'City' in the Bible

When he held out his hand, the men waiting in ambush rose up quickly from their place and attacked. They entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.

When the men of Ai turned around, they saw the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers.

When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the city was going up in smoke, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai.

At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle. The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees.

But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in accordance with the Lord's orders to Joshua.

He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening. At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree. They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and erected over it a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day).

All Jerusalem was terrified because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai and all its men were warriors.

No city made peace with the Israelites (except the Hivites living in Gibeon); they had to conquer all of them,

King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon and ruled from Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley) -- including the city in the middle of the valley and half of Gilead -- all the way to the Jabbok Valley bordering Ammonite territory.

Their territory started from Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley), included the city in the middle of the valley, the whole plain of Medeba as far as Dibon,

Their territory started at Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley) and included the city in the middle of the valley, the whole plain of Medeba,

Nibshan, the city of Salt, and En Gedi -- a total of six cities and their towns.

It then turned on the west side southward from the hill near Beth Horon on the south and extended to Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a city belonging to the tribe of Judah. This is the western border.

Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath -- a total of fourteen cities and their towns. This was the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans.

It then turned toward Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre, turned to Hosah, and ended at the sea near Hebel, Aczib,

As the Lord had instructed, they gave him the city he requested -- Timnath Serah in the Ephraimite hill country. He built up the city and lived in it.

The one who committed manslaughter should escape to one of these cities, stand at the entrance of the city gate, and present his case to the leaders of that city. They should then bring him into the city, give him a place to stay, and let him live there.

He must remain in that city until his case is decided by the assembly and the high priest dies. Then the one who committed manslaughter may return home to the city from which he escaped."

So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they assigned Hebron (a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter), Libnah,

They assigned them Shechem (a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter) in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer,

They assigned to the Gershonite clans of the Levites the following cities: from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan (a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter) and Beeshtarah, along with the grazing areas of each -- a total of two cities;

from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter), Hammoth Dor, and Kartan, along with the grazing areas of each -- a total of three cities.

from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead (a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter), Mahanaim,

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They put the sword to it and set the city on fire.

Now the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the City of Date Palm Trees to Arad in the desert of Judah, located in the Negev. They went and lived with the people of Judah.

The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeon and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They wiped out Zephath. So people now call the city Hormah.

the spies spotted a man leaving the city. They said to him, "If you show us a secret entrance into the city, we will reward you."

He showed them a secret entrance into the city, and they put the city to the sword. But they let the man and his extended family leave safely.

He moved to Hittite country and built a city. He named it Luz, and it has kept that name to this very day.

Eglon formed alliances with the Ammonites and Amalekites. He came and defeated Israel, and they seized the City of Date Palm Trees.

God chose new leaders, then fighters appeared in the city gates; but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, among forty military units in Israel.

Hear the sound of those who divide the sheep among the watering places; there they tell of the Lord's victorious deeds, the victorious deeds of his warriors in Israel. Then the Lord's people went down to the city gates --

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father's family and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime.

When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar.

The men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son, so we can execute him! He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole."

He captured a young man from Succoth and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of Succoth's officials and city leaders -- seventy-seven men in all.

He seized the leaders of the city, along with some desert thorns and briers; he then "threshed" the men of Succoth with them.

When Zebul, the city commissioner, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was furious.

He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, reporting, "Beware! Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you.

Now, come up at night with your men and set an ambush in the field outside the city.

In the morning at sunrise quickly attack the city. When he and his men come out to fight you, do what you can to him."

he took his men and divided them into three units and set an ambush in the field. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he attacked and struck them down.

Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled the city and spread salt over it.

There was a fortified tower in the center of the city, so all the men and women, as well as the city's leaders, ran into it and locked the entrance. Then they went up to the roof of the tower.

Jephthah led Israel for six years; then he died and was buried in his city in Gilead.

On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him, "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?" He said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!"

The Gazites were told, "Samson has come here!" So they surrounded the town and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. They relaxed all night, thinking, "He will not leave until morning comes; then we will kill him!"

Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left. He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron.

Now the Danites took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city.

No one came to the rescue because the city was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and occupied it.

When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late and the servant said to his master, "Come on, let's stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night in it."

But his master said to him, "We should not stop at a foreign city where non-Israelites live. We will travel on to Gibeah."

They stopped there and decided to spend the night in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night.

They were having a good time, when suddenly some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, surrounded the house and kept beating on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, "Send out the man who came to visit you so we can have sex with him."

Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will attack the city as the lot dictates.

So all the men of Israel gathered together at the city as allies.

The Benjaminites attacked the army, leaving the city unguarded. They began to strike down their enemy just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel, the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down about thirty Israelites.

Then the Benjaminites said, "They are defeated just as before." But the Israelites said, "Let's retreat and lure them away from the city into the main roads."

The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash to Gibeah. They attacked and put the sword to the entire city.

The Israelites and the men hiding in ambush had arranged a signal. When the men hiding in ambush sent up a smoke signal from the city,

But when the signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky.

The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path.

Year after year this man would go up from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh. It was there that the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, served as the Lord's priests.

When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair watching by the side of the road, for he was very worried about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, the whole city cried out.

But after it had been moved the Lord attacked that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city with sores.

So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and said, "Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won't kill us and our people!" The terror of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there.

The Lord said to Samuel, "Do as they say and install a king over them." Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Each of you go back to his own city."

Saul proceeded to the city of Amalek, where he set an ambush in the wadi.

Samuel did what the Lord told him. When he arrived in Bethlehem, the elders of the city were afraid to meet him. They said, "Do you come in peace?"

If your father happens to miss me, you should say, 'David urgently requested me to let him go to his city Bethlehem, for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.'

He said, 'Permit me to go, for we are having a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother urged me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go to see my brothers.' For that reason he has not come to the king's table."

Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him. He said to him, "Go, take these things back to the city."

Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn together in the name of the Lord saying, 'The Lord will be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.'"Then David got up and left, while Jonathan went back to the city.

As for Nob, the city of the priests, he struck down with the sword men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep -- all with the sword.

When Saul was told that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, "God has delivered him into my hand, for he has boxed himself into a corner by entering a city with two barred gates."

Then David said, "O Lord God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is planning to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me.

David said to Achish, "If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the country towns so that I can live there. Why should your servant settle in the royal city with you?"

When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been taken captive.

They placed Saul's armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his corpse on the city wall of Beth Shan.

all their warriors set out and traveled throughout the night. They took Saul's corpse and the corpses of his sons from the city wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them.

But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the city of David).

So David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. David built all around it, from the terrace inwards.

So David was no longer willing to bring the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. David left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

David was told, "The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God." So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David.

As the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Saul's daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him.

the Ammonite officials said to their lord Hanun, "Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? No, David has sent his servants to you to get information about the city and spy on it so they can overthrow it!"

The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the men from Aram Zobah, Rehob, Ish-tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

When the Ammonites saw the Arameans flee, they fled before his brother Abishai and went into the city. Joab withdrew from fighting the Ammonites and returned to Jerusalem.

So as Joab kept watch on the city, he stationed Uriah at the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were.

When the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, some of David's soldiers fell in battle. Uriah the Hittite also died.

if the king becomes angry and asks you, 'Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Didn't you realize they would shoot from the wall?

The messenger said to David, "The men overpowered us and attacked us in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way to the door of the city gate.

David said to the messenger, "Tell Joab, 'Don't let this thing upset you. There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down. Press the battle against the city and conquer it.' Encourage him with these words."

So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to David, Nathan said, "There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

So Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal city.

Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, "I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city.

So now assemble the rest of the army and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city and it will be named for me."

He took the crown of their king from his head -- it was gold, weighed about seventy-five pounds, and held a precious stone -- and it was placed on David's head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder.

Now Absalom used to get up early and stand beside the road that led to the city gate. Whenever anyone came by who had a complaint to bring to the king for arbitration, Absalom would call out to him, "What city are you from?" The person would answer, "I, your servant, am from one of the tribes of Israel."

While he was offering sacrifices, Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's adviser, to come from his city, Giloh. The conspiracy was gaining momentum, and the people were starting to side with Absalom.