Capture Of Yerusalem And Occupation Of The City

The brevity of the Scriptural account does not enable us to follow in detail the capture of Yerusalem. From Joab's unexpected appearance from the underground passage to the complete capture of the city we know very little. It is very probable that the Hebrews' primary effort was directed against the citadel (Zion). It is difficult to see how the handful of men coming from the Zinnor could have taken it by storm. In any case Yerusalem fell into the hands of Joab very quickly and he was fully avenged for the insults that the Jebusites had hurled at him shortly beforehand from the ramparts.

Possibly, the Jebusites, defended by a small and ill-trained garrison, quickly came to the conclusion that they had lost and surrendered without much resistance, for, somewhat later, when David held the city, there were some old Canaanite inhabitants (such as Ornan, who is mentioned below) who remained in possession of their properties. It was not the custom in ancient times to show so much generosity towards people who had offered resistance to their conquerors.

It appears that Joab was entrusted with the military organization and the administration of the hill of Ophel. Without further delay David settled in Yerusalem and proclaimed it the capital of his twofold kingdom which had so recently been reunited. He was there in a place that was his own, on the borders of the territories of Yahudah and Benjamin. It was a stronghold that had never belonged to a tribe of the house of Yacob. And this citadel which for two centuries past had constituted a barrier between the tribes of the north and those of the south had now become a link between the two Hebrew groups. David took with him a considerable group of his devoted soldiers and established his residence in the citadel of Zion.8 The king of the Hebrews, the sovereign of Yahudah and Yisrael, now possessed his own capital city.  

8 That is, in the citadel itself; its exact location on the Ophel rock is difficult to determine. There has been a good deal of argument among archaeologists and numerous theories, but agreement is far from being realized.

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