The word Jerusalem is an anglicized transliteration of various forms of the Hebrew Yerushalaim and Syriac Ūrishlem, the etymology of which is disputed. In a predominantly oral culture, the pronunciation and phonetic spelling of words would naturally vary across multiple geographical regions and generations.
The place name was previously Salem, meaning “peaceful” (Gen. 14:18; Psa. 76:2). Seeing that the area was at one time inhabited by Canaanites (Josh. 10:1-5), one theory is that the designation was derived from the Canaanite deity Shalem (god of the sunset). But as far as documentary evidence is concerned, it was also called Jebus, due to the Jebusites who dwelt there (Josh. 18:28; 19:10; 1 Chron. 11:4),1 so the name Jerusalem could be a combination of the two original monikers, Jebus + Salem.
In the context of promising an inheritance of peaceful rest and security (Deut. 12:10), God through Moses foretold of a particular place chosen to represent the Lord’s abiding presence and to serve as a centralized place of worship (vv. 6-26; cf. 14:23; 15:11-16). To the ancient Jews this was regarded as a possession of peace (cf. Psa. 122:1-9; Luke 19:41-42), thus yaresh (to “possess”) + shalom (“peace”) would be a fitting description.
Mount Moriah, one of the hills upon which the city was built, is where David erected an alter on the threshing floor purchased from Ornan the Jebusite and where Solomon later built the original temple (1 Chron. 21:18-28; 2 Chron. 3:1). Centuries earlier this is where Abraham was instructed to offer his son Isaac on an altar, and when the Lord provided a sacrificial ram, Abraham called the place Yahweh-yireh (Gen. 22:14a), a combination of God’s personal name + yireh (from the verbal rā’â), essentially meaning to “see.”2 The expression, therefore, is literally “Yahweh sees,” though contextually he “sees [to it]” in the sense of providing (cf. vv. 8-13).3 The description was still familiar four centuries later in the time of Moses (“as it is said this day”), the inspired author who also recorded God’s promise of a specific place of worship and quiet rest in which the divine name would abide (Deut. 12:6-26). Accordingly, from a Jewish perspective, the name Jerusalem may very well carry the sense of Yahweh’s provision (yireh) of peace (shalom).
The City of David
After reigning in Hebron seven-and-a-half years, David captured and lived at the Jebusite fortress of Zion, around which Jerusalem was built and where he reigned another thirty-three years (2 Sam. 5:4-7; 1 Chron. 11:4-9). Prior to its extensive expansion, and in addition to his hometown of Bethlehem (Luke 2:4, 11), the new capital was called the City of David (2 Sam. 5:6-10; 6:10, 12, 16; 1 Kings 3:1; 8:1; 9:24; 11:27).
Zion
The southern mountain peak around which the city was built was Mount Zion, at one time separated from Mount Moriah (the Temple Mount) by the Tyropoeon Valley that was later filled. The name Zion came to be applied to the whole city (Psa. 51:18), to the tribe of Judah (Psa. 78:68), and even to the entire nation (Psa. 149:2), most often in prophetic and poetic literature. Depending on textual variation, the name occurs around 154 times in the Old Testament and only seven times in the New Testament.
Other Designations
Jerusalem was also referred to as “the city of God” (Psa. 46:4; 87:3), “the city of truth, the mountain of Yahweh of hosts, the holy mountain” (Zech. 8:2-3), and “the holy city” (Neh. 11:1, 18; Isa. 48:2; 52:1; Dan. 9:24; Matt. 4:5; 27:53). Prophetically it was called Hephzibah (“my delight is in her”) and “sought out, a city not forsaken” (Isa. 62:4, 12).
In pronouncements of impending judgment, it was called “the Valley of Vision” (Isa. 22:1, 5), in contrast to its loftier mountainous environment, and Ariel (Isa. 29:1-7), a metonymy depicting the city as an “alter-hearth” [ariel] (cf. Ezek. 43:15-16) or perhaps a “lion [ari] of God [el].” After judgment the desolate city was sympathetically referred to as “the daughter of Zion” (Lam. 1:6; 2:1, 4, 8, 10, 18; 4:22), “the (virgin) daughter of Judah” (1:15; 2:2, 5, 13), and “the daughter of my people” (2:11; 3:48; 4:3, 6, 10).
Conclusion
While the name Jerusalem is shrouded in some degree of mystery, and a variety of other descriptive terms has been applied to the city, the church the Lord built here two millennia ago, having spread throughout the world, is now God’s dwelling place on earth and spiritual habitat of his people. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven …” (Heb. 12:22-23a).
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 The Jebusites descended from Noah’s son Ham and grandson Canaan (Gen. 10:16) and inhabited the southern region of the land of Canaan.
2 Francis Brown, ed., The New Brown–Driver–Briggs–Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon (Lafayette, IN: Associated Publishers and Authors, 1980): 906-908. Cf. also the Jubilee Bible 2000, and the marginal notes of ASV, ESV, NASB, NET, N/RSV.
3 Complete Jewish Bible and ISV footnote. The final words of Gen. 22:14 are somewhat ambiguous as to whether Yahweh “was seen” (LXX) or “is seen” (CJB) or “will be seen” (RSVn.). The tension between the active sense of Yahweh-yireh (“Yahweh sees”) and the passive sense of Yahweh yērā’eh (“Yahweh is seen”) allows for a fuller expression in that Yahweh is seen or revealed through what he provides, thus “it shall be seen” (KJV), or “it shall be provided” (ASV, ESV, NKJV).
Related Posts: Journey Through Bible Lands: Israel (Part 7)
Image credit: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/13389
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