City of David

A southeastern hill (also called Ophel) in the present-day city of Jerusalem. The name originally referred to the old Jebusite fortress that King David captured and made his royal city after moving his capital from Hebron (2 Samuel 5:1–10). It is also called Zion (for example, in 1 Kings 8:1).

David, Solomon, and many of their descendants who ruled over Judah were buried in the City of David (1 Kings 2:10; 11:43). Solomon considered it a holy place because the ark of the Lord was there. Because of this, he moved his non-Israelite wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, out of the City of David and built her a house somewhere else (2 Chronicles 8:11).

After Solomon's reign, the term “City of David” was also used more broadly to describe all of Jerusalem, including the newly built temple area. However, the older part of the city, located below the temple, was still called the “City of David” (Nehemiah 3:15). David’s tomb was near the pool of Siloam and the stairway that went down from the City of David (Nehemiah 3:15–16).

See Jerusalem; Zion.

The town of Bethlehem in the New Testament. Bethlehem was David’s birthplace and home until he went to King Saul’s palace to serve as a musician (1 Samuel 16:16–23). When David became king of Judah, he made Hebron his capital, following the Lord’s instructions (2 Samuel 2:1–11). Bethlehem was also the birthplace of Jesus, a descendant of David (Micah 5:2–4; Luke 2:11).

See also Bethlehem #1.