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1. Now the Jebusites, who were the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and
were by extraction Canaanites, shut their gates, and placed the
blind, and the lame, and all their maimed persons, upon the wall,
in way of derision of the king, and said that the very lame
themselves would hinder his entrance into it. This they did out
of contempt of his power, and as depending on the strength of
their walls. David was hereby enraged, and began the siege of
Jerusalem, and employed his utmost diligence and alacrity
therein, as intending by the taking of this place to demonstrate
his power, and to intimidate all others that might be of the like
[evil] disposition towards him. So he took the lower city by
force, but the citadel held out still; whence it was that the
king, knowing that the proposal of dignities and rewards would
encourage the soldiers to greater actions, promised that he who
should first go over the ditches that were beneath the citadel,
and should ascend to the citadel itself and take it, should have
the command of the entire people conferred upon him. So they all
were ambitious to ascend, and thought no pains too great in order
to ascend thither, out of their desire of the chief command.
However, Joab, the son of Zeruiah, prevented the rest; and as
soon as he was got up to the citadel, cried out to the king, and
claimed the chief command.
2. When David had cast the Jebusites out of the citadel, he also
rebuilt Jerusalem, and named it The City of David, and abode
there all the time of his reign; but for the time that he reigned
over the tribe of Judah only in Hebron, it was seven years and
six months. Now when he had chosen Jerusalem to be his royal
city, his affairs did more and more prosper, by the providence of
God, who took care that they should improve and be augmented.
Hiram also, the king of the Tyrians, sent ambassadors to him, and
made a league of mutual friendship and assistance with him. He
also sent him presents, cedar-trees, and mechanics, and men
skillful in building and architecture, that they might build him
a royal palace at Jerusalem. Now David made buildings round about
the lower city: he also joined the citadel to it, and made it one
body; and when he had encompassed all with walls, he appointed
Joab to take care of them. It was David, therefore, who first
cast the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, and called it by his own
name, The City of David: for under our forefather Abraham it was
called (Salem, or) Solyma; but after that time, some say that
Homer mentions it by that name of Solyma, [for he named the
temple Solyma, according to the Hebrew language, which denotes
security.] Now the whole time from the warfare under Joshua our
general against the Canaanites, and from that war in which he
overcame them, and distributed the land among the Hebrews, (nor
could the Israelites ever cast the Canaanites out of Jerusalem
until this time, when David took it by siege,) this whole time
was five hundred and fifteen years.
3. I shall now make mention of Araunah, who was a wealthy man
among the Jebusites, but was not slain by David in the siege of
Jerusalem, because of the good-will he bore to the Hebrews, and a
particular benignity and affection which he had to the king
himself; which I shall take a more seasonable opportunity to
speak of a little afterwards. Now David married other wives over
and above those which he had before: he had also concubines. The
sons whom he had were in number eleven, whose names were Amnon,
Emnos, Eban, Nathan, Solomon, Jeban, Elien, Phalna, Ennaphen,
Jenae, Eliphale; and a daughter, Tamar. Nine of these were born
of legitimate wives, but the two last-named of concubines; and
Tamar had the same mother with Absalom.
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