Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (or Jebus, as it used to be called), where the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of the land, were living.
Parallel translations
- WEB David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (also called Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there.
- KJV And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land.
- BSB Then David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus), where the Jebusites inhabited the land.
- ESV And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is, Jebus, where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land.
- NKJV And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus, where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land.
- NASB Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David and all Israel marched on Jerusalem, then a Jebusite city called Jebus. This opens the account of capturing the city that would become Israel's capital.
Overview
Jerusalem sat on the border of the tribes and had remained in Canaanite (Jebusite) hands since Joshua's day. By taking it as a neutral, central site, David could unite the tribes around a capital belonging to no single one. Jerusalem becomes the city of God, the place of the temple and ultimately the setting of Christ's death and resurrection, and a picture of the heavenly Jerusalem to come.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Judg 1:21The children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
- Josh 15:8The border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom to the side of the Jebusite (also called Jerusalem) southward; and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the farthest part of the valley of Rephaim northward.
- Josh 15:63As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah couldn’t drive them out; but the Jebusites live with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.
- Gen 15:21the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
- 1 Chr 11:5The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion. The same is David’s city.
- Gen 10:16the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,
- Exod 3:17and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
- Judg 19:10–12But the man wouldn’t stay that night, but he rose up and departed, and toward Jebus (also called Jerusalem). With him were a couple of saddled donkeys. His concubine also was with him.
- 2 Sam 5:6–10The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, “The blind and the lame will keep you out of here”; thinking, “David can’t come in here.”
- Josh 18:28Zelah, Eleph, the Jebusite (also called Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The genealogies and the everlasting covenant with David trace the single thread of promise running through the generations straight to the Christ in whom the line reaches its goal.
How 1 Chronicles 11:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.