2 Samuel 5:7
in 2 Samuel 5Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David.
KJV
Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 5
Commentary
5 notes on this verseNevertheless, David took the strong hold of Zion,.... A fortress without the city, and separate from it, and which was very strong; and the taking it might facilitate the taking of the city, which yet as appears by what follows, was very difficult to do: the same is the city of David; it was afterwards so called, where he built an house, and dwelt.
This site's exposition
Even the blind and lame can repel you
on 2 Samuel 5:6-7
The Jebusites taunt David, “Even the blind and lame can repel you”. Verse 7 answers the taunt: “David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David)”. This is the first time Zion is named in Scripture, and it enters the record as a captured Jebusite fortress.
This site's exposition
David captured the fortress of Zion
Barnes places the ancient Zion on the temple hill, with the fortress of David just to its north. The hill called Zion today lies southwest of the temple. Gill held that the fortress stood apart from the city, and its capture opened the way into Jerusalem.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The stronghold of Zion - Or castle 1Ch 11:5, 1Ch 11:7. The ancient Zion was the hill on which the temple stood, and the castle seems to have been immediately to the north of the temple. The modern Zion lies to the southwest of the temple. The same is the city of David - The name afterward given to it 2Sa 5:9, and by which it was known in the writer’s time.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the stronghold of Zion--Whether Zion be the southwestern hill commonly so-called, or the peak now level on the north of the temple mount, it is the towering height which catches the eye from every quarter--"the hill fort," "the rocky hold" of Jerusalem.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּלְכֹּ֣ד | vaiyilkod | and he captured | H3920 → | 121 times |
| דָּוִ֔ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אֵ֖ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מְצֻדַ֣ת | metzudat | [the] stronghold of | H4686 → | 21 times |
| צִיּ֑וֹן | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | |
| הִ֖יא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| עִ֥יר | ʾir | [is] [the] city of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| דָּוִֽד׃ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
וַיִּלְכֹּ֣דand he captured
vaiyilkodH3920 →121 times
דָּוִ֔דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
אֵ֖ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
מְצֻדַ֣ת[the] stronghold of
metzudatH4686 →21 times
צִיּ֑וֹןZion
tziyonH6726 →
הִ֖יאit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
עִ֥יר[is] [the] city of
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
דָּוִֽד׃David
davidH1732 →999 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Samuel 6:16As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him…
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- 1 Chronicles 15:29
As the ark of the covenant of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him…
- 2 Samuel 3:14
Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”
- Acts 2:13
But others mocked them and said, “They are drunk on new wine!”
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
Through
Psalms 51:18In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.
it leads to
- Psalms 102:16
For the LORD will rebuild Zion; He has appeared in His glory.
- Philippians 2:13
For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
- Psalms 102:16
Through
1 Kings 2:10Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.
it leads to
- Acts 2:29
Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
- Acts 13:36
For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.
- Acts 2:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
On this chapter
About 2 Samuel
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.