Jerusalem In The Old Testament

Today Jerusalem is considered a holy site for three of the world's foremost religions. In all stages of the Hebrew Bible Jerusalem and its surrounding features are repeatedly mentioned as the establishing it as the holy center for Judaism, Islam and Christianity. I intend to give three main examples of Jerusalem in the Old Testament and illustrate through these examples why Jerusalem is so important to the people of these three faiths. The first mention of something relating to Jerusalem in the Bible is in Genesis 2. A general description of Eden is being made when the Bible mentions the rivers of Eden. “The name of the second river is Gihon”(NRSV, Genesis 2-13). The main water source for Jerusalem was the Gihon Spring. The first thing this does is acknowledge something around the city of Jerusalem. In the first book of the Bible a piece of Jerusalem is described, this foreshadows the city's importance to the faithful. This also shows that part of Eden is also a part of Jerusalem making that piece of Jerusalem Holy. In the first book of the Bible something in the vicinity of the great city is already shown as a sacred place, thus giving potential for the whole city to be considered holy. The references to the Gihon in Genesis 2 show not only that Jerusalem is important but that it already has a case to be …show more content…
Psalm 48 adds on to the ideas I presented in when talking about 1 Samuel 24. Psalm 48 describes God’s presence in the city of Jerusalem and his protection of the city. This Psalm shows that God himself is present in the city of Jerusalem. This is not just a Hierophany but a Theophony as it explicitly mentions that god is in the city and is protecting the city. This Theophony contributes to Eliade’s idea on how a place becomes sacred. Because a theophony and numerous hierophanies occurred in Jerusalem and numerous shrines were built to honor them the city of Jerusalem is