Jerusalem, Solomon's kilometer
Jerusalem
Solomon's kilometer
Solomon's Jerusalem was just a kilometer long, north to south. It extended from the Temple hilltop to the Hinnom Valley, which lay below the City of David at the southern bottom of the ridge. A kilometer is just three-quarters of mile. But in Solomon's day, Jerusalem, with it's first Jewish Temple and a new palace, became quite the attraction. Perhaps Solomon's most famous guest was the Queen of Sheba, wherever Sheba was. Scholars can only guess.Jerusalem Temple on bedrock
Solomon built his Temple on bedrock at the top of the ridge. Some people today call that hill the Temple Mount. King David lived down the hill in the City of David. It was a smaller, walled city below the top of the ridge.Solomon's pagan shrine
"Solomon built a hilltop shrine for worshiping Chemosh, god of Moab. And on the Mount of Olives, the ridge of hills east of Jerusalem, he built a shrine to worship Molech, another repulsive god of Ammon. He built similar places of worship for all his foreign wives, so they could continue worshiping their own gods by burning incense and offering sacrifices" (1 Kings 11:7-8, Casual English Bible).Jerusalem, uphill, upgraded, upended
Solomon's Temple lasted 400 years, a tad beyond expectations of "builder's grade." Babylonian invaders from what is now southern Iraq destroyed it and the entire city in 586 BC.Jews deported
Babylonians exiled the surviving Jews to what are now Iraq and Iran. Persians of Iran conquered the Babylonians 50 years later and freed the Jews to go home. They rebuilt an apparently more modest Temple in 516 BC. That means from 586-516 BC, Jews had lived without a Jerusalem worship center for 70 years. Then, 70 years after they built the second Temple, Nehemiah, a Jewish winetaster for the Persian king, got permission to go to Jerusalem and repair the walls. He served there as governor for about 13 years.For Bible features
Stephen M. Miller's website and The Casual English BibleValley of Hinnom (Gehenna)
Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna)
Painting of ridgetop city of Jerusalem
with Hinnom and Kidron Valleys
Two Israelite kings in Jerusalem sacrificed a son in Hinnom Valley. That's the name in the Hebrew language of the Old Testament. In the Greek language of the New Testament, the name is Gehenna Valley.Ahaz
"Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king. He lived in Judah’s capital city of Jerusalem. He was not a good king in God’s eyes because he didn’t follow in the footsteps of his ancestor, David, who obeyed the LORD. Ahaz lived like the idol-worshiping kings of Israel. He even burned his son as a sacrifice, which is despicable to God. Other nations used to do that, too, but God drove them off the land. Ahaz sacrificed at shrines set up on hilltops and under shade trees in the valleys" (2 Kings 16:2-4, Casual English Bible).Manasseh
King Hezekiah’s boy, Manasseh, was 12 years old when he became king of Judah. He reigned 55 years. [1] His mother was Hephzibah. 2Manasseh was a poor excuse of a king, in God’s eyes. Manasseh reverted to some of the old, pagan religions of nations God drove off the land. This king practiced repulsive worship rituals. Jesus later used the valley as a metaphor to describe God's punishment for sin. English translators of the Bible coined a word for that metaphor: Hell. When Jesus spoke of a place translated as "hell," he was more literally referring to the valley that apparently later became the city dump.... Manasseh sacrificed his own son and burned the body on an altar. [6] He consulted sorcerers, wizards, fortunetellers, along with mediums who tried to contact the dead. [7] These sins made the LORD angry" (2 Kings 21:1-2, 6, Casual English Bible).For more Bible features
Jerusalem with Hinnom, Kidron Valleys
Solomon’s Jerusalem add-on
Solomon's Jerusalem add-on
SOLOMON’S JERUSALEM
King Solomon's Jerusalem sat on ridge and stretched about one kilometer (3/4 miles) from the Temple Mount on the top of the ridge, down to Lower Jerusalem called the City of David. King David's Jerusalem was about half as big. Solomon added the Temple and surrounding area later.Kings after Solomon began extending Jerusalem to the west. The Jerusalem of Jesus, during the Roman occupation of Israel, was much larger...until Rome crushed a Jewish revolt and destroyed the city in AD 70. That was the last Temple the Jews ever had. Arab invaders conquered the land and 1400 years ago built a Muslim shrine on the Temple Mount.
It's now Jerusalem's most famous landmark: the Dome of the Rock. For another angle on Jerusalem, see the map with Nehemiah 7.
Here's a sampling of King Solomon's unusual writing, which many scholars say was written centuries later by a writer borrowing Solomon's name.
WHATEVER WE DO, IT’S A WASTE OF TIME
1David’s son, the Scholar and King of Jerusalem, offers these observations2It’s a pitiful waste of time, the Scholar says. It’s all worthless and meaningless.
3What do people get for all their hard work, For spilling their sweat under the sun?
4A generation dies and another is born, But it makes no difference to the everlasting earth.
5The sun rises. The sun sets. Then it races all night to rise again.
6The wind blows north. The wind blows south. The wind blows round and round. It follows its route, comes back home, Then it starts all over again.
7Rivers and streams flow into the sea But the sea always has room for more. So, water returns to the streams where it came from And the streams flow back to the sea.
8Everything is exhausting, Too exhausting for words. What we see isn’t satisfying. What we hear isn’t good enough. Ecclesiastes 1:1-8, Casual English Bible
King Solomon's Jerusalem
Solomon's Jerusalem
Solomon’s Jerusalem Temple
Solomon's Jerusalem Temple
Solomon's Jerusalem Temple
Solomon's Jerusalem Temple sits on what is known as the Temple Mount at the rocky top of the ridge on which Jews built their Jerusalem Temple. King David lived down the hill in the City of David, a walled city below the top of the ridge. His son and successor, Solomon, expanded the city north, to the Temple Mount, where he built the first Jewish Temple. Solomon's extension of Jerusalem to the hill north of the City of David produced a walled city about 1 kilometer north to south (three-fourths of a mile). Ophel hill sat on the elbow of the ridge between the City of David below and the king's palace and the sprawling Temple above. Babylonian invaders destroyed the Temple and the entire city about 400 years later, in 586 BC. They exiled the surviving Jews. Persians conquered the Babylonians 50 years later and freed the Jews to go home. They rebuilt the Temple in 516 BC. So, they had lived without a Jerusalem worship center for 70 years. Then, 70 years after they built the second Temple, Nehemiah, a Jewish winetaster for the Persian king, got permission to go to Jerusalem and repair the walls. He served there as governor for about 13 years.Solomon's Jerusalem & Temple Mount
Gihon Spring
Gihon Spring
Safe in the walled town of Jebus
Citizens felt safe in their walled city of Jebus, former name of Jerusalem. They had no idea enemy soldiers knew about the shaft inside the city that dropped 45 feet (13 meters) in the unguarded cave of Gihon Spring below. And they never expected any soldiers to try climbing it.David marches to Jerusalem
From 2 Samuel 5
6King David and his men marched north to Jerusalem. They intended to take the city from Jebusite people who lived there. Jebusites were so confident of their defenses that they yelled down to David, “Hey, you can’t get in here. A blind cripple could stop you.” 7David took the walled city anyhow. People sometimes call the city Zion. But David called it the City of David. The name stuck. 8David said, “Let’s show those blind cripples how much I hate them. To get to them, you’re going to have to climb up the shaft that drops into their spring of water.” That’s where the old saying comes from, that “The lame and blind aren’t allowed in the Temple.”Jebus becomes City of David
9David moved into the walled town and named it City of David. He fortified the position even more, from Millo tower on the perimeter and then toward the center of the city. 10David became a stronger and more respected leader because the LORD of everyone was on his side. 11King Hiram decided to give David a palace as a gift. So, he sent ambassadors along with carpenters and masons, supplied with cedar trees. 12David took that as a sign that the LORD had, in fact, given him the job of king over Israel and had lifted his status for Israel’s sake. 13After David moved to Jerusalem, he took more women into his harem—concubines and wives. They gave him more sons and daughters. 14The names of David’s 11 children born in Jerusalem include: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.Saul kills all 85 priests at Nob
Saul kills all 85 priests at Nob
Saul kills priests at Nob
King Saul wiped out an entire community of priests. He killed all 85 priests in Nob. David, on the run from King Saul, tricked those priests at Nob into giving him and some of this men food. They had no idea he had fallen out of favor with King Saul and that Saul was hunting him. When Saul found out the priests had helped him, here's what happened, reported in 1 Samuel 22:11-19.Saul sends for the priests
11Saul sent for the priest and his entire family. Everyone came. 12Saul told the priest, “Listen up, son of Ahitub.” The priest said, “I am here listening, my king.” 13Saul said, “Why are you helping my enemy, the son of Jesse? You gave him bread, a sword, and you took his requests to God. And now he’s leading a rebellion against me and trying to kill me. You helped him do that. Why?” 14Ahimelech said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What official or any other servant do you have who is more devoted to you than David? My goodness, he’s your son-in-law. When you give him a mission, he completes it quickly. Everyone in your family respects him. 15Besides, that wasn’t the first time I took one of his questions to God. So, I don’t understand why there’s a problem with this one. Please don’t think that me or my family opposes you. I don’t understand what you’re saying about us or David.”Sentenced to death
16“You’ll understand this,” the king said. “I sentence you and your family to death.” 17Saul ordered the nearby guards, “Kill the priests. They’re with David. They knew he was a fugitive. And they didn’t bother to tell me that he came to them.” The guards refused to kill priests of the LORD. 18So the king said, “Doeg, kill the priests.” Doeg killed 85 men who were dressed in the linen that priests wore. 19Then Doeg went to their town of Nob and killed the people and their livestock. He led the slaughter of men, women, children, babies, cattle, donkeys, and sheep. He killed them all with swords. 20One of Ahimelech’s sons escaped: Abiathar. He went to David. 21Abiathar told David that the king had killed his entire family, including all the priests of the LORD. Compare the story in other Bible translations at Bible Gateway.Solomon’s Jerusalem
Solomon's Jerusalem
Solomon's Jerusalem
King Solomon's Jerusalem sat on ridge and stretched about one kilometer (3/4 miles) from the Temple Mount on the top of the ridge, down to Lower Jerusalem called the City of David. King David's Jerusalem was about half as big. Solomon added the Temple and surrounding area later. Kings after Solomon began extending Jerusalem to the west. The Jerusalem of Jesus, during the Roman occupation of Israel, was much larger...until Rome crushed a Jewish revolt and destroyed the city in AD 70. That was the last Temple the Jews ever had. Arab invaders conquered the land and 1400 years ago built a Muslim shrine on the Temple Mount. It's now Jerusalem's most famous landmark: the Dome of the Rock. For another angle on Jerusalem, see the map with Nehemiah 7. Here's a sampling of King Solomon's unusual writing, which many scholars say was written centuries later by a writer borrowing Solomon's name.WHATEVER WE DO, IT’S A WASTE OF TIME
1David’s son, the Scholar and King of Jerusalem, offers these observations 2It’s a pitiful waste of time, the Scholar says. It’s all worthless and meaningless. 3What do people get for all their hard work, For spilling their sweat under the sun? 4A generation dies and another is born, But it makes no difference to the everlasting earth. 5The sun rises. The sun sets. Then it races all night to rise again. 6The wind blows north. The wind blows south. The wind blows round and round. It follows its route, comes back home, Then it starts all over again. 7Rivers and streams flow into the sea But the sea always has room for more. So, water returns to the streams where it came from And the streams flow back to the sea. 8Everything is exhausting, Too exhausting for words. What we see isn’t satisfying. What we hear isn’t good enough. Ecclesiastes 1:1-8, Casual English BibleKing Solomon's Jerusalem
Temple Mount in Jerusalem
Temple Mount in Jerusalem
Temple Mount in Jerusalem
The Temple Mount is at the rocky top of the ridge on which Jews built their Jerusalem Temple. King David lived down the hill in the City of David, a walled city below the top of the ridge. His son and successor, Solomon, expanded the city north, to the Temple Mount, where he built the first Jewish Temple. Babylonian invaders destroyed it and the entire city about 400 years later, in 586 BC. They exiled the surviving Jews. Persians conquered the Babylonians 50 years later and freed the Jews to go home. They rebuilt the Temple in 516 BC. So, they had lived without a Jerusalem worship center for 70 years. Then, 70 years after they built the second Temple, Nehemiah, a Jewish winetaster for the Persian king, got permission to go to Jerusalem and repair the walls. He served there as governor for about 13 years.Jerusalem Temple, walls rebuilt
Jerusalem Temple, walls rebuilt
Jerusalem Temple, walls rebuilt
Prophet Ezra convinces Jerusalem Jews to finish rebuilding the Temple that invading Babylonians destroyed about 70 years earlier. Then in another 70 years or so, Nehemiah, the Jewish wine-taster of the Persian king gets his king's permission to repair some of the walls around Jerusalem.
Nehemiah rebuilds walls of Jerusalem
Nehemiah rebuilds walls of Jerusalem
Nehemiah rebuilt walls, gates of Jerusalem
Nehemiah is one odd story. He’s a Jew serving wine to a Persian king in what is now Iran. Who saw that coming? The king, Artaxerxes, trusts this Jewish man with his life. How did Nehemiah get there? Likely he was the descendant of Jews taken captive to Babylon (Iraq) about 150 years earlier, when Babylon leveled Jerusalem and other cities and took the Jews captive. About 50 years later, Persia (Iran) defeated Babylon and freed the Jews and other captives to go home. But many Jews stayed because they grew up in exile. Iraq and Iran was the only homeland they knew. Yet, many returned to the land of their ancestors to rebuild Jerusalem and the other cities. Nehemiah gets word that Jerusalem’s walls are still broken down and the city gates are gone. It’s a city undefended. He can’t believe it. By this time, Jews have had about 90 years to fix those walls.Winetaster becomes city builder
So, Nehemiah talks the king into giving him a 12-year leave of absence so he can repair the walls. It certainly seems odd that the king would grant his winetaster’s Big Ask. Yet the king also agrees to give him the wood for the job, sends him with a detachment of soldiers as an escort, and then appoints him governor over the Jewish province of Judah. That’s what the southern Jewish nation of Judah had become, a Persian province ruled by a Persian king who even chose the songs Jews could sing at the Temple (Nehemiah 11:23). Earlier, when Babylon exiled Jews from their homeland, settlers moved in. They hated the idea of Jews returning to power because it meant the Jews would try to take back the land and get rid of everyone else. Nehemiah had 12 years to fix the walls. It took him 52 days. Nehemiah rallied Jerusalem-area Jews to join the work. They felt the clock sands slipping away while their neighbors plotted to stop the work. Murdering Nehemiah seems to have been one plan on the table. Attacking the work crew was another. Jewish construction workers carried their weapons on the job in daylight, guarded the walls all night, and didn’t get much sleep during those 52 days and nights. Nehemiah spent the rest of his 12-year leave reminding the people what it meant to be Jewish. They studied the Laws of Moses that we read today as the first five books in the Bible.JERUSALEM’S WALL BUILDERS: ROLL CREDITS
NEHEMIAH’S MOTLEY CONSTRUCTION CREW
Nehemiah 3 1Teams of people worked together repairing different parts of Jerusalem’s damaged wall and destroyed gates. SHEEP GATE. Elisheba the high priest worked alongside other priests to rebuild the Sheep Gate. Then they built the doors, set them in place, and dedicated the entire area to God. They did this all the way from the Tower of the Hundred to the Tower of the Hananel. 2WALL. Jericho men worked on the wall beside the gate. Zaccur son of Imri worked just beyond them. 3FISH GATE. Hassenaah’s sons built the Fish Gate. They set in the door and placed the beams, bolts, and bars. 4WALL. Meremoth worked beside them on wall repairs. He was the son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz. 5WALL. People from the village of Tekoa made repairs. But their noble leaders wouldn’t stoop to manual labor—even for the Lord. It was beneath them.More
Jerusalem walls, gates in time of Nehemiah