Bible Strands
2 Samuel 5:9
So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes David’s actions immediately after the capture of the Jebusite stronghold, following his military proclamation and preceding the note of his increasing prominence.
The words — וַ/יֵּ֤שֶׁב (va/i.Ye.shev) literally means “and he dwelt” or “and he took up residence,” and בַּ/מְּצֻדָ֔ה (ba./me.tzu.Dah) translates as “in the fortress” or “stronghold.”
The thread — The naming and fortification of this location appears in 2 Samuel 5:7 as the initial seizure, and resurfaces in 1 Kings 9:15 and 1 Kings 9:24 as the foundational site for Solomon’s temple works and palace projects.
Why it lands — The passage records the physical consolidation of David’s rule through habitation and construction, establishing the geographic and political center from which the narrative of his divinely supported expansion proceeds.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 9:15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon imposed to build the house of the LORD, his own palace, the supporting terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
- 1 Kings 9:24 As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the supporting terraces.
- 2 Samuel 5:7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).
- 1 Kings 11:27 and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.
- 2 Chronicles 32:5 Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David, and he produced an abundance of weapons and shields.
- Judges 9:20 But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”
- 1 Chronicles 11:8 He built up the city around it, from the supporting terraces to the surrounding wall, while Joab restored the rest of the city.
- Judges 9:6 Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo gathered beside the oak at the pillar in Shechem and proceeded to make Abimelech their king.