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When God promised to give Abraham a land for his descendants, it was described as being inhabited by many tribes, including the Jebusites (Genesis 15:18-21). Who were these people, and where did th...

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April 23 2014 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

John Appelt

After the flood, Noah’s son Ham had a son named Canaan. From among his descendants came the Jebusites, Genesis 10:6, 15-18. They were one of seven nations in the land of Canaan, when Israel under Joshua came into the land, Deuteronomy 7:1, Joshua 3:10, Joshua 24:11. But, Israel could not drive the Jebusites out, Joshua 15:63, Judges 1:21.

The Jebusites inhabited the mountains with Jebus their major city, which is identified as the same as Salem of Genesis 14:18, and as Jerusalem, Joshua 10:5, 18:28, Judges 19:10, I Chronicles 11:4. The original city Jebus or Jerusalem was south of the so-called Temple Mount and the walls of the old city, the area called the Ophel. It was located on the ridge west of the Kidron Valley and west of present-day Silwan, between an area north of the Gihon Springs and the Pool of Siloam to the south. 

The ancient city of Jerusalem was a fortress that seemed impenetrable, and it had a protected water supply. The Jebusites had devised a water system utilizing tunnels under the city, keeping the water supply safe within city walls. (Years later, Hezekiah would build a tunnel that transported the same spring waters to the extreme south of the city to the Pool of Siloam.) Archaeologists describe the underground water system as starting out as a 90-foot horizontal tunnel from the Gihon Spring west to a cave under the center of the city. A 45-foot vertical shaft (sometimes referred to as “Warren’s Shaft”) went upward from the cave to another 135-foot westward horizontal tunnel and staircase that went up to the surface, all told, 110 feet above the water level. 

In his article, “Recent Illumination of the Old Testament,” Siegfried H. Horn wrote, “To get water the Jebusite women went down through the upper tunnel and let their water skins down the shaft to draw water from the cave, to which it was brought by natural flow through the horizontal tunnel that connected the cave with the spring.”

Not until David reigned as king over Israel, was Jerusalem taken. The Jebusites did not think that David could conquer their city and they boasted he would be routed by those blind and lame, II Samuel 5:6, I Chronicles 11:4-5. David had directed that whoever climbed the water shaft (Hebrew “tsinnor”), probably the same vertical shaft in the tunnel complex, to defeat the Jebusites would be chief and commander, II Samuel 5:8, I Chronicles 11:6. Joab, already the commander, was the first to climb up that water shaft. The city of Zion then was defeated and became the stronghold of David, called by David “the City of David,” II Samuel 5:9, I Chronicles 11:7. 

One well-known Jebusite was Araunah, also known as Ornan, from whom David bought the threshing floor to build an altar to the Lord as he had been directed, II Samuel 24:18-25, I Chronicles 21:15-26. Later, this place would be where Solomon built the temple on Mount Moriah, II Chronicles 3:1 (compare Genesis 22:2).

October 24 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report