Summary Overview
Why did David make Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom? A couple
of good reasons: First of all, Jerusalem was located in the center of
the country, so geographically speaking, it’s a good point to put your
capital. But there is another reason: because Jerusalem did not
belong to any one of the 12 tribes. In other words, Jerusalem was a
politically neutral city.
In our last lecture, we ended by noting that the death of Saul set the stage
for David to become king, followed by his son Solomon. Perhaps the
most famous events in their reigns are David’s bringing of the Ark of
the Covenant to Jerusalem, his capital, and Solomon’s building of the First
Temple there.
Because Jerusalem is central to this course, we should understand how the
city is laid out. The original settlement in Jerusalem was on a small, low-
lying hill and was known as the City of David. This hill lies outside the
Old City (which dates from Ottoman times) and is dwarfed by both the Old
City and the modern city. However, the only perennial source of fresh water
in Jerusalem, the Gihon Spring, comes out of the ground at the foot of the
eastern slope of this little hill. Furthermore, the site is protected by natural
valleys on two of its three sides.
Solomon expanded the city northward to include the area of the Temple
Mount, which dominated the biblical City of David and became the ancient
acropolis of Jerusalem, where the most important political and religious
institutions were built. Later, the city spread westward onto the Westem Hill,
protected by valleys on three sides.
Having reviewed the topography of Jerusalem, let’s return to its history
during the time of David and Solomon. David made Jerusalem the capital
of his kingdom for two likely reasons: its central location and the fact that
it had never been controlled by any of the Israelite tribes but was politically
neutral. Into this City of David he brought the Ark of the Covenant. His
son Solomon is most famous for building the First Temple on the Temple
Mount north ofthe city. After Solomon died, in about 930 B.C., a quarrel
broke out over the succession to the throne, and the kingdom split into a
northern halt, Israel, with its capital at Samaria, and a southern halt, Judah,
with its capital at Jerusalem.
Each of these kingdoms had its own independent political history. Meanwhile,
to the east, a great empire arose, Assyria, based in northern Mesopotamia.
Assyria expanded westward toward the Mediterranean coast and began
launching invasions into the kingdom of Israel. In the year 722 B.C., the
Assyrians conquered the northem kingdom of Israel, and 20 years later, they
invaded the kingdom of Judah, destroying many of the major Judean cities and
besieging Jerusalem itself.
Jerusalem survived the Assyrian siege but was later taken by the
Babylonians, the next great power, based in southern Mesopotamia. In 586
B.C., the Babylonians conquered the city, burned the temple, and forced the
inhabitants of Judah into exile. This historical review of Jerusalem down to
its destruction by the Babylonians is based largely on biblical accounts. In
the next lecture, we will compare the archaeological remains in Jerusalem
that date to this period with the descriptions in the Hebrew Bible.
Names to Know
David (fl. 10th century B.C.): The eighth and youngest son of Jesse, from the
tribe of Judah, David succeeded Saul as king of Israel and ruled t.he United
Kingdom for 40 years, from c. 1010 to 970 B.C. He conquered Jerusalem
and made it the capital of his kingdom. David also brought the Ark of the
Covenant to Jerusalem. He was succeeded to the throne by his son Solomon.
Solomon (r. c. 970-930 B.C.): Son of David and successor to the throne of
the United Kingdom. Solomon is renowned for his wisdom; his many wives;
his political and commercial alliances with Hiram, king of Tyre, and with the
queen of Sheba; and for having established the First Temple on J erusalem’s
Temple Motmt.
lmportant Terms
Assyria: Ancient empire based in the northem part of Mesopotamia
(modern Iraq).
Babylonia: Ancient empire based in the southern part of Mesopotamia
(modern Iraq).
City of David: Eastern Hill; Lower City.
Mesopotamia: In Greek, literally means “the land between the rivers,”
referring to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; a territory that corresponds
roughly with modern Iraq.
Questions to Consider
1. What combination of natural features attracted settlement in Jerusalem
5,000 years ago?
2. Why was Jerusalem a good choice to be the capital of David’s kingdom?
Lecture 3-Transcript
Jerusalem-An Introduction to the City
In our last lecture, we ended by talking about the death of Saul, which sets the
stage for David to become king establishing a tmited kingdom that he ruled
and that was succeeded by his son Solomon. Perhaps the most famous event
in the time of David and Solomon is David bringing the Ark ofthe Covenant
to Jerusalem which he made the capital of the Israelite kingdom, and later
Solomon building the First Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is going to be a central city throughout this course and therefore
in order to begin talking about Jerusalem we first have to understand how
the city is laid out. What is the topography of the city of Jerusalem? In fact
why is there a city in this particular spot? When you think about it, why do
people settle in particular places, trade roots, strategic locations, whatever,
so why has there been a settlement at the spot where Jerusalem is located
continuously for over 5,000 years? What is it that has drawn people to this
particular spot?
If we look at the location of Jerusalem we see that it’s located smack dab in
the center of the country on top of this hilly motmtain, or ridge, which runs
through the country like a backbone from north to south. This is the Judean
Mountains or the J udean hills, and all throughout antiquity and even up until
today there has been a road going along the top of this mountain ridge. It’s
the same road that goes today from the area of Hebron on the south, then to
Bethlehem, then to Jerusalem, then north to Ramallah, Annapolis.
Of course always the major north-south road through Palestine has been
along the coast which is the easiest way to go. But this was a secondary
route through the center of the country and so Jerusalem lies on that road.
The most important reason for there having been a settlement in Jerusalem
throughout the ages is because of water.
If we look at a map of Jerusalem we see that the city is located on a series of
hills that are separated by valleys. The earliest settlement in Jerusalem lies
on a small, low-lying hill that’s called the City of David. Most people who
go to Jerusalem today and see the modem city see that inside the center of
the modern city is an area surrounded by an old wall and this is called the
Old City of Jerusalem.
Most people who go to Jerusalem today are under the mistaken impression
that the area ofthe old city is the ancient city of Jerusalem, and that’s actually
incorrect. Those walls of the old city as you see them today are relatively
recent in J erusalem’s history. They go back to the Ottoman Turkish period,
the l6*h century A.D., and the area enclosed by those Ottoman city walls
does not necessarily correspond with the ancient City of Jerusalem. In fact,
the earliest settlement in Jerusalem, the original settlement in Jerusalem lies
on this little hill, the City of David, which today is totally outside the walls of
the old city. It comes out like a little spur to the south of the Temple Mount.
This is where over 5,000 years ago people lirst settled in the area of
Jerusalem. The question is why did the first people who arrived in Jerusalem
settle on this small, relatively low-lying hill? The hill is only about ll acres
in size and in fact it’s much lower in elevation than the other hills in the area.
Why didn’t people choose to settle on one of the bigger, taller hills? You
would think strategically that’s what they would’ve done, after all.
Well in fact it all is about water. It all has to do with sources of water here in
the Middle East, because the only perennial source of fresh water in Jerusalem
is a spring called the Gihon Spring, which comes out ofthe grotmd at the foot
of the eastern slope of this little hill ofthe City of David. In order to be as
close as possible to the source of water, over 5,000 years ago people chose to
settle on this little hill. Not only is the City of David convenient because it’s
located next to the water supply, but also it was protected by natural valleys
on two of its three sides. It had natural protection of fortiiications on two of
its three sides.
On the east, the City of David is protected by a very deep valley called the
Kidron Valley, which separates it and the Temple Mount to the north from
a mountain ridge on the other side of the Kidron Valley, to the east of the
Kidron Valley, that is called the Mount of Olives. On the west, the City of
David was protected by a valley called the Tyropoeon Valley. Tyropoeon is
actually an ancient Greek word meaning the Valley ofthe Cheesemakers.
The Tyropoeon Valley is sometimes also called the Central Valley because
today it runs through the center of the Old City of Jerusalem starting on
the north in the area of the modern Damascus gate coming down along the
westem side of the Temple Mount, the western side of the City of David, and
joining up with the southern tip with the Kidron Valley. The City of David
was protected on two of its three sides by these valleys.
If you look at the coniiguration of bedrock in the area of the City of David
you will notice that the bedrock slopes down as you go south, but rises up
as you go north. From the City of David as you go north you get into the
area of the Temple Mount. When the very iirst people came and settled in
Jerusalem thousands of years ago, they settled on that little hill of the City of
David. That is the city that David took from the J ebusites and that’s when it
becomes known as the City of David.
After David died his son Solomon expanded the city to the north to include
the area of the Temple Mount, which is higher in elevation than the City of
David and so is a natural high point physically dominating the biblical City
of David, and so the Temple Mount literally became the ancient acropolis
of Jerusalem, a natural highpoint where the most important political and
religious institutions were built. Because the City of David is so small in size
it couldn’t accommodate a large population.
When the city grew in antiquity where did the population spread? Never did
the population spread east across the Kidron Valley to the slopes ofthe Mount
of Olives. The Mount of Olives has always been outside the walls of the
city and therefore from the very earliest periods, the Mount of Olives served
as the necropolis, the cemetery, the burial grounds, for the population of
Jerusalem. Instead in antiquity when the population grew it went westwards
across the Tyropoeon Valley and on to the next hill over.
The next hill over to the west of the Tyropoeon Valley is a large and
relatively high in elevation hill which we call the Western Hill to distinguish
it then from the City of David, which becomes known as the Eastern Hill.
Sometimes we call the Western Hill also the Upper City because it’s high in
elevation, and the City of David then becomes known as the Lower City. The
Westem Hill also is protected by valleys on three of its four sides.
On the east it’s protected by the Tyropoeon Valley which separates it from
the City of David; on the west it’s protected by a valley which starts at its
northwest corner, the area today where the Damascus Gate and David’s
Citadel are located. This valley then wraps around the Western Hill from the
west and around the south and joins up at the southern tip with the Kidron
Valley and the Tyropoeon Valley. This valley which literally encircles the
Western Hill is called the Ben-Hinnom Valley and the Ben-Hinnom valley is
a valley which is known Hom the Hebrew Bible.
In fact a passage in Jeremiah refers to the Ben-Hinnom Valley in a very
negative way,
“For the children of Judah have done what is evil in my sight,” is the oracle
of the Lord, “They have set up their detestable things in the house which
bears my name to deiile it, and have built the high place of Tophet in the
valley of Ben-Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the tire.”
In other words in this passage Jeremiah is condemning the practice of child
sacrifice by the Israelites in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, this very valley that
encircles the Westem Hill.
The northern end of the Western Hill is determined by a valley which runs
directly east across to the Temple Mount and which is called the Transverse
Valley. This is not a deep valley like the other valleys and in fact the northem
side of the city of Jerusalem was always its weak side in antiquity. Ahnost
always in antiquity when the city was attacked it was attacked from the
direction of the north because unlike the other sides, the north side ofthe city
was not protected by deep natLu'al valleys.
If you look at the area that we just talked about, which is really the core
of the ancient city of Jerusalem, the City of David, the Temple Mount, and
the Westem Hill, if you look at this area you will see that it overlaps with
the area that is today enclosed within the walls of the Old City, but it’s not
a complete overlap, and that the Old City today represents a shift to the
north from the ancient city with the area of the City of David, today lying
outside the walls of the city and also the southern tip of the Westem Hill,
which today is called Mount Zion, lying outside the walls of the Old City.
This shift to the north we will see later in the course occurred in the Roman
period in the 2nd century A.D. when Jerusalem was rebuilt by the Roman
Emperor Hadrian.
The core of the ancient city of Jerusalem lies somewhat to the south of the
area that is today enclosed within the walls of the Old City and only partly
overlaps with that. All of this has been somewhat abstract so let’s now
talk a little bit more and look a little bit more at what all of these features
look like.
The Gihon Spring still has water coming out of it today. In fact it’s a very
interesting kind of a spring. The word Gihon comes from the Hebrew word
“gichah” which means to gush because it’s a kind of a caustic spring where
the water gushes forth and abates, gushes forth and abates. So that water still
comes out ofthe ground today.
If we look at an aerial map of Jerusalem we can very clearly see the various
topographic features. We can see the layout of the Old City today, which is
roughly enclosed by kind of a square. Marking the eastern edge of the city is
a mountain ridge which includes the Mount of Olives. The northern end of
that mountain ridge is today called Mount Scopus.
The area of the Temple Mount platform is also clearly visible. It is a gigantic
paved esplanade surrounded by walls with the Dome of the Rock, which
has a gold dome sitting in the middle of it, a natural high point probably
where the two ancient temples used to be located, and to the south of it at the
southem end of the Temple Mount a silver-domed structure which is the Al-
Aqsa Mosque. Here’s a wonderful picture showing the City of David which
shows so clearly what a small and low-lying hill this is shown very clearly
how the Temple Mount physically dominates the City of David and therefore
was the acropolis ofthe ancient city of Jerusalem and which clearly show the
Kidron Valley, very deep valley on the right-hand side, that is on the eastern
side separating the City of David and the Temple Mount from the Mount
of Olives.
On the western side of the city of David a valley not so clearly visible
anymore, largely filled in by debris, but with more or less a line of a modern
road following it, which is the line of the Tyropoeon Valley or that central
valley. Today if we stand on top of the Mount of Olives we get a very good
view over the city looking from east to west. Immediately below us covering
the slopes of the Mount of Olives are graves.
This is a cemetery where again the practice of Jewish burial in Jerusalem on
the slopes of the Mount of Olives goes back literally from millennia so we
can see this cemetery still covering the slopes of the Mount of Olives today,
this area having always been outside the walls of the city. The slope then
goes down very deep to this valley, the Kidron Valley and on the other side
of the Kidron Valley we see the area of the Temple Mount and then sloping
off to the left of that is the beginning of the slope down for the area of the
City of David.
In fact, the City of David is so small and so low-lying that it’s ahnost not
visible even from the top of the Mount of Olives. It’s sort of swallowed up
by the rest of the features and behind the City of David you can then see the
area of the Western Hill, which is again much higher in elevation and also a
larger area.
Another aerial view of the Old City looking from west to east immediately
at the bottom is the area of the Jaffa Gate today. Next to it is the citadel,
David’s Citadel, which we will be talking about. This is the point where
the Ben-Hinnom valley starts, and going straight east across to the Temple'
Mount from the Jaffa Gate that would be the line of the Transverse Valley,
that relatively small valley that marks the northern end of the Western Hill..
Finally at the upper end, very visible, is this ridge, this mountain ridge of the,
Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus which marks the eastern end of the cityi
on the other side of the Kidron Valley.
The modern Old City of Jerusalem transposed upon these geographic
features shows clearly how the City of David and Mount Zion lie today;
outside the walls of the Old City. Within the area of the Old City today therei
are different quarters, which is a late development in the history of the city,l.
but basically the area of the northwest part of the Old City is the Christiani
quarter; northwest, because that is the area around the Church of the Holyf
Sepulcher, which we will be talking about quite a bit later in the course.
The northeast part of the city is the Muslim quarter. The southwest part of
the city is the Armenian quarter, and the southeast part of the city across
from the area ofthe Wailing Wall or Western Wall is today’s Jewish quarter.
Now that we’ve sort of reviewed the topography ofthe city of Jerusalem let’s
talk about the history of Jerusalem during the time of David and Solomon
and the other kings of Judah. Remembering now what happened with the
Israelite settlement, the Israelite tribes enter the country in about 1200 B.C.,
settle the interior hill country, eventually form together into one entity and
choose a king, Saul, to rule over them. Saul is then killed in battle against
the Philistines.
After Saul’s death he was succeeded to the throne by David. David then
becomes king and one ofthe things that David does when he becomes king is
to capture the city of Jerusalem from the J ebusites. One ofthe peculiarities of
the early Israelite settlement is that although the Israelites settle the interior
hill cormtry and although Jerusalem was located in the center of that area,
Jerusalem was not taken by the Israelite tribes. In fact Jerusalem remained a
foreign enclave in the heart of the Israelite settlement for approximately 200
years rmtil the time of David.
According to the Hebrew Bible, the reason for this is that J ebusite Jerusalem
was so strongly fortified that the Israelites were not able to take the city until
the time of David. The Bible then describes the conquest of Jerusalem by
David. David takes Jerusalem from the Jebusites and makes it the capital
of his kingdom, very interesting choice by the way. Why did David make
Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom? A couple of good reasons; iirst of
all Jerusalem was located in the center of the country, so geographically
speaking it’s a good point to put your capital.
But there is another reason; because Jerusalem since it had not originally
been taken by any one ofthe 12 tribes, therefore did not belong to any one of
the 12 tribes. In other words, Jerusalem was a politically neutral city. It’s sort
ofthe same idea as today that Washington D.C. doesn’t belong to any one of
the 50 states, so with Jerusalem. So David then makes Jerusalem the capital
of his kingdom.
The Hebrew Bible says, “And David dwelt in the stronghold [of Jerusalem]
and called it the City of David.” So obviously before the time of David the
city was not called the City of David. Once David takes it, it becomes known
as the City of David and since Jebusite Jerusalem consisted of that little hill
to the south of the Temple Mount, that is the hill that is called the City of
David. That was the city of Jerusalem in the time of the Jebusites and in
the time of David. According to the Hebrew Bible David brings the Ark of
the Covenant to Jerusalem and I quote from 2 Samuel, “David went and
brought the ark of God with joy from the house of Obed-Edom to the City
of Jerusalem.”
After David died he was succeeded to the throne by his son Solomon.
Solomon is famous for many different things. One thing that Solomon is
known for is having been a lover of many women. He’s known for having
had many wives, and the relevant passage in the Hebrew Bible says, “Now
King Solomon was a lover of women; and he married many foreign wives-
Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites.” Notice a very
interesting thing here. Maybe Solomon really was a lover of women, but
when you look at the foreign wives who we had, you see that there is a lot
more going on here.
These were strategic political alliances. The women who Solomon married
literally are from all of the peoples who neighbor on, who surround the area
ofthe Israelite kingdom. Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, those are all those
people in the area of modern Jordan to the eastern side of the Jordan River
and the Dead Sea and Sidonians. Who are the Sidonians, the people of Sidon,
the Phoenicians just to the north and the Hittites are the people of course in
Asia Minor. Obviously these marriages were strategic for political purposes,
so Solomon was basically forming political alliances through marriage,
something of course that was very common in antiquity.
In addition to his many wives Solomon of course is also known for having
built the First temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as l Kings says, “In
the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel he built the house of the
Lord.” Notice the temple is a house. In antiquity, a temple was a house of
a deity. We talked about the House of Dagon, the Temple of the Philistines.
Here we have the House ofthe Lord, the God of Israel, and this is the temple
that Solomon builds on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Together, the kingdom of David and Solomon is known as the United
Kingdom or the United Monarchy, because all of the 12 tribes were united
Lmder the rule of David and Solomon. When Solomon died, though, in about
roughly 930 B.C. the United Monarchy comes to an end because the kingdom
splits. There’s a quarrel over the succession to the throne and this United
Kingdom splits into two halves. The northern half now becomes known as
the kingdom of Israel and it has as its capital a city eventually at a place
called Samaria, which is in the heart of this northern kingdom of Israel. The
southem kingdom becomes known as the kingdom of Judah with its capital
at Jerusalem.
Each of these kingdoms then has its own series of kings and its own
independent political history despite the fact that the inhabitants of both
kingdoms continue to worship the God of Israel in his temple on the Temple
Mount in Jerusalem. The kingdom splits into two parts after the death of
Solomon and you have these two kingdoms, the northern kingdom of
Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. While all of this is going on
though something happens farther to the east that’s going to impact both of
these kingdoms.
What happens is that in the 9th and 8th centuries B.C. a great power was
growing to the east. This power was the kingdom or empire of Assyria;
that is a territory that is located in the northern half of what is today Iraq,
the northern part of ancient Mesopotamia. In the 9th and 8th centuries B.C.
Assyria became the dominant power in the ancient Near East. As the Assyrian
became stronger and stronger they began to expand their control over more
and more areas eventually moving westwards towards the Mediterranean
coast and launching a series of invasions into the kingdom of Israel.
ln the year 722 B.C., the Assyrians conquered the northem kingdom of Israel
and 20 years later they launched an invasion of the kingdom of Judah. The
Hebrew Bible describes the Assyrian attack on Judah and speciiically on the
city of Jerusalem.
The king of Judah in 7 Ol B.C. when the Syrians invaded was Hezekiah, and
the Hebrew Bible describes the Assyrians coming and ravaging the Judean
countryside destroying many of the major Judean cities, the cities of Judah,
and then besieging the city of Jerusalem itself. Here is what the biblical
account says,
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib ofNotice in this passage that the Assyrians are encamped at Lachish. Lachish
Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured
them. King Hezekiah of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at
Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me; whatever
you impose on me I will bear.” Then the king of Assyria sent
the commander-in-chief and the chief of the eunuchs and the Held
marshal from Lachish with a large army against King Hezekiah
at Jerusalem.
was one of the major cities in Judah outside of Jerusalem, and we have very,
very interesting evidence archaeologically and also documentary of the
Assyrian siege and destruction of this major city of Lachish. We have an
aerial view of Lachish, but most interesting on one side of this very large site
are remains of an Assyrian siege ramp, a ramp that the Assyrians built so that
they could break through the fortification wall of the city.
Furthermore the Assyrian king then decorated his palace with carved stone
reliefs showing the fall of the city at the end of the siege. Those reliefs now
are on display in the British museum in London, and those reliefs clearly
show the Assyrian siege machines and in particular the battering ram coming
up and battering against the city wall and the various darts and arrows and
other things that are being shot back and forth and we have very clear remains
ofthe Assyrian siege ramp at the site that remain until today.
One thing that happens in 701 B.C. is that the Assyrians then come, ravage
the Judean countryside, destroy the city of Lachish, and then besiege the
city of Jerusalem, the capital of Judah. This Assyrian siege of Jerusalem is
also described in the Hebrew Bible as follows, “Therefore thus says the Lord
concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, shoot an
arrow there, come before it with a shield, or cast up a siege ramp against it.
By the way that he came, by the same he shall return; he shall not come into
this city, says the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake
and for the sake of my servant David.”
So very interesting, according to the biblical account, the God of Israel then
says I am going to protect the city of Jerusalem from the Assyrians; they will
not be able to take this city. “That very night the angel of the Lord set out and
struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians;
when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies. Then King Sennacherib
of Assyria left, went home, and lived at Nineveh.”
According to the biblical account, the Assyrians were not able to take the city
of Jerusalem during the siege because of a plague that broke out and killed
many of the soldiers in their camp. We actually have Assyrian documents
which present a slightly different story, which suggests that the Assyrian
king was called back to Assyria because of internal problems, because of
some sort of internal rebellions or unrest. Either way Jerusalem survived the
Assyrian siege and continued to exist with the kingdom of Judah continuing
to exist, albeit weakened, after the Assyrian invasion in 701.
The Assyrian empire itself eventually weakened and collapsed, and in fact,
in the year 612 B.C. the Assyrians were replaced as the dominant power in
the ancient Near East by the Babylonians. The Babylonians were based in the
southem part of what is today Iraq; that is the southern part of Mesopotamia.
When the Babylonians then become the dominant power in the ancient Near
East they begin to launch a series of invasions into the kingdom of Judah.
ln 586 B.C. the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple
on the Temple Mount. So it is described in the 2 book of Kings.
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month-this was inSo 586 B.C. the Babylonians conquer Jerusalem, burn the palace, burn down
the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon-
Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, a servant of the king
of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and burned the house of the Lord
[so notice the temple], and the king’s house [the palace], and all the
houses of Jerusalem.
the temple, burn the houses in the city, and what do they do, they then force
the inhabitants of Judah to go into exile and Babylonia beginning a period in
Jewish history that we refer to as the period of the Babylonian exile.
What we have done here is to review the history of Jerusalem based largely
on the biblical accounts beginning with David and Solomon and going down
to its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. This now sets the stage for
us to look at the archaeological remains that we have in Jerusalem that date
to this period and compare the archaeological remains that we have with the
descriptions in the Hebrew Bible.
