By the time Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the centrality of Jerusalem in God’s plan had not decayed. All Israel pilgrimaged to Jerusalem at the time of the moedim– the appointed times, as commanded by God. Jesus also taught and ministered in Jerusalem frequently.

Soon Moses began speaking about this specific and unique location that God had promised to bring them to: David forthwith transferred his residence to Zion, the fortified city of Jerusalem, and named it after himself, “the City of David” ( 2 Sam 5:9). He also engaged in considerable building. This included his palace, by means of cedar timbers and skilled craftsmen provided by Hiram king of Tyre ( v. 11), and the “Millo,” q.v. ( v. 9), “a filling,” which may refer to a reinforcing of the system of platforms and terraces already established by the Canaanites on the eastern slope of Zion (K. Kenyon, BA, XXVII [1964], 43; cf. the similar activity by Solomon [ 1 Kings 9:15, 24] and Hezekiah [ 2 Chron 32:1-5]). The highest recorded temperature in Jerusalem was 44.4°C (111.9°F) on 28 and 30 August 1881, and the lowest temperature recorded was −6.7°C (19.9°F) on 25 January 1907.Tools and services JPost Premium Ulpan Online JPost Newsletter Our Magazines Learn Hebrew RSS feed JPost.com Archive Digital Library Lists of Jewish holidays Law Owens has also faced repeated condemnation for a statement in 2019 that "If Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well - okay, fine. The problem is he had dreams outside of Germany," to illustrate a distinction between nationalism and imperialism. Owens went on to call Hitler a "homicidal, psychotic maniac," and rejects any claim that she meant to endorse Hitler's activity in Germany, but the remarks are frequently cited by those who criticize her. The great number of Christian orphans resulting from the 1860 civil war in Mount Lebanon and the Damascus massacre led in the same year to the opening of the German Protestant Syrian Orphanage, better known as the Schneller Orphanage after its founder. [202] Until the 1880s there were no formal Jewish orphanages in Jerusalem, as families generally took care of each other. In 1881 the Diskin Orphanage was founded in Jerusalem with the arrival of Jewish children orphaned by a Russian pogrom. Other orphanages founded in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 20th century were Zion Blumenthal Orphanage (1900) and General Israel Orphan's Home for Girls (1902). [203] Jewish immigration to Palestine In extra-biblical inscriptions, the earliest known example of the -ayim ending was discovered on a column about 3km west of ancient Jerusalem, dated to the first century BCE. [69] Jebus, Zion, City of David

Roman rule over Jerusalem and Judea was challenged in the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), which ended with a Roman victory. Early on, the city was devastated by a brutal civil war between several Jewish factions fighting for control of the city. In 70 CE, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple. [135] [136] [137] [138] [139] The contemporary Jewish historian Josephus wrote that the city "was so thoroughly razed to the ground by those that demolished it to its foundations, that nothing was left that could ever persuade visitors that it had once been a place of habitation." [140] Of the 600,000 (Tacitus) or 1,000,000 (Josephus) Jews of Jerusalem, all of them either died of starvation, were killed or were sold into slavery. [141] Roman rule was again challenged during the Bar Kokhba revolt, beginning in 132 CE and suppressed by the Romans in 135 CE. More recent research indicates that the Romans had founded Aelia Capitolina before the outbreak of the revolt, and found no evidence for Bar Kokhba ever managing to hold the city. [142] Jerusalem ( / dʒ ə ˈ r uː s əl ə m/; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushaláyim ⓘ, Hebrew pronunciation: [jeʁuʃaˈlajim]; Arabic: القُدس, al-Quds, Arabic pronunciation: [al.quds] ⓘ, local pronunciation: [il.ʔuds] [5] [6] [7] [note 2]) is an ancient city in West Asia, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions— Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital; Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there, and the State of Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power. Neither claim, however, is widely recognized internationally. [note 3] [8] As time came for His own sacrifice on Mount Moriah, Luke 9:51 says that Jesus “was determined to go to Jerusalem.” By His death and resurrection, He fulfilled the Law in Jerusalem. A. Location. Jerusalem is situated thirty-three m. E of the Mediterranean and fourteen m. W of the Dead Sea, at an elevation of 2,500 ft., at a major road junction on the crest of W Pal’s. central ridge. This ridge rises slowly from the promontory of Mt. Gilboa in the N (1,700 ft.) to a point near Hebron, c. twenty m. S of Jerusalem (3,370 ft.). Although Jerusalem’s highest point (under 2,600 ft.) cannot rival Hebron to its S, David properly described its location, for most of his subjects, “to which the tribes go up” ( Ps 122:4). Most population data before 1905 is based on estimates, often from foreign travellers or organisations, since previous census data usually covered wider areas such as the Jerusalem District. [330] These estimates suggest that since the end of the Crusades, Muslims formed the largest group in Jerusalem until the mid-nineteenth century.

There is no city on earth that can compare in value to Jerusalem. While believers revere Jerusalem’s significance as the city where Jesus walked, was crucified and rose from the dead, it was valuable to the Lord long before the time of Jesus. The center is staffed and provides answers on Sundays through Thursdays between 07:00 AM and 14:00 PM and Fridays only handles distribution requests between 7:00 AM and 12:30 PM

His son Amaziah, who acceded to the throne in 796, suffered such a defeat before the armies of N Israel that Jerusalem was plundered and 600 ft. of the northern wall, from the Gate of Ephraim to the (NW) corner gate, was demolished ( 2 Kings 14:13, 14). Thiele dates this precisely to 790 b.c., the time of Uzziah’s elevation to coregency ( Mysterious Numbers of the Heb. Kings, 1st ed., pp. 70-72; contrast his less likely, earlier date in the 2nd ed., p. 83). Demographics and the Jewish-Arab population divide play a major role in the dispute over Jerusalem. In 1998, the Jerusalem Development Authority expanded city limits to the west to include more areas heavily populated with Jews. [16] Ever since the capture of the Ark by the Philistines at the first battle of Ebenezer, c. 1080 b.c. ( 1 Sam 4:11, 22), it had remained apart from the public worship of Israel ( 1 Chron 13:3; though cf. 1 Sam 14:18). Even after its return to Israel, however, because of the disaster it had produced at Beth-shemesh ( 1 Sam 6:19, 20), it had been left at Kiriath-jearim ( 7:1, 2), farther inland on the road to Jerusalem. But soon after his occupation of Zion in 1003, David assembled 30,000 of the leading men of Israel formally to conduct it into his new capital ( 2 Sam 6:1, 2). After a three-months’ delay at the house of Obed-edom, occasioned by the death of Uzzah for having profaned the sacred object ( vv. 7, 11), the king finally achieved his goal, conducting the Ark within the walls of the City of David and placing it in a tent sanctuary ( vv. 12, 17). He instituted regular offerings and a musical service in conjunction with it ( 1 Chron 16); henceforward Zion was to be “the city of God” ( Ps 46:4; cf. 48:2); see below under IV.

In 587–586 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem after a prolonged siege, and then systematically destroyed the city, including Solomon's Temple. [107] The Kingdom of Judah was abolished and many were exiled to Babylon. These events mark the end of the First Temple period. [108] Biblical account

The first post begins with a passage from the Gospel of Matthew (5:9-11): "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It continues, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." With over 800 references to Jerusalem in the Bible, one can easily learn a lot about it from the Word of God. But also from history books! The records kept over centuries have been very thorough, and they continue to be fascinating. Jerusalem’s western half was subdivided by a larger ravine that branched off midway in the course of the Tyropoeon: the “cross valley,” cutting westward to the present Jaffa Gate. To its S lay what the OT may have designated as Mt. Gareb ( Jer 31:39; so J. Simons, Jerusalem in the OT, 231-233, and IDB, II, 853, though see below, II, C, 3), but to which subsequent history, after the abandonment of the original City of David in a.d. 70, has assigned the old name of Zion (Jos. War, V. iv. 1), prob. because of the dominant position of its 2,550 ft. elevation peak. Though Gareb was once again embraced within expanded Byzantine Jerusalem, in a.d. 985 the Mohammedan Caliph of Cairo, so as to shorten the city’s line of defense, once more redirected the southern wall roughly .2 m. farther N, with the result that the southern part of Gareb, together with the whole of ancient Zion, have henceforward remained outside the walls of Jerusalem and have become partially unoccupied. Solomon also constructed an acropolis complex, with casemate walls and presumably extensive stable facilities (cf. 1 Kings 9:19; 10:26), at the N end of the crest of Zion (Kenyon, BA, XXVII [1964], 41; cf. Jerusalem, p. 56). Among his other public buildings were: the “House of the Forest of Lebanon,” a 180 ft. hall resting on forty-five columns of cedar in three rows; the throne room, which was distinguished as “the porch of judgment”; and a large palace, adequate for the king’s harem of 1,000 women ( 1 Kings 7:2-8). This last edifice, in fact, required thirteen years for its construction, as opposed to the seven for the Temple ( v. 1), though the latter did have the benefit of David’s advance preparations. These structures are described as built “of costly stones, hewn according to measure, sawed with saws” ( v. 9), topped by courses of cedar beams ( v. 12). Kenyon’s discovery, by the N wall of the old city of Zion, of a proto-Aeolic pilaster capital and of carefully polished facing stones similar to those found in Ahab’s (Phoen.) palace at Samaria suggest the remnants of at least one of the Solomonic buildings at this point ( Jerusalem, p. 59). Others were presumably erected to the S of the Temple, where the Aksa Mosque now stands; at the southeastern end of Moriah; and in nearby areas.A fairly flat saddle once separated Moriah from the third, or NE hill, Mt. Bezetha, the peak of which still lies outside the northeastern city wall. The natural lines of demarcation are somewhat obscured, for when Herod expanded the Haram northward, he obliterated a ravine that had formerly cut across the NE corner of the Temple area. window, document, "script", "https://95662602.adoric-om.com/adoric.js", "Adoric_Script", "adoric","9cc40a7455aa779b8031bd738f77ccf1", "data-key"); See also: East Jerusalem §Jerusalem as capital Orient House in East Jerusalem that served as the headquarters of the PLO in the 1980s and 1990s. It was closed by Israel in 2001, two days after the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing. When Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, Jerusalem and Judea came under Macedonian control, eventually falling to the Ptolemaic dynasty under Ptolemy I. In 198 BCE, Ptolemy V Epiphanes lost Jerusalem and Judea to the Seleucids under Antiochus III. The Seleucid attempt to recast Jerusalem as a Hellenized city-state came to a head in 168 BCE with the successful Maccabean revolt of Mattathias and his five sons against Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and their establishment of the Hasmonean Kingdom in 152 BCE with Jerusalem as its capital.