Jerusalem

Jerusalem
Panoramic view of Jerusalem’s old city and Mount Zion
Country	It does not belong to any country under international law
Administrative District	Capital of Israel under Israeli law
Area	125.1 km² [48.30 sqmi]
Elevation	750 m [2,460 ft]
Population	983,000 as of 2024

The location of Jerusalem in Palestine.

Jerusalem is a city located in a mountainous region between the Mediterranean coastal plain and the valley (Great Rift Valley) through which the Jordan River flows. Jerusalem that King David conquered and where his son Solomon built the temple, is a historical city remembered as the center of a long history and a series of significant events, including the ministry of Jesus Christ. Today, it remains politically, geographically, and religiously influential. It is considered the most sacred place for over 2 billion Christians around the world and is also a major sacred site for Judaism and Islam. In the Bible, it is prophesied that a new Jerusalem, distinct from the earthly Jerusalem, will descend from heaven to earth.

Geographical Names

The view of the Old City of Jerusalem, designated as a cultural heritage site by the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel, known as the City of David.

Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalaim, in Arabic: القدس Al-Quds, English: Jerusalem) means foundation of peace in Hebrew.

The name Jerusalem appears about 600 times in the Old Testament, and 146 times in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, it was called by names other than Jerusalem. Another frequently used name is Zion, which appears about 150 times in the Old Testament. Other names include Salem and the City of David.

It was also called in connection with God, with titles such as “City of the LORD,” “Zion of the Holy One of Israel,” and “Mountain of the LORD.” It is said that Zion, which was devastated and then rebuilt, was given the name “Hephzibah,” meaning “my delight is in her.”

Geography

Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau 750 m [2,460 ft] above sea level, approximately 560 km [347 mi] from the Mediterranean Sea and 30 km [18.6 mi] west of the northern end of the Dead Sea. The plateau is noticeably sloped to the southwest and surrounded by high hills on all sides, much like the biblical expression, “As the mountains surround Jerusalem” (Ps 125:2). To the southwest lies the Hinnom Valley, to the east are the Mount of Olives and the Kidron Valley, and to the north stretches the central mountain range, making it a naturally fortified and strategic location that is difficult for external invaders to penetrate, a blessed fortress.

History of Israel and Jerusalem

Origin

Salem and Jerusalem

In the book of Psalms, Jerusalem is also called “Salem.” Therefore, it is assumed that Salem, which appears in the book of Genesis, is the ancient name of Jerusalem. At the time of Abraham, the ruler of Salem was Melchizedek and he was a priest of God.

Jerusalem, the Stronghold of the Jebusites

The land of Canaan distributed to the 12 tribes of Israel

When the Israelites who had left Egypt entered the land of Canaan, the mountainous regions of Canaan were inhabited by the Jebusites and the Amorites. Among them, the Jerusalem area was ruled by Adoni-Zedek.

Adoni-Zedek was very afraid when he heard that Joshua had completely destroyed Jericho and Ai. He formed an alliance with four other Amorite kings to oppose Joshua and attacked Gibeon who was allied with Joshua, but he was defeated in battle. The sun stood on Gibeon all day long until Joshua had finished the battle. Five Amorite kings, including Adoni-Zedek, were eventually executed and hung on trees.

Meanwhile, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were allocated the area, were unable to completely drive out the Jebusites within the city. Jerusalem remained in the hands of the Jebusites and was called Jebus until the time of David.

The First Temple Period

David’s Conquest of Jerusalem

About 400 years after the entrance into Canaan, when David became the second king of Israel, the first capital was Hebron. David completely conquered and expanded Zion, the stronghold of the Jebusites, and made it the capital of Israel. Jerusalem, which was an ordinary city of Gentiles, became the center of Jewish life and faith through the time of David. The Bible describes this place as the “fortress of Zion” and the “City of David.” Later, David purchased the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (the same person as Ornan) which was located on the summit of Mount Moriah, north of Jerusalem’s city walls.

Construction of Solomon’s Temple (1st Temple: Temple of Solomon)

A map of the Jerusalem Temple

David passed away, and his son Solomon became the king of Israel. Solomon began the construction of the temple on Mount Moriah, where his father had purchased a threshing floor. Mount Moriah was located just north of the City of David. The construction project was extensive, mobilizing a total of 183,300 people and taking seven and a half years to complete.

Mount Moriah, where Solomon built the temple, is the same place where, about 800 years earlier, Abraham obeyed God’s command to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. By God’s grace, Abraham sacrificed a ram instead of Isaac. In Solomon’s time, the Jerusalem Temple was constructed on Mount Moriah, where sheep sacrifices were conducted. Today, this site is commonly referred to as the Temple Mount. Originally, Mount Zion referred to the location of the City of David, but its meaning later expanded to include the area of Mount Moriah where Solomon built the Jerusalem Temple.

Period of the Divided Kingdoms

After Solomon’s death, Israel was divided into the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The capital of Northern Israel changed several times, including locations such as Shechem, Tirzah, and Samaria. However, the capital of Southern Judah was always Jerusalem. Jerusalem held the legitimacy of the Davidic dynasty and was the center of faith with the presence of God’s temple, making it a religious focal point for the people of Israel. Despite this, frequent border wars with Northern Israel and pressure from Assyria undermined the stability of Southern Judah, leaving Jerusalem constantly vulnerable to plunder.

• In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Egypt invaded Jerusalem, looting the treasures of the temple and the royal palace.
• During the reign of King Amaziah, the walls of Jerusalem were broken down due to the fighting with Northern Israel, and the temple treasures were plundered.
• After the destruction of Northern Israel by Assyria, Southern Judah also faced threats. According to the Bible, Hezekiah, in preparation for the siege of Jerusalem by Assyria, made an underground tunnel to bring the water of the Gihon Spring into the city. King Manasseh built an outer wall in the Kidron Valley to protect the water source of Jerusalem.

Babylonian Period: Destruction and Captivity

In approximately BC 606, Jerusalem fell into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar (Nebuchadnezzar II) of Babylon (Neo-Babylon), and in BC 586, the Babylonian army conquered Jerusalem. They burned down the temple of the LORD, along with all the buildings of the palace, and completely demolished the city walls. Also, they broke apart or took away the articles that were in the temple of the LORD to Babylon. The temple, which had stood for 400 years, was destroyed in this way, and the people of Israel, having lost their foundation of life and tradition, began their life of captivity in Babylon.

The Second Temple Period

Persian Empire Period: Returning Home and Rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem (2nd Temple: Temple of Zerubbabel)

Nehemiah working hard on building the walls of Jerusalem. Illustration from SUNRAYS Quarterly, No. 9, 1908

• Decree of Cyrus for the Construction of the Temple
  Around 70 years after the people of Judah began their captivity, Babylon was destroyed by the Medo-Persian (Media-Persia) Empire. Cyrus (Cyrus II), the king of Persia at the time, allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and ordered them to build the temple of the LORD there again. Moreover, King Cyrus also commanded that all the temple articles and utensils that Nebuchadnezzar had taken and placed in the temple of his gods be brought out and returned to Jerusalem.
• The people of Judah who returned to Jerusalem around 537 BC, under the leadership of the governor Zerubbabel, began the construction of the temple the following year. However, due to opposition from the foreigners who had settled in Jerusalem during the exile of the people of Judah, the construction was halted for about 15 years.
• Completion of the Temple
  Prophets Haggai and Zechariah urged the people to rebuild the temple and encouraged Governor Zerubbabel. Around the year 520 BC, the construction of the Jerusalem temple began once again. King Darius found the decree of Cyrus in the royal archives, confirming that King Cyrus had indeed permitted the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple. King Darius not only allowed the construction of the temple to continue but also ordered that the expenses be covered by the government’s funds. Around BC 516, the Jerusalem Temple was finally completed. The people celebrated the dedication ceremony with joy and observed the festivals of God. This temple is also called the Temple of Zerubbabel.
• Reconstruction of Jerusalem Walls
  About 50 years after the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple, Nehemiah, who was working as an official in the Persian Empire, heard the news that the city of Jerusalem in his homeland was still in ruins. He pleaded with King Artaxerxes to send him to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. Artaxerxes appointed him governor of Judah and issued an edict granting him access to all materials for rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem around BC 444, he gathered priests, nobles, and officials and persuaded them to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Despite adversaries like Sanballat and Tobiah who had tried every means to hinder the work, Jerusalem’s walls were finally completed. Even the adversaries sensed that God had accomplished all of this work, and became greatly afraid and discouraged.

Birth of the Hellenistic Empire and the Hasmonean Dynasty

In the 4th century BC, King Alexander the Great of Macedonia built the vast Hellenistic Empire that extended from Macedonia to India, including the Persian Empire. After Alexander’s death, his general Seleucus began to rule over the region of Syria, marking the beginning of the Seleucid dynasty.

Antiochus IV of the Seleucid dynasty set up a statue of Zeus in the Temple of Jerusalem and forced Hellenistic beliefs onto the Jewish people, subjecting them to numerous persecutions. In response to these policies, Judas Maccabeus led a military revolt against the Seleucid dynasty, eventually gaining the upper hand in the war. The Jews recaptured the Jerusalem Temple around 165 BC and destroyed the statue of Zeus in the temple. After purifying the temple, a new altar of burnt offerings was dedicated to God. This became the origin of the Jewish holiday, Feast of Dedication.

However, the joy of independence did not last long. After about 70 years, the Hasmonean dynasty was disbanded, and Judea came under Roman rule, and the Temple of Jerusalem was once again occupied by Roman General Pompey.

Domination of the Roman Empire and Herod’s Construction of Temple (Herod’s Temple)

A model of Herod’s Temple from David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. Jones, C. H. et al., 1873

Herod (Herod the Great), originally from Idumea (the Hellenized name for Edom), gained the trust of Rome and ruled over Galilee. To win the favor of the Jewish people, he expanded the Temple in Jerusalem. He doubled the size of the walls and constructed them with great magnificence.

The construction continued even until the time of Jesus’ ministry. Construction began around 20 BC and the grand and splendid Herod’s Temple was completed around AD 64, after Herod’s death.

Jesus entered Jerusalem during the final period of his ministry, preaching the gospel, and was crucified. As Jesus said, “Repentance that leads to the forgiveness of sins begins in Jerusalem,” Jerusalem was the forward base of the gospel of the early Church. After Stephen’s martyrdom, the saints living in Jerusalem scattered to various places and spread the gospel throughout the world.

Destruction of Jerusalem

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under the Command of Titus, A.D. 70 by David Roberts (1796–1864), 1850

Around AD 66, the Jews revolted against Rome. In the spring of AD 67, General Vespasian of the Roman Empire led his legions to quickly seize Galilee, and by AD 68, he marched through Jericho and entered Jerusalem.

In the summer of AD 68, the siege was briefly lifted due to the death of Emperor Nero. Subsequently, General Vespasian was acclaimed as emperor and returned to Rome. His son Titus besieged Jerusalem in the spring of AD 70 and, several months later, completely conquered the city. As Jesus prophesied, “Not one stone here will be left on another” in the Temple of Jerusalem, and 1.1 million people were killed while 97,000 were taken captive. The destruction of the Temple, completed just six years after its construction, marked the end of an era in Israel’s history.

The Jews and Jerusalem

Jerusalem has always been at the center of Israel’s history since King David conquered Jerusalem and Solomon built God’s temple there. For Jews, Jerusalem was the home of not only their bodies but also their hearts. The Bible clearly shows the Israelites who missed Jerusalem in their hearts even when they had to leave Jerusalem due to force majeure circumstances. Even after Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70, the Jewish desire for Jerusalem did not waver. For centuries, no matter where Jews lived, they prayed three times a day, longing for the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Today

Independence of Israel

Prime Minister Ben-Gurion proclaims the independence of Israel. Photo by Rudi Weissenstein, 1948

After the fall of Israel in AD 70, various peoples and religions ruled over Jerusalem. The Jews were expelled from Jerusalem and scattered throughout the world, while those who remained lived under foreign rule. Following direct Roman rule, Jerusalem then alternated between Christian and Islamic powers, from the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire to the Ottoman Empire. Since 1517, it had been under Ottoman rule, but in 1917, during World War I, Jerusalem fell to the British. From 1920 onward, the Palestine region, including Jerusalem, was placed under the British Mandate.

On November 29, 1947, following the end of World War II (1939-1945), the United Nations Security Council approved the independence of Israel. Prior to that, however, Jerusalem was designated as a territory that did not belong to any state under international law.

On Friday, May 14, 1948, at 4 PM, David Ben-Gurion, the leader of the Jewish community in Palestine, read aloud the Declaration of Independence in the Tel Aviv Museum.

“BY VIRTUE OF OUR NATURAL AND HISTORIC RIGHT AND ON THE STRENGTH OF THE RESOLUTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL.”

Constant Conflicts Over Jerusalem

The Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall

Wishes are packed among the gaps in the Wailing Wall.

The night Israel announced its Declaration of Independence, the First Arab-Israeli War broke out. Jerusalem was divided into east and west: Jordanian territory and Israeli territory. After the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied East Jerusalem, and in 1977, the capital was officially moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In July 1980, Israel passed the “Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel,” stating that “Jerusalem, complete and united, [for the State of Israel there has always been and always will be one capital only– Jerusalem the Eternal].”

The United Nations does not recognize this, emphasizing through UN Resolution No. 194 that “refugees (Palestinian) wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so.” In 1980, it deemed Israel’s claims a violation of international law (UN Security Council Resolution 478) and called for all member states to withdraw their embassies from Jerusalem. As a result, the embassies and consulates of various countries in Israel are currently located in Tel Aviv, with Tel Aviv effectively serving as the gateway to Israel. However, Israeli law still designates Jerusalem as the capital.

Unfortunately, today, Jerusalem, meaning “City of Peace,” has become an area of ongoing territorial dispute between Israel and Palestine, with complex interrelations among Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. For Christians, Jerusalem is the place where Jesus suffered, was crucified, and died. From the Jewish perspective, it is the location of Mount Moriah, where Abraham attempted to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering, and the site of Solomon’s temple, while Islam says that the Prophet Muhammad rode a horse here and ascended to heaven. Jerusalem is a holy place that no religion can compromise.

After the Arab Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 638, they built the Al-Aqsa Mosque, an Islamic temple, on the Temple Mount. In 1099, the Christian legions of the Crusaders occupied Jerusalem and established a feudal state called the Kingdom of Jerusalem to secure the Holy Land. On the west side of the Temple Mount, part of the 18 m [59 ft] high wall that was on the outskirts of the old temple remains. Jews visit this place as a holy site, and this is the Western Wall, the Wailing Wall. To this day, the dispute over sovereignty between the two peoples and the three religions continues in Jerusalem.

Heavenly New Jerusalem

The Bible mentions not only the earthly Jerusalem but also the heavenly Jerusalem. Heavenly Jerusalem is the heavenly city where God and angels reside, referred to as the dwelling place of God. Also, Heavenly Jerusalem symbolizes the bride of the heavenly wedding banquet. That is why an angel told Apostle John that he would show him the bride, and then he showed him the Jerusalem coming down out of heaven.

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

Revelation 21:9–10

On the other hand, Apostle Paul wrote that the heavenly Jerusalem is the mother of the people of God who will be saved.

But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. . . . Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

Galatians 4:26–31

The reality of the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, is indeed the Mother of our souls. The Jews cherished and longed for Jerusalem, praying toward it in times of difficulty. The saints who will be saved, who are spiritual Jews, are those who look toward and love the heavenly Jerusalem Mother, and therefore receive God’s blessings.

• Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.” (Psalm 122:6-7)
• “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance. . . . As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 66:10–14)

See also

• Zion
• David
• Solomon
• Nehemiah
• New Jerusalem
• Jerusalem Mother