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Thursday, March 31, 2016

Who Was Jerusalem Allotted To?

But the tribe of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, who lived in the city of Jerusalem, so the Jebusites live there among the people of Judah to this day. [Joshua 15.63]

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it, killing all its people and setting the city on fire. [Judges 1.8]

The tribe of Benjamin, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the people of Benjamin. [Judges 1.21]

Okay, "uncle!" So, was Jerusalem conquered or not? AND, who did or did not conquer it?

There are some serious unknowns (by me anyway) about the facts surrounding Jerusalem! Anyone who reads the three verses listed above will agree that there is some explaining to do!

It is difficult to comprehend that Judah could not drive out the Jebusites as told by Joshua 15.63, but then captured the city and burned it according to Judges 1.8 (reportedly after the death of Joshua (Judges 1.1)). 

Further confusion is added when Judges 1.21 states that Benjamin failed to conquer Jerusalem (namely the Jebusites there - but wait, weren't they all killed in 1.8???) and then Joshua's death is reported AGAIN in Judges 2.8!

The question also begs to be asked. "who's city was Jerusalem anyway (according to the allotments made to each of Israel's tribes in the book of Joshua)? Although Jerusalem is not specifically mentioned in Joshua 15 as being allotted to Judah, it is mentioned (as stated above in Joshua 15.63) that Judah was unsuccessful in driving out the Jebusites in Jerusalem (as if Jerusalem was allotted to Judah).

In contrast, Joshua 18,28 specifies that "the Jebusite town (that is, Jerusalem)" was allotted to Benjamin.

I remain objective that there could be circumstances left out of the narratives referenced here that would perfectly sort this all out. But for this moment, I am unaware of those potential circumstances.

Father, please help me to better understand how to reconcile the facts surrounding Jerusalem (as the references noted here do not seem to agree).

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