Did David Rename Zion - Davidtown?

I Chronicles.11.4

Who was here before us? What became of native and indigenous populations taken over by new regimes? Reality is more complex as it turns out and In recent years there is much more respectful and careful consideration and acknowledgment of loss, lore and legacies of people who were part of sacred lands for generations before colonial takeovers.

Some of the most bitter struggles on the planet right now, including in Israel and Palestine, pivot around these age-old tensions and struggles over stories not told and over resources not shared.

That’s what is at the core of today’s chapter in Chronicles.

One of the oldest living cities in the world bears witness to these ongoing narratives of native shifts. This holy city has gone through many names and owners, still today struggling to honor its heritages and protect those living within and outside its walls, rebuilt again and again.

What’s the hidden history of Jerusalem? What don’t we know about its layers? How and why is only one specific and carefully curated aspect of its story mentioned in today’s chapter of Chronicles?

In this case -- it’s all about David, the hero of this book and the purpose of its narrative. According to this text it was he who conquered Jerusalem- formerly known as Yebus - from the local Yebusites, seven years into his reign, renaming it - or parts of it - ‘The City of David’ and moving his capital there.

But even within the bible itself this version encounters alternative versions.

Was it David who took it over or did that happen earlier - if at all?

We also don’t know much about the people whose home this was before the Judeans, what their fates were, and how their legacy became - or not - part of what is now the Judaic story.

Here’s how this chapter of Chronicles tells us the story - it begins right after David is crowned as the new king by the elders of Israel, in Hebron:

וַיֵּ֨לֶךְ דָּוִ֧יד וְכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל יְרוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם הִ֣יא יְב֑וּס וְשָׁם֙ הַיְבוּסִ֔י יֹשְׁבֵ֖י הָאָֽרֶץ׃ וַיֹּ֨אמְר֜וּ יֹשְׁבֵ֤י יְבוּס֙ לְדָוִ֔יד לֹ֥א תָב֖וֹא הֵ֑נָּה וַיִּלְכֹּ֤ד דָּוִיד֙ אֶת־מְצֻדַ֣ת צִיּ֔וֹן הִ֖יא עִ֥יר דָּוִֽיד׃

David and all Israel then set out for Jerusalem, that is Jebus, where the Jebusite inhabitants of the land lived.

David was told by the inhabitants of Jebus, “You will never get in here!” But David captured the stronghold of Zion; it is now the City of David.

I Chronicles.11.4

Just two lines give us the story of conquest, name change, and power shift. This is the start of the Jewish claim on the holy city.

It’s also telling us that the name of the city was also Zion - that was its central citadel. And that means this loaded word was not originally Judean. Interesting. Especially right now.

The rest of the chapter is dedicated to a long list that names each of David’s warriors, and some of their heroic deeds.

But who were the Jebusites that these warriors fought against and displaced - or not?

Chronicles, as well as the rest of the biblical accounts in the books of Joshua, Judges and Samuel that tell us this version of this shift don’t contain much information. Modern scholars don’t have too much to work with either, although archeology has yielded some impressive findings that attest to the Jebusite urban strength. The assumption is that they were part of the people of Canaan, with a cultural heritage and claims to the land that go at least a few hundreds years before David’s takeover.

There are some theories that suggest that they didn’t leave the city when David took over. The bible contains a tradition that Araunah, one of their leaders, perhaps their king, sold David his threshing floor on the top of the central hill - and it will become the site for the temple. There’s probably much more to this story but it is an indication of the past that still has hold on this contentious site.

There is also the debated "Jebusite hypothesis", suggesting that the Jebusites persisted as inhabitants of Jerusalem and comprised an important faction in the Kingdom of Judah, including such notables as Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Bathsheba, the queen and mother of the next monarch, Solomon.

The question of the original locals and their fate and/or integration into the new reality of Judah raised other questions regarding the conquest - and why David chose this hillstop as his new central town.

A verse in the book of Joshua, chapter 15:6, challenges the version of Chronicles - suggesting that it was not so swift, and that David and his tribesmen from Judah were not initially able to conquer the well-fortified stronghold of the Jebusites or drive the natives away:

“ But the people of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so the Jebusites live with the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.”

But there’s another version of this story - in which it’s not the warriors of Judah who try to settle the city - but the warriors of Benjamin. That version can be found in the first chapter of the book of Judges. It’s exactly the same as the verse in Joshua - other than the name of the conquering tribe:

“But the Benjaminites did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived in Jerusalem among the Benjaminites to this day”

So who took over Jerusalem? And why are there different versions (including others not mentioned here?)

.

Dr. Rabbi Zev Farber goes down this fascinating and politically charged rabbit hole in this article suggesting that

“ the traditions can best be understood as reflecting ideological rather than historical concerns…likely tied to a polemical contest between Judah and Benjamin, that seems to have spanned both First and early Second Temple periods, about which tribe was the rightfully dominant tribe.”

Jerusalem sits right in the middle of the two territories of Judah and Benjamin - south and north. Whatever the origin story of this ancient city was about - David wanted to establish a city that spans both northern and southern tribes - and that’s why this location was so coveted.

That’s why it is still so coveted and controversial - right now.

There’s more to dig up about this history - the lesser known, the hidden and the hurt, the rivalry and the surprising secrets.

Chronicles continues to deliver its ideological agenda celebrating the Davidic pride - but leaving us enough hints to know that there is much more here to dig up and many more narratives that perhaps one day will be celebrated, honored and reclaimed as part of our people’s history and the origin of this sacred city with its many secrets and layers — named for peace.

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