The Jebusites of Canaan's's Jebus and of Israelites

 Nadene Goldfoot                                            

 

 King Abimelech of Shechem (Nablus), an  ancient Canaanite town between Mt. Gerizen and Mt. Ebal,  that became part of Judah through King David. 

 Nablus was in Jordanian territory from 1948 CE-1967 until the Six Day War which Israel won back land Jordan had taken. Palestinians

now live here, and it is to be a main city of their future Palestine.  

Abimelech was also king of  Gerar, as the son of Gideon and his Shechemite concubine, and the biblical account of his reign is described in chapter 9 of the Book of Judges. According to the Bible, he was an unprincipled, ambitious ruler, often engaged in war with his own subjects.

                                     

Abimelech was king of Shechem, a walled city whose history went back to 2000 BCE under Egyptian control as early as that of the 12th dynasty.  The Biblical patriarchs had camped under its walls and it was pillaged by the tribes of Simeon and Levi (Ge. 34).  Later, the city was in the territory of Ephraim, a levitical city and a city of refuge, as well as the center of the House of Joseph.  Joseph is buried in Shechem.  

  Some of us might be carrying a few Jebusite genes.  They were a people who entered Canaan before the Exodus of Israelites from Egypt (1579-1539).  They chose the hill region to live in, mainly around Jerusalem which they called Jebus.  

In the Bible, God ordered the destruction of the Canaanites, but that some cities and people may have survived..  Archaeological data suggests that Canaanite cities were never destroyed or abandoned. Now, 

ancient DNA recovered from five Canaanite skeletons suggests that these people survived to contribute their genes to millions of people living today.

The new samples come from Sidon, a coastal city in Lebanon. Marc

 Haber, a geneticist at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, 

U.K., extracted enough DNA from the ancient skeletons to sequence the whole genomes of five Canaanite individuals, all around 3700 years old.

We will find out more later.  

                                             

Joshua defeated a Jebusite-led coalition, Jerusalem was occupied only in the reign of David when David conquered the city and it became his capital. (II Sam. 5:6-7) The last Jebusite king was apparently King Araunah (II Sam.24:15). The First Book of Chronicles, a later text, renders his name as Ornan.  The word araunah is not a personal name but a title meaning "the lord" in Hurrian and other near eastern languages. In 2 Samuel 24:23, Araunah is referred to as a king: "... Araunah the king gave to the king [i.e., David]".

 At the time of Joshua's invasion the capital of the Jebusites was Jerusalem, called also "Jebus" (Judges xix. 10, 11; II Sam. v. 6), whose king Adoni-zedek organized a confederacy against Joshua. Adoni-zedek was defeated at Beth-horon, and he himself was slaughtered at Makkedah (Josh. x. 1-27); but the Jebusites could not be driven from their mountainous position, and they dwelt at Jerusalem with the children of Judah and Benjamin (Josh. xv. 63; Judges i. 21).

Araunah's property was on Mt. Moriah, the site of Abraham's intended sacrifice of Isaac.  (II Chronicles 3:1). There had been a pestilence in Israel and 70,000 men died from it from the land of the tribe of Dan to the city of Beer-sheba in the Desert, and was about to hit Jerusalem.

                                             

                     David buying the threshing floor

  Gad (Gad (/ɡæd/) was a seer or prophet mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the writings of Jewish historian Josephus. He was one of the personal prophets of King David of Israel and, according to the Talmudic tradition, some of his writings are believed to be included in the Books of Samuel.) came to King David and told him to erect an altar to G-d on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.  Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming across to him, and Araunah went out and prostrated himself to the king, with his face to the ground and asked why the king had come to him, and David replied, "To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to G-d so that the pestilence may cease from the people. Araunah replied  "Let my lord  the king take it and offer whatever is proper in his eyes.  However, David refused the free offer and insisted on buying the land for 50 shekels.  The pestilence stopped.                                                                    

King David ruled from Jerusalem, which was his 2nd capital, the 1st being Hebron where he was for 7 years and 6 months starting at age 30.  Hebron today is only 19 miles from Jerusalem.  David  had moved to Jerusalem. He ruled over Israel and Judah for 33 years.  Hebron today is a Palestinian town.  

When he entered Jerusalem, a Jebusite had said to him, "You shall not enter here unless you remove the blind and the lame," as if to insinuate that he wouldn't be able to enter the city.  David then captured Zion Fortress, which is called the City of David.  This city had been so well fortified that you could not conquer it even if it were guarded only by the blind and the lame.                     

According to the Midrash, the Jebusites alluded to the Patriarchs. Abraham had made a treaty of peace with King Abimelech, a Jebusite ancestor (Genesis 21:23).  Abimelech (/əˈbɪməˌlɛk/; אֲבִימֶלֶךְ 'Ǎḇîmeleḵ) was the king of Shechem and a son of a biblical judge, Gideon. His name can best be interpreted as "my father is king", claiming the inherited right to rule.To commemorate the binding nature of the treaty, the Jebusites set up statues of a blind man, alluding to the blind Isaac (Genesis 27:1), and a cripple, alluding to Jacob (Gen. 32:26), and placed the words of the treaty in the statues' mouths.    

David declared on that day, "Whoever smites the Jebusite and reaches the stronghold, and the blind and the lame, that David detests....Therefore, people will say, The blind and the lame are here;  he shall not enter the house!"  David settled in the fortress and called it, "the City of David."  He built around the city, from the Millo and inward. David had occupied Jerusalem and had made it his capital. Then it was the most important city of Israel; the capital.   

 His reputation became greater, and G-d was with him.

                                             

                        Solomon's Temple , king who died in 920 BCE
  The Jebusites remained in Jerusalem under David and became tributary under Solomon, David's son.  In the course of time, they appear to have been assimilated.  

Centuries later, Shechem was overshadowed  by Samaria, but remained the cult center of the Samaritans.  In the year 72s, Vespasian founded the nearby Neapolis (modern Nablus), which became an important Roman city;  most of its inhabitants remained Samaritans.  

In Crusader days, Shechem, called Naples, was a royal city with a palace and fortress.  

By 1967 it had 44,000 population  and was overwhelmingly Muslim with a tiny Samaritan community left, and has for decades been a center of fanatical Arab nationalism.  A small Jewish community formerly existed there.  Today we see headlines: 

       

Joseph's Tomb restored after October arson attack by Palestinians in Nablus

 Terrorist attack prevented as 1,200 worshippers visit Joseph's Tomb.  

Firefight breaks out between IDF and Palestinian forces in Nablus

Resource: 

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8542-jebusites

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/07/ancient-dna-reveals-fate-mysterious-canaanites

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Tanakh, the Stone Edition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict_in_Hebron

https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/terrorist-attack-prevented-as-1200-worshippers-visit-josephs-tomb-597138

https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/josephs-tomb-restored-after-october-arson-attack-by-palestinian-rioters-431911

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/fire-exchange-between-idf-and-palestinian-forces-in-nablus-report-592115

Disclosed August Plot on Joseph's Tomb Unveils Hatred for Jews

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                         

Joseph's Tomb, 1839 oil  painting by Scotsman David Roberts

Hatred for Jews is total;  hatred for Israelis is secondary.  So we find out such things from a discovered plot to attack the Jewish holy site of Joseph's Tomb with explosives and machine gun the Jewish worshippers.  This attack was uncovered by Shin Bet before  August 25, 2015 when cleared for publication.  Terror attacks have increased.   Their hatred is so strong that they were willing to destroy this holy site, holy even to Muslims,  in order to kill a few Jewish worshippers.                                   

                                                                   

Joseph, favorite son of Jacob who made him a special coat of many colors causing much jealousy among his 10 brothers.  Joseph was Jacob's 11th son, so was the youngest.  Later Benjamin was born, the 12th.  Both had the same mother; Rachel, beloved by Jacob.  Jacob had 2 wives who were sisters and 2 concubines who had given him sons.

Joseph is not an important person in Islamic history, but is for Pashtuns in Afghanistan,  Pakistan and India who claim descendency from Joseph from being from the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel.  However, "Joseph's tomb has been venerated throughout the ages by Jews,Samaritans, Christians and Muslims."  So if it is so venerated so much by Muslims, why would they want to kill Jews praying there and spill blood?  The attackers intended to kill and to destroy this Jewish holy place.  
                                                                             

Joseph, viceroy (representing the pharaoh but  ruling the country of Egypt),  greeting his brothers who had long ago sold him into slavery, who died at age 110.  His body as he requested, was brought home to Shechem for burial.  The story of Joseph is dated back to the 18th to 16th centuries BCE during the Hyksos domination of Egypt. The Hyksos were Semites who overran Egypt after the destruction of  Egypt's Middle Kingdom. They ruled from 1720-1580 BCE when Israelites entered the country and were treated well.  Bondage of Israelites would have happened after the Hyksos were expulsed.  Hyksos, an Egyptian word, means "rulers of the foreign lands."    

                                                                       

Nablus, Samaria

Joseph's Tomb is on the outskirts of  Nablus, formerly called Shechem in Hebrew.  Nablus today has become a large Palestinian Arab city in Samaria, the northern part of Judea and Samaria commonly called the West Bank by many.    All of Shechem was said to be the burial site for Joseph and his sons, Ephriam and Manasseh.  Shechem, or Nablus, just happens to be in the land originally called Israel-now called Samaria.  The Biblical patriarchs camped under its walls and "it was pillaged by two of the 12 sons of Jacob; Simeon and Levi when the land was called Canaan.  It then became part of the territory of Ephraim, a levitical city and a city of refuge, as well as the center of the House of Joseph which is why Joseph is buried here."
                                                                             

 Abimelech, the Philistine king of Gerar who had made a pact of friendship with Abraham, had tried to establish his kingdom at Shechem, while the northern tribes of Israel had broken away from Rehoboam (933-917 BCE) , 1st king of Judah and son of Solomon by Naamah the Ammonite wife, which had split away  and was the southern half of Israel. The Israelites had  camped there when Jeroboam (933-912) an Ephraimite or from the line of Joseph's son, Ephraim, was crowned king of Israel.  

Centuries later, Shechem was populated by Samaritans, who were a mixed people made up of Israelites descended from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh and Cutheans brought in from Assyria, and it remained the cult center of the Samaritans.  The religion of Judaism changed with them and stayed as a primitive form of Judaism except that the whole Bible of the Samaritans is only the Pentateuch, a pre-Masoretic text with Samaritan variants, changing the original places, making Mt. Gerizim the place Moses received the 10 Commandments, etc.
                                                                       

 Nearby, Neapolis was founded by Vespasian (69-79 CE), a Roman Emperor,  which became today's modern Nablus.  The Samaritans living there were living in an important Roman city, governed by Rome.  In 1967 Nablus had 44,000 people including a tiny Samaritan community amid Muslims.  For decades it has been a center of fanatical Arab nationalism.  The small Jewish community that was there has been given over to the Muslims living in Samaria.
                                                                         

Inside Joseph's Tomb 

Joseph's Tomb is a Jewish holy site where Jews come to pray.  They couldn't come until after the 1967 War which Israel won because the land of Samaria had been in Jordan's hands and they wouldn't allow Jews to come and pray there.  The Palestinian Authority have their own PA police in charge of keeping the peace.  They didn't do their job in uncovering the plot.  It was the Israeli security forces who did.  The PA has no record of arresting any terrorists.  In fact, they shelter them.  Remember how the Israelis had to go from house to house in Palestinian territory looking for the killer or killers of the 3 students who had been killed when their Yeshiva was finished for the day?
                                                                         

 
The Israeli security forces, Shin Bet,  arrested 4 terrorists belonging to a cell.  One was Muhamad Damiri, a Palestinian policeman!  Another was Nisim Damiri, an old time member of Tanzim, the armed wing of Fatah.  Of course, we all know that Fatah is headed still by 80 year old Mahmoud Abbas, known to the West as the moderate Arab and the PA's president.  It is only Hamas, the break-off group of Fatah who are labeled by the USA as terrorists.  Also arrested were Yasir Zarukri, Hamas terrorist, and Aduen Nazei, Islamic Jihad terrorist.  It looks like these 4 representatives worked together for a change when the goal was to kill Jews and destroy their holy sites.  They were part of an Islamic Jihad cell run by Mohammed Darwish.
                                                                       

Yasser Arafat, and PMs Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres with Nobel Peace Prize received after accepting Oslo Accords

The 1993 Oslo Accords are over and thus so are the standards set.  We know this because:
1. The Oslo Accords required the PA to apprehend and imprison terrorists.
2. They were obligated to disarm and outlaw terrorist groups.
3. They were to extradite terrorists to Israel.

They haven't done these things and Western nations have not cared as long as it did not affect themselves. Kerry has kept on pounding for a Palestinian state to be created knowing they act according to their own wishes.  .   I bet he'd change his tune if he lived in Israel.

The Peace process is coming up again in conversation with John Kerry bustling himself to Israel at a time of when the Arabs are  going berserk in Jerusalem and trying to knife unsuspecting Jews on the streets and in buses.
                                                                           

Palestine was promised by Balfour Doctrine (November 2, 1917) to Chaim Weizmann from British foreign secretary Arthur James Balfour for the British Government  to become the Jewish Homeland.  Israel is made of 20% of this land.  80% went to Abdullah who was made King of Transjordan-Jordan.  

A peace process  is based on the notion that if Israel surrenders any part of the 20% of their land-what was left for for the Jews to become Israel-to the PA, the PA can be trusted to prevent terrorism from that area.

A Palestinian state must be peaceful and its rulers would combat terrorism.  20 years of PA self-rule has proven otherwise.  Now look at what they are doing.  They are trying to start a 3rd Intifada with Abbas telling his people to act out and knife Jews, with others inciting that they should also carry guns now.  They won't be getting those from Israel, I assure you.

This attack had nothing to do with "occupied territory."  That wasn't their beef.  It was pure out and out hatred for Jews that they have been taught since swaddled babies in their mother's arms, a brainwashed people.  There are all kinds of agencies in Israel trying to bring peace between the groups and working together, but these 4 must have worked hard to bypass them as all those involved in knifing Jews in Jerusalem and Bethlehem and on buses in Israel the past few weeks.  All the while, the head of PA state have instigated their rebellious acts and killings, calling out for them to do so.  It's reminiscent of the days in 1929 of Haj Amin al-Husseini, Sherif of Jerusalem,  who did the same thing.

Resource:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph%27s_Tomb
The Jewish Press, Friday, September 11, 2015, page 10-Capture of Joseph's Tomb Terrorists Exposes Truth About the PA by Stephen M. Flatow; and High Holiday Season or Open Season on Jeews? by Marc Belzberg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespasian
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4694345,00.html