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. In April 2017, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced it viewed Western Jerusalem as Israel's capital in the context of UN-approved principles which include the status of East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. [293] [294] [295] On 15 December 2018, Australia officially recognized West Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but said their embassy in Tel Aviv would stay until a two-state resolution was settled. [296] The decision was reversed in October 2022. [297] Government precinct and national institutions The Ottomans brought many innovations: modern postal systems run by the various consulates and regular stagecoach and carriage services were among the first signs of modernization in the city. [194] In the mid 19th century, the Ottomans constructed the first paved road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and by 1892 the railroad had reached the city. [194] The interior of the square was once bisected by a ravine running from N to S and finally curving into the Kidron just N of its junction with the Hinnom. In NT times it was called the Tyropoeon “cheesemakers” Valley; and it may be (partially) equivalent to the OT מַכְתֵּ֑שׁ, “mortar” ( Zeph 1:11). Though still discernible in the N, in the form of a depression W of the Damascus Gate, successive destructions of the city have now obliterated most of its course. Jerusalem’s present day profile, with its apparently uninterrupted rise from the Kidron escarpment westward to “Mt. Zion” ( see below) and then with an abrupt drop into the Hinnom Valley, fails to indicate the up to 100 ft. of debris with which the central ravine is now choked. After three years of flight and exile from Jerusalem ( v. 38), Absalom was enabled to return ( 14:23; cf. 15:8); but in about 980, after additional years of plotting, this oldest surviving son succeeded in driving his father out of Zion ( 15:16, 37) and even occupied the palace, on the roof of which he publicly cohabited with his father’s concubines ( 16:22; cf. 11:2; 12:8, 11, 12 on its retributive character). Scripture traces David’s flight in detail. Whereas certain points, such as his initial tarrying at בֵּ֥ית הַמֶּרְחָֽק, “Beth-merhak” ( 15:17 ASV), “at the Far House” (ASVmg.), remain uncertain, much of his route is identified by yet recognizable geographical features. When David’s party had moved eastward, across the Brook Kidron ( v. 23), he was overtaken by the high priest Zadok and all the Levites bearing the Ark of the covenant from its tent on Mt. Zion; but David had them return to Jerusalem. The group moved E and “went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives” ( v. 30). David was met by Hushai at “the summit, where God was worshiped” ( v. 32), indicating the existence of a shrine, perhaps near the present Dome of the Ascension close to the summit of Olivet. David had taken the shorter, and harder, route over the crest of the ridge rather than going around the southern end of Olivet, as does the modern highway to Jericho. “A little beyond the summit” ( 16:1) he was met by Ziba with provisions, from which point he proceeded past Bahurim ( v. 5), perhaps the modern Ras et Tmim, E of Mt. Scopus (N of Olivet; cf. Wright and Filson, The Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible, p. 108) and on toward the Jordan. Meanwhile the sons of the priests Zadok and Abiathar were waiting at En-Rogel, just S of Jerusalem, to carry intelligence from Hushai to David ( 17:16, 17), were almost apprehended at Bahurim ( v. 18), but managed to hide and then get the necessary word to David for a prompt crossing of the Jordan River ( v. 22). After the defeat and death of Absalom, David was again installed in his capital of Jerusalem ( 19:15, 40; 20:3).

C. Characteristics. The annual rainfall at Jerusalem amounts to about twenty-five inches, but this is concentrated in the winter months. Temperature, moderated by the elevation, shows seasonal averages ranging from 40 o to 85 o F. Snow is rare; but the stone buildings of old Jerusalem can, upon occasion, become frankly dank and cold, cf. Ezra 10:9: “the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month [early January]...all the people sat in the open square...trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain.” Yet from May until October, the grass turns brown, and the hamsin wind that blows from off the eastern deserts may produce a period of serious heat and drought. Generally, however, the western sea breeze keeps the days mild and the evenings cool.The war of 1948 resulted in the division of Jerusalem, so that the old walled city lay entirely on the Jordanian side of the line. A no-man's land between East and West Jerusalem came into being in November 1948: Moshe Dayan, commander of the Israeli forces in Jerusalem, met with his Jordanian counterpart Abdullah el-Tell in a deserted house in Jerusalem's Musrara neighbourhood and marked out their respective positions: Israel's position in red and Jordan's in green. This rough map, which was not meant as an official one, became the final line in the 1949 Armistice Agreements, which divided the city and left Mount Scopus as an Israeli exclave inside East Jerusalem. [218] Barbed wire and concrete barriers ran down the centre of the city, passing close by Jaffa Gate on the western side of the old walled city, and a crossing point was established at Mandelbaum Gate slightly to the north of the old walled city. Military skirmishes frequently threatened the ceasefire. 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 Owens then jumps to a different section of the Gospel of Matthew (6:24) that reads: "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." The second post just reads, "Christ is King." In 538 BCE, the Persian King Cyrus the Great invited the Jews of Babylon to return to Judah to rebuild the Temple. [121] [122] Construction of the Second Temple was completed in 516 BCE, during the reign of Darius the Great, 70 years after the destruction of the First Temple. [123] [124] After the establishment of the state of Israel, Jerusalem was declared its capital city. [219] Jordan formally annexed East Jerusalem in 1950, subjecting it to Jordanian law, and in 1953 declared it the "second capital" of Jordan. [213] [220] [221] Only the United Kingdom and Pakistan formally recognized such annexation, which, in regard to Jerusalem, was on a de facto basis. [222] Some scholars argue that the view that Pakistan recognized Jordan's annexation is dubious. [223] [224]

Scripture states also that Solomon made pools to water his trees ( Eccl 2:6), which may well refer to an “upper pool” near Gihon (cf. Isa 7:3; 36:2; the old pool of 8:11b?) and to the construction of the Shiloah water conduit ( Isa 8:6) for the water of the spring along the eastern side of Zion to the “lower pool” ( 22:9). This latter may be identified with the “King’s Pool” ( Neh 2:14), or the Pool of Shelah ( 3:15), at the southern end of the city by the king’s garden ( 2 Kings 25:4), below the later Pool of Siloam (q.v.). Jerusalem had a population of 951,100 in 2020, of which Jews comprised 570,100 (59.9%), Muslims 353.800 (37.2%), Christians 16.300 (1.7%), and 10,800 unclassified (1.1%). [17]

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Kozak clarified to Owens, who looked visibly confused, that the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem is not a community to which Muslims are legally relegated, noting that there is also an Armenian Quarter, "and it's not saying the Armenians can only live here. It's that there are communities." Owens said she "might be wrong" and did not defend her original statement.

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 The ending -ayim indicates the dual, thus leading to the suggestion that the name Yerushalayim refers to the fact that the city initially sat on two hills. [52] [53] Ancient Egyptian sources On 5 December 1949, Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, proclaimed Jerusalem as Israel's "eternal" and "sacred" capital, and eight days later specified that only the war had "compelled" the Israeli leadership "to establish the seat of Government in Tel Aviv", while "for the State of Israel there has always been and always will be one capital only – Jerusalem the Eternal", and that after the war, efforts had been ongoing for creating the conditions for "the Knesset... returning to Jerusalem." [272] This indeed took place, and since the beginning of 1950 all branches of the Israeli government— legislative, judicial, and executive—have resided there, except for the Ministry of Defense, which is located at HaKirya in Tel Aviv. [273] [274] At the time of Ben Gurion's proclamations and the ensuing Knesset vote of 24 January 1950, [274] Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan, and thus the proclamation only applied to West Jerusalem. Over the next four hundred years, Jerusalem's prominence diminished as Arab powers in the region vied for control of the city. [173] Jerusalem was captured in 1073 by the Seljuk Turkish commander Atsız. [174] After Atsız was killed, the Seljuk prince Tutush I granted the city to Artuk Bey, another Seljuk commander. After Artuk's death in 1091 his sons Sökmen and Ilghazi governed in the city up to 1098 when the Fatimids recaptured the city. 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. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against…— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) November 14, 2023Roman 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] 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] 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.