Jerusalem Cross Section
Map of Jerusalem's Cross Section
The modern city of Jerusalem as seen from the south, with some Biblical locations. Click here to see a map of Jerusalem in the First Century AD.Jerusalem in Smith's Bible Dictionary
Jerusalem
Topography. --To convey an idea of the position of
Jerusalem, we may say, roughly, that the city occupies the southern
termination of the table-land which is cut off from the country
round it on its west, south and east sides by ravines more than
usually deep and precipitous. These ravines leave the level of the
table-land, the one on the west and the other on the northeast of
the city, and fall rapidly until they form a junction below its
southeast corner. The eastern one --the valley of the Kedron,
commonly called the valley of Jehoshaphat --runs nearly straight
from north by south. But the western one --the valley of Hinnom--
runs south for a time, and then takes a sudden bend to the east
until it meets the valley of Jehoshaphat, after which the two rush
off as one to the Dead Sea. How sudden is their descent may be
gathered from the fact that the level at the point of junction
-about a mile and a quarter from the starting-point of each-- is
more than 600 feet below that of the upper plateau from which they
began their descent. So steep is the fall of the ravines, so
trench-like their character, and so close do they keep to the
promontory at whose feet they run, as to leave on the beholder
almost the impression of the ditch at the foot of a fortress rather
than of valleys formed by nature. The promontory thus encircled is
itself divided by a longitudinal ravine running up it from south to
north, called the valley of the Tyropoeon, rising gradually from the
south, like the external ones, till at last it arrives at the level
of the upper plateau, dividing the central mass into two unequal
portions. Of these two, that on the west is the higher and more
massive, on which the city of Jerusalem now stands, and in fact
always stood. The hill on the east is considerably lower and
smaller, so that to a spectator from the south the city appears to
slope sharply toward the east. Here was the temple, and here stands
now the great Mohammedan sanctuary with its mosques and domes. The
name of MOUNT ZION has been applied to the western hill from the
time of Constantine to the present day. The eastern hill, called
MOUNT MORIAH in 2Ch 3:1 was as already remarked, the site of the
temple. It was situated in the southwest angle of the area, now
known as the Haram area, and was, as we learn from Josephus, an
exact square of a stadium, or 600 Greek feet, on each side.
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Jerusalem in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE
Jerusalem
III. The Natural Site.
Modern Jerusalem occupies a situation defined geographically as 31
degrees 46 feet 45 inches North latitude., by 35 degrees 13 feet 25
inches East longitude. It lies in the midst of a bare and rocky
plateau, the environs being one of the most stony and least fruitful
districts in the habitable parts of Palestine, with shallow, gray or
reddish soil and many outcrops of bare limestone. Like all the hill
slopes with a southeasterly aspect, it is so thoroughly exposed to
the full blaze of the summer sun that in its natural condition the
site would be more or less barren. Today, however, as a result of
diligent cultivation and frequent watering, a considerable growth of
trees and shrubs has been produced in the rapidly extending suburbs.
The only fruit tree which reaches perfection around Jerusalem is the
olive.
1. The Mountains Around:
The site of Jerusalem is shut in by a rough triangle of higher
mountain ridges: to the West runs the main ridge, or water parting,
of Judea, which here makes a sweep to the westward. From this ridge
a spur runs Southeast and East, culminating due East of the city in
the MOUNT OF OLIVES (which see), nearly 2,700 ft. above sea-level
and about 300 ft. above the mean level of the ancient city. Another
spur, known as Jebel Deir abu Tor, 2,550 ft. high, runs East from
the plateau of el Buqei`a and lies Southwest of the city; it is the
traditional "Hill of Evil Counsel." The city site is thus dominated
on all sides by these higher ranges--"the mountains (that) are round
about Jerus" (Ps 125:2)--so that while on the one hand the ancient
city was hidden, at any considerable distance, from any direction
except the Southeast, it is only through this open gap toward the
desert and the mountains of Moab that any wide outlook is
obtainable. This strange vision of wilderness and distant mountain
wall--often of exquisite loveliness in the light of the setting
sun--must all through the ages have been the most familiar and the
most potent of scenic influences to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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Article
The Bible Mentions Much Concerning "Jerusalem"
Isaiah 40:9 - O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift [it] up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
Ezra 6:3 - In the first
year of Cyrus the king [the same] Cyrus the king made a decree
[concerning] the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the
house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let
the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof
threescore cubits, [and] the breadth thereof threescore cubits;
1 Kings
12:27 - If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of
the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this
people turn again unto their lord, [even] unto Rehoboam king of
Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of
Judah.
Zechariah
3:2 - And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O
Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke
thee: [is] not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Jeremiah
44:9 - Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and
the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their
wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives,
which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets
of Jerusalem?
2 Kings
12:18 - And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed
things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers,
kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all
the gold [that was] found in the treasures of the house of the LORD,
and in the king's house, and sent [it] to Hazael king of Syria: and
he went away from Jerusalem.
Lamentations 2:13 - What thing shall I take to witness for
thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of
Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort
thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach [is] great like the
sea: who can heal thee?
2 Kings
19:21 - This [is] the word that the LORD hath spoken
concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee,
[and] laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem
hath shaken her head at thee.
Isaiah
37:22 - This [is] the word which the LORD hath spoken
concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised
thee, [and] laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem
hath shaken her head at thee.
Jeremiah
24:1 - The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs
[were] set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of
Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the
carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought
them to Babylon.
1
Chronicles 29:27 - And the time that he reigned over Israel
[was] forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and
three [years] reigned he in Jerusalem.
Zechariah 14:4 - And his feet shall stand in that day upon
the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on
the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof
toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very
great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the
north, and half of it toward the south.
Isaiah
66:20 - And they shall bring all your brethren [for] an
offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in
chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to
my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the
children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the
house of the LORD.
1 Kings
10:26 - And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen:
and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand
horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the
king at Jerusalem.
1
Chronicles 28:1 - And David assembled all the princes of
Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies
that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the
thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all
the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the
officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men,
unto Jerusalem.
2 Samuel
5:5 - In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six
months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three
years over all Israel and Judah.
Jeremiah
52:13 - And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's
house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the
houses of the great [men], burned he with fire:
Joshua 15:8
- And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the
south side of the Jebusite; the same [is] Jerusalem:
and the border went up to the top of the mountain that [lieth]
before the valley of Hinnom westward, which [is] at the end of the
valley of the giants northward:
2 Kings
25:8 - And in the fifth month, on the seventh [day] of the
month, which [is] the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the
king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:
1 Kings
2:11 - And the days that David reigned over Israel [were]
forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three
years reigned he in Jerusalem.
2 Samuel
24:16 - And when the angel stretched out his hand upon
Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the
evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough:
stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the
threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
Ezra 5:17
- Now therefore, if [it seem] good to the king, let there be search
made in the king's treasure house, which [is] there at Babylon,
whether it be [so], that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to
build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king
send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.
Ecclesiastes 1:16 - I communed with mine own heart, saying,
Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all
[they] that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my
heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
2 Samuel
10:14 - And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians
were fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into the
city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to
Jerusalem.
Ezekiel
17:12 - Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what
these [things mean]? tell [them], Behold, the king of Babylon is
come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof,
and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;
1 Kings
14:21 - And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah.
Rehoboam [was] forty and one years old when he began to reign, and
he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city
which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put
his name there. And his mother's name [was] Naamah an Ammonitess.
2 Kings
23:5 - And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the
kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in
the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem;
them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the
moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
2
Chronicles 34:3 - For in the eighth year of his reign, while
he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his
father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and
Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the
carved images, and the molten images.
Jeremiah
17:26 - And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and
from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of
Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the
south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings,
and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of
the LORD.
Nehemiah
13:19 - And it came to pass, that when the gates of
Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded
that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be
opened till after the sabbath: and [some] of my servants set I at
the gates, [that] there should no burden be brought in on the
sabbath day.
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Table of Contents
Main Menu
- Ancient Assyrian Social Structure
- Ancient Babylonia
- Ancient Canaan During the Time of Joshua
- Ancient History Timeline
- Ancient Oil Lamps
- Antonia Fortress
- Archaeology of Ancient Assyria
- Assyria and Bible Prophecy
- Augustus Caesar
- Background Bible Study
- Bible
- Biblical Geography
- Fallen Empires - Archaeological Discoveries and the Bible
- First Century Jerusalem
- Glossary of Latin Words
- Herod Agrippa I
- Herod Antipas
- Herod the Great
- Herod's Temple
- High Priest's in New Testament Times
- Jewish Literature in New Testament Times
- Library collection
- Map of David's Kingdom
- Map of the Divided Kingdom - Israel and Judah
- Map of the Ministry of Jesus
- Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
- Messianic Prophecy
- Nero Caesar Emperor
- Online Bible Maps
- Paul's First Missionary Journey
- Paul's Second Missionary Journey
- Paul's Third Missionary Journey
- Pontius Pilate
- Questions About the Ancient World
- Tabernacle of Ancient Israel
- Tax Collectors in New Testament Times
- The Babylonian Captivity
- The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser
- The Books of the New Testament
- The Court of the Gentiles
- The Court of the Women in the Temple
- The Destruction of Israel
- The Fall of Judah with Map
- The History Of Rome
- The Incredible Bible
- The Jewish Calendar in Ancient Hebrew History
- The Life of Jesus in Chronological Order
- The Life of Jesus in Harmony
- The Names of God
- The New Testament
- The Old Testament
- The Passion of the Christ
- The Pharisees
- The Sacred Year of Israel in New Testament Times
- The Samaritans
- The Scribes
Ancient Questions
- How did the ancient Greeks and Romans practice medicine and treat illnesses?
- What were the major contributions of ancient Babylon to mathematics and astronomy?
- How did the ancient Persians create and administer their vast empire?
- What were the cultural and artistic achievements of ancient India, particularly during the Gupta Empire?
- How did ancient civilizations like the Incas and Aztecs build their remarkable cities and structures?
- What were the major trade routes and trading practices of the ancient world?
- What was the role of slavery in ancient societies like Rome and Greece?
- How did the ancient Mayans develop their sophisticated calendar system?
- What were the key events and significance of the Battle of Thermopylae in ancient Greece?
- What was life like for women in ancient Rome?
Bible Study Questions
- The Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV): Historical Significance, Translation Methodology, and Lasting Impact
- Exploring the English Standard Version (ESV): Its Aspects, Comparisons, Impact on Biblical Studies, and Church Use
- A Detailed Historical Analysis of Language Updates in the KJ21: Comparison with Other Versions
- A Detailed Historical Analysis of the American Standard Version (ASV): Comparison to the King James Version, Influence on Later Translations, and Evaluation of Strengths and Weaknesses
- A Detailed Historical Analysis of Amplifications in the Amplified Bible (AMP) and Its Comparison to Other Bible Translations
- Detailed Historical Analysis of the Amplified Bible Classic Edition (AMPC): Examples of Amplifications and Comparative Analysis with Other Bible Translations
- Theological Implications of the BRG Bible's Color-Coding System: A Comparative Analysis
- The Christian Standard Bible (CSB): An In-Depth Analysis
- The Geneva Bible: Theological Distinctives, Impact on English Literature, and Role in Bible Translation History
- Exploring the Common English Bible (CEB): Translation Methodology, Church Use, and Comparative Analysis
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