'City' in the Bible

When the king of Ai saw [this], the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out to meet Israel for battle--he and all his army--to the meeting place before the Arabah. He did not know that [there was] an ambush for him behind the city.

All of the people who [were] in the city were called to pursue after them. As they pursued after Joshua, they were drawn away from the city.

Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel; they left the city open and pursued after Israel.

And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Stretch out the sword that is in your hand to Ai, because I will give it into your hand." And Joshua stretched out the sword that was in his hand to the city.

The moment he stretched out his hand, those in the ambush stood up quickly from their place and ran. And they went [into] the city and captured it, quickly setting the city ablaze with fire.

Then the men of Ai looked behind them, and they saw smoke from the city rising to the sky; {they had no power to flee this way or that}, and the people fleeing the wilderness turned around to the pursuers.

And Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city was rising; they returned and struck down the men of Ai.

Then the others from the city came out to meet them, {and they found themselves surrounded by Israel}, {some on one side, and others on the other side}. And they struck them down until no survivor or fugitive [was] left.

Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of Yahweh that Joshua commanded.

The king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the time of evening, and as the sun went down Joshua commanded [them], and they brought down his dead body from the tree. Then they threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and they raised over it a great heap of stones [that remains] to this day.

he became very afraid because Gibeon [was] a very large city, {like one of the royal cities}, and because it [was] larger than Ai, and all its men [were] mighty warriors.

There was not a city that made peace with the {Israelites} besides the Hivites and the inhabitants of Gibeon--{all were taken in battle}.

from Aroer, which [is] on the edge of the wadi of Arnon, and the city which [is] in the middle of the wadi, and all the plateau [from] Medeba up to Dibon;

Their territory was from Aroer, which [was] on the edge of the wadi of Arnon, and the city that [is] in the middle of the valley, and all the plateau by Medeba;

Nibshan, the city of Salt, and En Gedi; six cities and their villages.

then the border turns [to] Ramah, and up to the fortified city of Tyre, [where] the border turns [to] Hosah; {it ends} at the sea, from Hebel to Aczib.

{According to the commandment of Yahweh}, they gave him the city that he requested, Timnath Serah, in the hill country of Ephraim, and he rebuilt the city and settled in it.

The killer will flee to one of these cities, stand [at] the entrance of the gate of the city, and {state his case to the elders of that city}; and they will take him into the city and give him a place, and he will dwell among them.

The killer will stay in that city until he stands before the congregation for the trial, until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then {the killer will return} to his city and to his house, to the city from which he fled.'"

But the field of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his property.

To the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge [for] the killer, and its pasturelands, Libnah and its pasturelands,

They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge [for] the killer, and its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer and its pasturelands,

To the descendants of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the killer, and its pasturelands, and Eshtarah and its pasturelands; two cities.

From the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the killer, and its pasturelands, Hammoth Dor and its pasturelands, and Kartan and its pasturelands; three cities.

From the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the killer, and its pasturelands, Mahanaim and its pasturelands,

The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, {put it to the sword}, and {set the city on fire}.

The descendants of Hobab [the] Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the descendants of Judah from the city of palms [into] the wilderness of Judah, which [is] in [the] Negev [near] Arad. And they went and settled with the people.

And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites inhabiting Zephath; they utterly destroyed it, so he called the name of the city Hormah.

And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (the former name of the city was Luz).

And when the spies saw a man leaving the city, they said to him, "Please show us the entrance of the city, and we will deal kindly with you."

So he showed them the entrance of the city, and they struck the city with {the edge of the sword}, but they let go the man and all his family.

And the man went [to] the land of the Hittites, and he built a city and named it Luz; this [is] its name to this day.

He gathered to himself the {Ammonites and Amalekites}, and he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palms.

Gideon took ten men from his servants, and he did just as Yahweh told him; and because he was too afraid of his {father's family} and the men of the city to do [it during] the day, he did [it during] night.

When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherah that [was] beside it [were] cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.

And the men of the city said to Jehoash, "Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that [was] beside it."

He took the elders of the city and [the] thorn bushes and briers of the wilderness, and {he trampled} the men of Succoth with them.

He broke down the tower of Penuel, and he killed the men of the city.

When Zebul the commander of the city heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, {he became angry},

and he sent messengers to Abimelech in Tormah, saying, "Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his relatives [are] coming to Shechem, and they [are] stirring up the city against you.

And in the morning at sunrise, get up and rush the city; and look, when he and the troops who [are] with him come out to you, {you must act according to whatever opportunity offers itself}.

Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood [at] the entrance of the city gate, and Abimelech and the army that [was] with him got up from the ambush.

so he took the army and divided them into three divisions, and he laid an ambush in the field. And he saw the people [were] coming out from the city, and he arose against them and killed them.

Then Abimelech and the divisions that [were] with him dashed out and stood [at] the entrance of the city gate, and the two divisions dashed out against all who [were] in the field, and they killed them.

Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he captured the city and killed the people that [were] in it; then he broke down the city and sowed it [with] salt.

But there was a strong tower in the middle of the city, and all the men, women, and lords of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up to the roof of the tower.

The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went [down], "What [is] sweeter than honey? What [is] stronger than a lion?" And he said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle."

The Gazites [were told], "Samson has come here," so they surrounded [the place] and lay in ambush for him all night at the city gate. They kept silent all night, saying, "[We will wait] until the morning light, and then we will kill him."

But Samson lay until the middle of the night; he got up in the middle of the night and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two door posts, tore them loose with the bar, put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is {in front of} Hebron.

And they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and they came to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and {they put them to the sword} and burned the city with fire.

There was no deliverer, because it [was] far from Sidon, and {they had had no dealings with anyone}. It [was] in the valley that belonged to Beth-rehob, and they rebuilt the city and lived in it.

And they called the name of the city Dan, after Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the former name of the city [was] Laish.

They [were] near Jebus, and {the day was far spent}, and the servant said to his master, "Please, come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and let us spend the night in it."

But his master said to him, "We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners, who [are] not from the {Israelites}; we will cross over up to Gibeah."

And they turned aside there to enter [and] to spend the night at Gibeah. And they went and sat in the open square of the city, but no one {took them in to spend the night}.

And the old man raised his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city, and he said, "Where are you going, and from where do you come?"

While {they were enjoying themselves}, behold, the men of the city, {the perverse lot}, surrounded the house, pounding on the door. And they said to the old man, the owner of the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so that {we may have sex with him}."

And all the men of Israel were gathered to the city as one body united.

The descendants of Benjamin went out to meet the troops, and they lured [them] away from the city and began to inflict casualties on the troops as before, on the main road, one of which goes up [to] Bethel, the other to Gibeah; [and] in the field [there were] about thirty men of Israel.

And the descendants of Benjamin thought, "They [are] being defeated before us {as previously}," and the {Israelites} said, "Let us flee and lure them away from the city to the main roads."

And the ambush came quickly and advanced against Gibeah, and it {put the whole city to the sword}.

Now the appointed time for the men of Israel with the ambush was that they sent up for them a great amount of smoke from the city.

And the cloud of smoke began to go up from the city in a column of smoke, and Benjamin turned backward, and behold, the whole city was going up {in smoke}!

And the men of Israel returned to the descendants of Benjamin, and they put them to {the edge of the sword}, both the inhabitants of city and [the] animals that were found; they also set on fire all the cities that they found.

And he said, "Bring the cloak that [is] on you and {hold it out}." And she held it out and he measured six [measures of] barley and put it on her [cloak]. Then she went [into] the city.

And Boaz had gone up [to] the [city] gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken [was] passing by. And he said, "Come over here to sit, {friend}." And he came over and sat.

And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat.

When he came, {there was} Eli sitting on his chair {by the side of the road} watching, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. Now the man had come {to give his report} in the city, and all the city cried out.

After they moved it, the hand of Yahweh was against the city, causing a very great confusion, and he struck the men of the city {from the youngest to the oldest}, causing tumors to break out on them.

So they sent and gathered all the rulers of [the] Philistines, and they said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its place, so that it will not kill us and our people." For a {deadly confusion} was throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

The men who did not die were struck with [the] tumors, so that the cry of the city for help went up [to] heaven.

And the gold mice [according to] the number of all the cities of [the] Philistines, for their five rulers, from [the] fortified city to the unwalled village of the open country as far as the great stone, {where they set} the ark of Yahweh until this day in the field of Joshua [of] Beth Shemesh.

Then Saul came up to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the wadi.

So Samuel did what Yahweh said. He came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city came trembling to meet him. They said, "{Have you come in peace}?"

If your father misses me at all, then you must say, 'David earnestly asked from me to run to Bethlehem his city, for {the yearly sacrifice} [is] there for all the clan.'

He said, 'Send me away, please, for our clan sacrifice [is] in the city, and my brother commanded me [to be present]. So then, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away and see my brothers.' Therefore he has not come to the table of the king."

Jonathan gave his weapons to his servant and said to him, "Go, bring [them] to the city."

Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, because we have sworn, the two of us, [an oath] in the name of Yahweh, saying, "Yahweh will be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring forever." Then he got up and left, and Jonathan went into the city.

And {he put to the sword} Nob, the city of the priests, from man to woman, from child to infant, and ox and donkey and sheep; [all] {to the sword}.

When it was told to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, Saul said, "God {has given him} into my hand, because he has shut himself in by going into a city [with] {two barred gates}.

And David said, "O Yahweh, God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul [is] seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me.

Then David said to Achish, "Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, then let them give me a place in one of the {country towns} that I can live there. Why should your servant live in {the royal city} with you?"

(Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him, and they had buried him in Ramah, his [own] city. And Saul had expelled the mediums and the soothsayers from the land.)

When David and his men came to the city, {they saw}, and [it] was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.

David captured the fortress of Zion, the city of David.

David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around [it] from the Millo and {inward}.

However, David [was] not willing to bring the ark of Yahweh to himself, to the city of David, so David caused it to turn [to] the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

It [was] told to King David, "Yahweh has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and all that [is] his because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with jubilation.

It happened that when the ark of Yahweh came [into] the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked down through the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before Yahweh, and she despised him in her heart.

But the commanders of the {Ammonites} said to Hanun their master, "{In your opinion}, [is] David honoring your father because he has sent condolences to you? [Is] it not in order to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it [that] David sent his servants to you?"

When the {Ammonites} saw that Aram had fled, they fled from before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from [fighting] against the {Ammonites} and came to Jerusalem.

{When Joab was besieging} the city, he put Uriah toward the place which he knew {there were valiant warriors}.

The men of the city came out and fought with Joab. Some from the army from the servants of David fell; Uriah the Hittite also died.

if the anger of the king rises and he says to you, 'Why did you go near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from [atop] the wall?

Then David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab, '{Do not feel badly about this matter}; {now one and then another} the sword will devour. Intensify your attack on the city and overthrow it.'" And he encouraged him.

So Yahweh sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said, "Two men were in a certain city; one [was] rich and the other [was] poor.

And Joab fought against Rabbah of the {Ammonites}, and he captured {the royal city}.

Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, "We have fought against Rabbah, and we captured the city of the waters.

So then, gather the remainder of the army and encamp against the city and capture it, lest I capture the city and my name be proclaimed over it."

He took the crown of their king from his head. (Now its weight [was] a talent of gold, and there [was] a precious stone [in it] and it [was] put on David's head.) He brought out the plunder of the city {in great abundance}.