'Fortified' in the Bible

Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.

but we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

and Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and sheepfolds for sheep.

Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there.”’

All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates and bars, besides a great many unwalled towns.

“Hear, O Israel! You are crossing over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, great cities fortified to heaven,

It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the Lord your God has given you.

It came about when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished slaying them with a very great slaughter, until they were destroyed, and the survivors who remained of them had entered the fortified cities,

Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken.”

The border turned to Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre; then the border turned to Hosah, and it ended at the sea by the region of Achzib.

The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer and Hammath, Rakkath and Chinnereth,

and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages. The large stone on which they set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; take your lord’s servants and pursue him, so that he does not find for himself fortified cities and escape from our sight.”

Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.

Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’”

“Now, when this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons are with you, as well as the chariots and horses and a fortified city and the weapons,

The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the Lord their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.

He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.

‘Have you not heard?Long ago I did it;From ancient times I planned it.Now I have brought it to pass,That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

He also built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates and bars;

Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin.

He acted wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them food in abundance. And he sought many wives for them.

He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was undisturbed, and there was no one at war with him during those years, because the Lord had given him rest.

In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.

Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he fortified Geba and Mizpah.

He placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim which Asa his father had captured.

These are they who served the king, apart from those whom the king put in the fortified cities through all Judah.

He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city.

Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold and precious things, with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the corner buttress and fortified them.

After these acts of faithfulness Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and thought to break into them for himself.

Now after this he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the Fish Gate; and he encircled the Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles.

“They captured fortified cities and a fertile land.They took possession of houses full of every good thing,Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,Fruit trees in abundance.So they ate, were filled and grew fat,And reveled in Your great goodness.

Against every high tower,Against every fortified wall,

Hyenas will howl in their fortified towersAnd jackals in their luxurious palaces.Her fateful time also will soon comeAnd her days will not be prolonged.

“The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,And sovereignty from DamascusAnd the remnant of Aram;They will be like the glory of the sons of Israel,”Declares the Lord of hosts.

For You have made a city into a heap,A fortified city into a ruin;A palace of strangers is a city no more,It will never be rebuilt.

For the fortified city is isolated,A homestead forlorn and forsaken like the desert;There the calf will graze,And there it will lie down and feed on its branches.

Thorns will come up in its fortified towers,Nettles and thistles in its fortified cities;It will also be a haunt of jackalsAnd an abode of ostriches.

Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.

“Have you not heard?Long ago I did it,From ancient times I planned it.Now I have brought it to pass,That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land.

Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,“Blow the trumpet in the land;Cry aloud and say,‘Assemble yourselves, and let us goInto the fortified cities.’

“They will devour your harvest and your food;They will devour your sons and your daughters;They will devour your flocks and your herds;They will devour your vines and your fig trees;They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.

Why are we sitting still?Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified citiesAnd let us perish there,Because the Lord our God has doomed usAnd given us poisoned water to drink,For we have sinned against the Lord.

“Then I will make you to this peopleA fortified wall of bronze;And though they fight against you,They will not prevail over you;For I am with you to save youAnd deliver you,” declares the Lord.

when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, Lachish and Azekah, for they alone remained as fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

“I will set fire to the wall of Damascus,And it will devour the fortified towers of Ben-hadad.”

‘He destroyed their fortified towersAnd laid waste their cities;And the land and its fullness were appalledBecause of the sound of his roaring.

You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’

For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces;And Judah has multiplied fortified cities,But I will send a fire on its cities that it may consume its palatial dwellings.

A day of trumpet and battle cryAgainst the fortified citiesAnd the high corner towers.