, Mentioned: Taken and Made Tributary by Pharaoh-Necho
Jerusalem: Calamities of, Mentioned: Taken and Plundered by Jehoash King of Israel
Jerusalem: Calamities of, Mentioned: Taken and Plundered by Shishak
Jerusalem: Calamities of, Mentioned: Threatened by Sanballat
Jerusalem: Called: "The Lord Our Righteousness"
Jerusalem: Called: A City not Forsaken
Jerusalem: Called: Ariel
Jerusalem: Called: City of David
Jerusalem: Called: City of God
Jerusalem: Called: City of Judah
Jerusalem: Called: City of Righteousness
Jerusalem: Called: City of Solemnities
Jerusalem: Called: City of the Great King
Jerusalem: Called: City of the Lord
Jerusalem: Called: City of Truth
Jerusalem: Called: Faithful City
Jerusalem: Called: Holy City
Jerusalem: Called: Holy Mountain
Jerusalem: Called: Jebus
Jerusalem: Called: Jehovah-Shammah (Margin)
Jerusalem: Called: Salem
Jerusalem: Called: The Perfection of Beauty, the Joy of the Whole Earth
Jerusalem: Called: The Throne of the Lord
Jerusalem: Called: Throne of the Lord
Jerusalem: Called: Zion
Jerusalem: Called: Zion of the Holy One of Israel
Jerusalem: Captured and Pillaged by Jehoash, King of Israel
Jerusalem: Captured and Pillaged by Jotham
Jerusalem: Captured and Pillaged by Manasseh
Jerusalem: Captured and Pillaged by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon
Jerusalem: Captured and Pillaged by Shishak, King of Egypt
Jerusalem: Captured and Pillaged by Uzziah
Jerusalem: Castle
Jerusalem: Catalogue of Abominations In
Jerusalem: Christ: did Many Miracles In
Jerusalem: Christ: Lamented Over
Jerusalem: Christ: Preached In
Jerusalem: Christ: Publicly Entered, As King
Jerusalem: Christ: Put to Death At
Jerusalem: Comely
Jerusalem: Compact
Jerusalem: Confederated Kings Defeated, and the King of Jerusalem Killed by Joshua
Jerusalem: Conquest of Mount Zion In, Made by David
Jerusalem: Conquest of, Made by David
Jerusalem: Corner Gate
Jerusalem: David Purchases and Erects an Altar Upon Araunah's Threshing Floor
Jerusalem: Destruction of, Foretold by Jesus
Jerusalem: Disciples Persecuted and Dispersed From
Jerusalem: Dung Gate
Jerusalem: East Gate
Jerusalem: Enlarged by David
Jerusalem: Entered by Gates
Jerusalem: Falls to Benjamin in the Allotment of the Land of Canaan
Jerusalem: First Christian Council Held At
Jerusalem: First Gate
Jerusalem: Fortified by Solomon
Jerusalem: Full of Business and Tumult
Jerusalem: Gate of Benjamin
Jerusalem: Gate of Ephraim
Jerusalem: Gate of Joshua
Jerusalem: Gate of the Fountain
Jerusalem: Gates of Old Gate, Fish Gate, Sheep Gate, Prison Gate
Jerusalem: God's Care and Protection of
Jerusalem: Gospel First Preached At
Jerusalem: Great
Jerusalem: Hezekiah Made an Aqueduct For
Jerusalem: High Gate
Jerusalem: Horse Gate
Jerusalem: Idolatry of
Jerusalem: Jesus' Gravesite
Jerusalem: Joy of the Whole Earth
Jerusalem: King of, Joined With the Four Other Kings of the Amorites Against Joshua and the Armies of Israel
Jerusalem: King's Gate
Jerusalem: Led Judah to Sin
Jerusalem: Location and Appearance of
Jerusalem: Made the Royal City
Jerusalem: Measurement of, in Ezekiel's Vision
Jerusalem: Melchizedek Was Ancient King of
Jerusalem: Melchizedek Was the Ancient King and Priest of
Jerusalem: Middle Gate
Jerusalem: Miphkad
Jerusalem: Miraculous Gift of the Holy Spirit First Given At
Jerusalem: Names of the Gates of, in Ezekiel's Vision
Jerusalem: New Jerusalem
Jerusalem: Oaths Taken in the Name of
Jerusalem: Old Gate
Jerusalem: Partly Taken and Burned by Judah
Jerusalem: Persecution of the Christian Church Commenced At
Jerusalem: Places in and Around: Moriah
Jerusalem: Populous
Jerusalem: Prayers of the Israelites Made Toward
Jerusalem: Princess Among the Provinces
Jerusalem: Prophecies Against
Jerusalem: Prophecies of the Rebuilding of
Jerusalem: Prophecies Respecting: Christ to Enter, As King
Jerusalem: Prophecies Respecting: Its Capture Accompanied by Severe Calamities
Jerusalem: Prophecies Respecting: Signs Preceding Its Destruction
Jerusalem: Prophecies Respecting: The Gospel to Go Forth From
Jerusalem: Prophecies Respecting: To be a Quiet Habitation
Jerusalem: Prophecies Respecting: To be a Terror to Her Enemies
Jerusalem: Prophecies Respecting: To be a Wilderness
Jerusalem: Prophecies Respecting: To be Destroyed by the Romans
Jerusalem: Prophecies Respecting: To be Made a Heap of Ruins
Jerusalem: Prophecies Respecting: To be Rebuilt by Cyrus
Jerusalem: Prophecies Respecting: To be Taken by King of Babylon
Jerusalem: Protected by Forts and Bulwarks
Jerusalem: Protected by God
Jerusalem: Rebuilding of, Ordered by Proclamation of Cyrus
Jerusalem: Rebuilt After the Captivity by Order of Cyrus
Jerusalem: Rebuilt by Nehemiah Under the Direction of Artaxerxes
Jerusalem: Roman Government Transferred From, to Caesarea
Jerusalem: Roman Rulers Who Resided in Herod (Herod Agrippa I)
Jerusalem: Roman Rulers Who Resided in Herod (Herod the Great)
Jerusalem: Roman Rulers Who Resided in Pontius Pilate
Jerusalem: Shallecheth
Jerusalem: Specially Chosen by God
Jerusalem: Spoils of War Placed In
Jerusalem: Stairs
Jerusalem: Stephen Martyred At
Jerusalem: Street of the House of God
Jerusalem: Street of the Water Gate of Ephraim Gate
Jerusalem: Streets: East Street
Jerusalem: Surrounded by a Wall
Jerusalem: Surrounded by Mountains
Jerusalem: The Ancient Jebusi or Jebus
Jerusalem: The Ancient Salem
Jerusalem: The Ark of the Covenant Brought To, by David
Jerusalem: The Capital of David's Kingdom by Divine Appointment
Jerusalem: The Chief Levites Lived In
Jerusalem: The Citadel of Mount Zion, Occupied by David, and Called the City of David
Jerusalem: The City Built Around the Citadel
Jerusalem: The High Priest Lived At
Jerusalem: The Inhabitants of, not Expelled
Jerusalem: The Jebusites: Finally Dispossessed of, by David
Jerusalem: The Jebusites: Formerly Dwelt In
Jerusalem: The Jebusites: Held Possession of, With Judah and Benjamin
Jerusalem: The Jews: Lamented the Affliction of
Jerusalem: The Jews: Loved
Jerusalem: The Jews: Prayed for the Prosperity of
Jerusalem: The Jews: Prayed Towards
Jerusalem: The Jews: Went up To, at the Feasts
Jerusalem: The King of, Defeated and Slain by Joshua
Jerusalem: The Perfection of Beauty
Jerusalem: The Seat of Government Under the Romans for a Time
Jerusalem: The Temple Built In
Jerusalem: The Threshing Floor of Araunah Within the Citadel of
Jerusalem: To be Called God's Throne
Jerusalem: Valley Gate
Jerusalem: Wall of, Dedicated
Jerusalem: Walls of
Jerusalem: Water Gate
Jerusalem: Water Supply Brought in from the Gihon Brook by Hezekiah
Jerusalem: Wealth in the Time of Solomon
Jerusalem: Wickedness of
Jerusalem: Wickedness of, the Cause of Its Calamities
Related Terms
Jerusalem's (7 Occurrences)
Section (22 Occurrences)
Sixteen (24 Occurrences)
Sheshbazzar (4 Occurrences)
Silas (22 Occurrences)
Shishak (6 Occurrences)
Shephe'lah (10 Occurrences)
Sepulchres (17 Occurrences)
Sennacherib (13 Occurrences)
Ahava (3 Occurrences)
Sennach'erib (13 Occurrences)
Sepulchers (15 Occurrences)
Arrival (19 Occurrences)
Ahazi'ah (33 Occurrences)
Altars (55 Occurrences)
Sanhedrin (19 Occurrences)
Shutting (43 Occurrences)
Amazi'ah (37 Occurrences)
Kidron (11 Occurrences)
Artaxerxes (14 Occurrences)
Zerubbabel (25 Occurrences)
Killeth (23 Occurrences)
Killing (41 Occurrences)
Kills (38 Occurrences)
Killest (3 Occurrences)
Assembleth (9 Occurrences)
Artisans (7 Occurrences)
Ahikam (20 Occurrences)
Stonest (2 Occurrences)
Stoneth (4 Occurrences)
Salem (5 Occurrences)
Stoning (16 Occurrences)
Smiths (5 Occurrences)
Zedeki'ah (62 Occurrences)
Araunah (14 Occurrences)
Saints (117 Occurrences)
Ziba (13 Occurrences)
Speed (22 Occurrences)
Stores (53 Occurrences)
Samaritans (9 Occurrences)
Shemesh (24 Occurrences)
Shemaiah (40 Occurrences)
Shimei (43 Occurrences)
Siloam (4 Occurrences)
Started (51 Occurrences)
Stationed (49 Occurrences)
Shallum (27 Occurrences)
Quantities (13 Occurrences)
Quarries (4 Occurrences)
Valuable (17 Occurrences)
Zanoah (5 Occurrences)
Zerub'babel (23 Occurrences)
Shephelah (2 Occurrences)
Awaken (10 Occurrences)
Ashe'rim (19 Occurrences)
Ariel (7 Occurrences)
Asherim (20 Occurrences)
Ashe'rah (18 Occurrences)
Asaiah (8 Occurrences)
Arouse (24 Occurrences)
Sycamores (7 Occurrences)
Sycamore-trees (6 Occurrences)
Shaketh (20 Occurrences)
Selling (23 Occurrences)
Stringed (34 Occurrences)
Seventeen (12 Occurrences)
Staggering (7 Occurrences)
Smith (7 Occurrences)
Sycomore-trees (6 Occurrences)
Shealtiel (12 Occurrences)
Sycamore-fig (6 Occurrences)
Strengtheneth (28 Occurrences)
Shesh-baz'zar (4 Occurrences)
Servants (763 Occurrences)
Shields (44 Occurrences)
Shephatiah (13 Occurrences)
Shim'ei (40 Occurrences)
She-al'ti-el (10 Occurrences)
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