Jebus

Biblical Account

The name Jebus is used in two senses. The first is the Jebusites, a native people of the land of Canaan. The second is the city they held, that is, Jerusalem before the time of David. Scripture links the two with the expression "Jebus, which is Jerusalem" (Joshua 18:28; Judges 19:10; 1 Chronicles 11:4).

• Genealogy and promise: Genesis 10:16 lists the Jebusites among the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. They appear in the list of the inhabitants of the land promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:21) and repeatedly in other lists of Canaanite peoples, such as Exodus 3:8 and Deuteronomy 7:1.
• The conquest period: Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, led a coalition of Canaanite forces and was defeated by Joshua (Joshua 10). Nevertheless, the children of Judah and Benjamin could not drive out the Jebusites of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:63; Judges 1:21). In Judges 19:10–12 a Levite refuses to lodge in Jebus because it is a city of foreigners.
• David's conquest: After becoming king, David captured Zion, the stronghold of the Jebusites, called it "the city of David," and made it his capital (2 Samuel 5:6–9). According to 1 Chronicles 11:6, Joab went up first on this occasion and became chief of the army.
• The threshing floor of Araunah: David bought the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (called Ornan in Chronicles) and built an altar there (2 Samuel 24:18–25). Later Solomon built the temple on that site (2 Chronicles 3:1).
• Afterward: Solomon conscripted the remaining Jebusites for forced labor (1 Kings 9:20–21). Ezra 9:1 names the Jebusites among the foreign peoples with whom the returned exiles had intermarried.

Background

The origin and language of the Jebusites are uncertain, as is the meaning of the word "Jebus" itself. Some hold that the name Araunah is not Semitic, but there is no consensus.

In the Amarna letters of around the fourteenth century BC, the city appears as "Urusalim." The city name "Jebus" is not attested outside the Bible. Scholars therefore disagree over whether Jebus was a name actually used for the city or a biblical designation derived from the name of its inhabitants. The site of Jebus is commonly identified with the southeastern hill of Jerusalem, near the Gihon Spring.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The story of Jebus shows how a foreign city became the city of God. The stronghold of the Jebusites becomes Zion, and the threshing floor of a Jebusite becomes the site of the temple. Second Chronicles 3:1 calls this place Mount Moriah, connecting it with the account of the burnt offering on Mount Moriah.

Zechariah 9:7 says that the Philistine city of Ekron shall be "as a Jebusite." Many interpreters read this verse as a picture of Gentiles being received among the people of God. The name Jebus does not appear directly in the New Testament. However, the Old Testament themes surrounding Jerusalem and Zion carry over into the New Testament understanding of the temple and of the New Jerusalem.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• Judges 1:8 records that the children of Judah smote Jerusalem and set it on fire. Interpretations differ on how this account fits with the statements that they could not drive out the Jebusites. Many hold that only the town below the stronghold was taken, while the stronghold itself held out.
• The passage about "the blind and the lame" in 2 Samuel 5:6–8 is difficult to interpret. The meaning of the Hebrew word for the passage by which David's soldiers went up is also unclear, and translations render it in various ways. A widespread explanation identifies this passage with "Warren's Shaft," discovered in the nineteenth century, but the text does not state this directly, and archaeologists differ considerably on the question.
• Understanding of the command to "utterly destroy" in Deuteronomy 7:1–2 varies among traditions and scholars. Some see it as God's judgment on idolatry, while others see it as reflecting the conventions of ancient war accounts.

In the Korean Church

In preaching, the account of David's capture of the Jebusite stronghold is sometimes applied as a story of pulling down the "strong holds" that obstruct faith (2 Corinthians 10:3–5). This is an application added in preaching rather than the historical meaning of the text. In the account of Araunah's threshing floor, David's words, "neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing" (2 Samuel 24:24), are frequently quoted in sermons on devotion and offerings.