BIBLE PLACES
AND CITIES
HEBRON
LOVE, VIOLENCE & BETRAYAL - HEBRON'S STORY
PHOTOS, DRAWINGS
WOMEN IN
THE BIBLE
stories, history and
some fresh ideas about these extraordinary women
BIBLE
PAINTINGS
famous artworks of the great heroes and heroines
of the Bible - Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife,
Ruth and Naomi, Rebecca and Isaac
BIBLE
PEOPLE
snappy biographies of the Abraham, Rachel, Isaac, Jacob,
David and Joseph
TOP
TEN LISTS
worst villains, most gruesome murders, greatest heroes,
inspirational young people, etc. etc.
BIBLE
ARCHAEOLOGY
Burial in ancient times: tombs and catacombs
BIBLE
WARFARE
battles, the army, weapons, engineering
EXTRA WEBSITES
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Archaeological Sites in Israel: Hebron
A young woman of Hebron, with her baby
'The Burial of Sarah', by Tom Lovell
Hebron, an ancient city steeped in memories:
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the burial place of Abraham, Sarah and their descendants
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the scene of a massacre, where the victims were dismembered and hung up like slabs of meat
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a city that saw a terrible betrayal - of a father (King David) by his favorite son Absalom.
In Genesis 23:17-21 Abraham negotiated to buy a cave, now called the Cave of Machpelah, for a tomb in which he and his descendents could be buried.
The price he paid was exorbitant, 400 shekels, and the reader wonders why he would pay so much. But what he was buying was a legacy, something his descendants could hold on forever - far into the future. And he was successful: the cave is still revered as the burial place of not just Sarah, for whom he initially bought it, but for himself and his descendants: Isaac and Jacob were laid there to rest; so were the matriarch Rebecca and Jacob’s wife Leah.
Remnants of the city Abraham saw may still be there: recent excavations have uncovered a 9ft-thick city wall and fortified tower that date back to the Middle Bronze period, circa 1700BC. Scholars say this is about the time that Abraham came to the city.
Between the tower and the city wall, researchers have unearthed two stone-walled rooms that they believe also date back to the period of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose sons became the founders of the tribes of ancient Israel. It is remotely possible that some of the people from the Genesis stories stood in these very rooms.
The land of Israel may have been promised to the Hebrew tribes by God when they came up out of Egypt - but they had to fight for it. Their leader was a military general called Joshua, a man skilled in guerilla warfare and surprise tactics.
He had an uphill battle. The land was already settled and ruled over by what we would call petty kings - men who had established their rule over an area which they governed from an administrative center - a city that was both fortress, palace and storage center. Hebron was one of these centers.
Joshua's group was probably only one of a number of marauding groups roaming around the countryside causing havoc. The whole area was going through a period of upheaval.
To stabilize the situation, these petty kings banded together to present a united front. Sometimes this worked, sometimes not. In the case of Hebron, NOT. They were defeated, hunted down, and slaughtered.
If you read Joshua 10, you will realize the ruthlessness of these fighting men. Trickery, vengeance, murder - these were par for the course. Joshua used all three to gain the area of Hebron for his people.
Later on, he assigned
Hebron to Caleb from the tribe of Judah (Joshua
14:13-14).
A 1937 photograph of the Upper Pool in Hebron
This may be the site of the 'pool of Hebron'
beside which David
hanged
the assassins of Ish-bosheth
Following the death of King Saul, David established himself as leader of the tribes, governing from Hebron. The city became his capital, and he was anointed King of Judah there, by the prophet Samuel (II Samuel 2:4).
These were perhaps the best years of his life. His sons were born there, he was loved by the people, and the hard reality of governing a kingdom had not set in. As a high status leader, he war married to at least six women - probably more. Some of these had been chosen because they appealed to him, others because they were tangible signs of alliance with influential families.
To get this far, David had gone to war with the previous king, Saul, who died in battle. One of Saul's sons, Ish-bosheth, still lived, but was murdered by two men who felt they would gain David's favor by killing a son of Saul's.
When they presented Ish-bosheth's head to David, the young king rounded on them, accusing them of killing a righteous, unarmed man. He ordered that the two men's hands and feet be cut off, and their bodies suspended beside the Pool of Hebron (see left). Ish-bosheth's decapitated head was given a proper burial.
Seven7 years later,
David was anointed King over all Israel, in Hebron (2 Samuel
5:1-3).
S
Wall surrounding the Cave of Machpelah at Hebron
King Herod the Great, who was reigning at the time of Jesus' birth, and who ordered the slaughter of the male babies of Bethlehem, built a great wall 12 meter high to surround the entrance of the Tomb of the Patriarchs. This wall is still in place.
Photograph of Hebron, 1921
What about ordinary people in Hebron? The houses they lived in would not have been very different to the ones in the early 20th century photograph opposite.
They would have a central courtyard with a number of rooms around it. The rooms would have seemed very small to us - they could only be as wide as the beams that supported the roof. They would also have been stuffy, since there was a minimum of windows. There was of course no glass in the windows: lattice work and shutters covered the openings.
Stairs or a wooden ladder led up onto a flat roof, which was used as an outdoor room partly shaded by woven matting. This space and the courtyard were the main work areas, since they were the only well-lit places. Tasks performed here included
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spinning and weaving
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food preparation
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sleeping
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drying food or textiles.
The houses would have been crowded with people at all times of the day and night. There was virtually no privacy - anything a person did, no matter how intimate, was done in the presence of others.
REFERENCES TO HEBRON IN THE BIBLE
Abraham buys the Tomb of Sarah
1Sarah
lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years
of the life of Sarah.
2And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the
land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to
weep for her.
3And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to
the Hittites,
4 "I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give
me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my
dead out of my sight."
5The Hittites answered Abraham,
6"Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among
us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us
will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying
your dead."
7Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of
the land.
8And he said to them, "If you are willing that I
should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for
me Ephron the son of Zohar,
9that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he
owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let
him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying
place."
10Now
Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite
answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who
went in at the gate of his city,
11"No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and
I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of
my people I give it to you. Bury your dead."
12Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the
land.
13And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of
the land, "But if you will, hear me: I give the price of
the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead
there."
14Ephron answered Abraham,
15"My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth
four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and
me? Bury your dead."
16Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out
for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the
Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the
weights current among the merchants.
17So
the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of
Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the
trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was
made over
18to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the
Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19After
this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field
of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of
Canaan.
20The field and the cave that is in it were made over to
Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.
Joshua Conquers Canaan
1As
soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had
captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction, doing to Ai and
its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the
inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were
among them,
2 he feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city,
like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than
Ai, and all its men were warriors.
3So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of
Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish,
and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,
4"Come up to me and help me, and let us strike
Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the people
of Israel."
5Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of
Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king
of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and
went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and
made war against it.
6And
the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal,
saying, "Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come
up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of
the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered
against us."
7So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of
war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.
8And the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them,
for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall
stand before you."
9So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up
all night from Gilgal.
10 And the LORD threw them into a panic before Israel,
who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by
the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as
Azekah and Makkedah.
11And as they fled before Israel, while they were going
down the ascent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw down large
stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died.
There were more who died because of the hailstones than the
sons of Israel killed with the sword.
12At
that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD
gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in
the sight of Israel,
"Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon."
13And
the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their
enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in
the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole
day.
14 There has been no day like it before or since, when
the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for
Israel.
15So
Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at
Gilgal.
Joshua Kills Five Enemy Kings
16These
five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah.
17And it was told to Joshua, "The five kings have
been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah."
18And Joshua said, "Roll large stones against the
mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them,
19but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies;
attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities,
for the LORD your God has given them into your
hand."
20When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished
striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and
when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the
fortified cities,
21then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the
camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of
the people of Israel.
22Then
Joshua said, "Open the mouth of the cave and bring those
five kings out to me from the cave."
23And they did so, and brought those five kings out to
him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron,
the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of
Eglon.
24And when they brought those kings out to Joshua,
Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs
of the men of war who had gone with him, "Come near; put
your feet on the necks of these kings." Then they came
near and put their feet on their necks.
25And Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid or
dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the LORD will do
to all your enemies against whom you fight."
26And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to
death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the
trees until evening.
27But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua
commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw
them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they
set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain
to this very day.
28As for Makkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and
struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He
devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none
remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had
done to the king of Jericho.
Joshua conquers Southern Canaan - including Hebron
29Then
Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to
Libnah and fought against Libnah. 30And
the LORD gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel.
And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person
in it; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king as
he had done to the king of Jericho.
31Then
Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to
Lachish and laid siege to it and fought against it.
32And the LORD gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and
he captured it on the second day and struck it with the edge
of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.
33Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish. And
Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none
remaining.
34Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from
Lachish to Eglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against
it.
35And they captured it on that day, and struck it with
the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to
destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish.
36Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon
to Hebron. And they fought against it
37and captured it and struck it with the edge of the
sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He
left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it
to destruction and every person in it.
38Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to
Debir and fought against it
39and he captured it with its king and all its towns.
And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to
destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just
as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did
to Debir and to its king.
40So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and
the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings.
He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that
breathed, just as the LORD God of Israel commanded.
41And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea as far as
Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, as far as Gibeon.
42And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at
one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for
Israel.
43 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the
camp at Gilgal.
Hebron is allotted to Caleb and his tribe
6Then
the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the
son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know
what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea
concerning you and me.
7I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the
LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I
brought him word again as it was in my heart.
8But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of
the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God.
9And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land
on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you
and your children forever, because you have wholly followed
the LORD my God.'
10And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as
he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD
spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the
wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years
old.
11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that
Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for
war and for going and coming.
12So now give me this hill country of which the LORD
spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim
were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the
LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the
LORD said."
13Then
Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of
Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14Therefore
Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh
the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the
LORD, the God of Israel.
15 Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba
was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest
from war.
2 Samuel 3:2-5
David is anointed as a king in Hebron, and has sons there
1
After this David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I go
up into any of the cities of Judah?" And the LORD said to
him, "Go up." David said, "To which shall I go
up?" And he said, "To Hebron."
2 So David went up there, and his two wives
also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of
Carmel.
3 And David brought up his men who were with
him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns
of Hebron.
4 And the men of Judah came, and there they
anointed David king over the house of Judah.
2
And sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon,
of Ahinoam of Jezreel;
3 and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the
widow of Nabal of Carmel; and the third, Absalom the son of
Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;
4 and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;
and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;
5 and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David’s
wife. These were born to David in Hebron.
The assassins of Ish-bosheth are hung beside the pool of Hebron
1When
Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died at
Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed.
2Now Saul’s son had two men who were captains of
raiding bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of
the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon, a man of Benjamin from
Beeroth - for Beeroth also is counted part of Benjamin;
3 the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been
sojourners there to this day.
4
Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his
feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and
Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and
fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame.
And his name was Mephibosheth.
5Now
the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out,
and about the heat of the day they came to the house of
Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest.
6And they came into the midst of the house as if to get
wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and
Baanah his brother escaped.
7When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in
his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded
him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all
night,
8and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron.
And they said to the king, "Here is the head of
Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your
life. The LORD has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul
and on his offspring."
9But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the
sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, "As the LORD lives, who
has redeemed my life out of every adversity,
10 when one told me, 'Behold, Saul is dead,' and thought
he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at
Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.
11How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous
man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his
blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?"
12And David commanded his young men, and they killed
them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside
the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and
buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.
2 Samuel 15:7-12
Absalom's attempted coup against his father David
7And
at the end of four years Absalom said to the king,
"Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to
the LORD, in Hebron.
8For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Geshur in
Aram, saying, 'If the LORD will indeed bring me back to
Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the LORD.'"
9The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he
arose and went to Hebron.
10But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the
tribes of Israel, saying, "As soon as you hear the sound
of the trumpet, then say, 'Absalom is king at
Hebron!'"
11With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who
were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew
nothing.
12And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent
for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his
city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people
with Absalom kept increasing.
EXTRA WEBSITES - stories, pictures, reconstructions
The story of Abraham, the wanderer: people of the Bible
The story of David: a flawed hero in Israel
Tombs in ancient Israel: archaeology of the Bible
Bible paintings of Sarah and Abraham, and Rebecca and Isaac
SUMMARY
_____________________________________________________________________
Lands and Cities of the Old and New Testament - Information
for Travelers in Israel and Palestine -
Bible Study Resource
Hebron, with the Tomb of Abraham and Sarah, city of King
David, burial place of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs