Bible Building BlocksExplore. Understand. See the Big Picture.
City or site

Jerusalem

The city David made Israel’s capital and Solomon’s temple made its center of worship.

Region

Over time

Teaching slide on David dancing as the Ark of the Covenant is brought into Jerusalem, with 2 Samuel 6:14–15 and a summary.
Teaching slide. Scripture is quoted from the American Standard Version, a public-domain translation. The artwork is an illustrated reconstruction, not a photograph. Select the image to view it full size.

What the sources say, and how sure we are

  • The text says

    David captured the Jebusite stronghold and made it his capital. Solomon built the temple there.2 Sam 5:6–10; 1 Kgs 6–8

  • Outside evidence

    The Babylonian Chronicle records that Nebuchadnezzar captured “the city of Judah” in 597 BC, which matches 2 Kings 24:10–17.Babylonian Chronicle (ABC 5)

  • Outside evidence

    The Siloam Tunnel inscription, found in 1880, describes workers cutting a water tunnel. It is commonly linked with King Hezekiah’s work.2 Kgs 20:20

  • Outside evidence

    The first temple’s site on the Temple Mount cannot be excavated, so the temple is known from the Bible and later sources, not from excavation of the building itself.

  • Debated

    Archaeologists disagree about how large and important Jerusalem was in the time of David and Solomon (about 1000–930 BC). Some see a modest highland town, others a real regional capital. Buildings proposed as David’s palace are contested.

  • Christian conclusion

    Christians hold that Jesus was crucified and raised in Jerusalem, and Revelation 21 pictures a “new Jerusalem.”Luke 24:47; Rev 21

One city, many eras

Jerusalem appears in seven of the eleven eras: as David’s capital, the temple city of the kingdoms, the city destroyed in the exile and rebuilt after the return, the city Rome captured under Pompey in 63 BC, the setting of Jesus’s last week, and the starting point of the early church.

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