Hebron
Scripture first
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Abraham buys the cave of Machpelah at Hebron and buries Sarah, the first piece of the promised land his family owns.
Hebron, over 900 metres up in the Judah hills, was the patriarchs' city: Mamre's oaks, Machpelah's cave, the burial place of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. David ruled Judah from Hebron for seven years before taking Jerusalem.
The high city of the patriarchs: Abraham's burial cave, and David's first capital.
- Hebron, Kiriath-Arba, Mamre (its oak grove)
- Hebron (al-Khalil) · Palestine
Hebron is the highest of Judah's cities, on the watershed road, with the deep soil that grew the spies' famous cluster of . Its height made it both a refuge and a capital.
- Genesis 23:17-20 Abraham buys the cave of Machpelah at Hebron and buries Sarah, the first piece of the promised land his family owns.
- Genesis 13:18 Abram settles by the oaks of Mamre at Hebron
- Numbers 13:22-24 The spies come to Hebron and cut the great cluster of grapes
- 2 Samuel 2:1-4 David anointed king of Judah in Hebron
- 2 Samuel 15:7-10 Absalom begins his revolt in Hebron
What we know
Certain
- Scripture roots the patriarchal narratives in Hebron, and the site is securely identified.
Probable
- The cave of Machpelah is venerated under the Haram al-Khalil, whose Herodian enclosure is still standing.