Now it came to pass, when Adonizedec king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them; (Joshua 10:1)
The first occurrence of this name in the OT. Opinions differ as to the origin of the name. It is generally conceded that the last part of the word means “peace” (see Heb. 7:2). The first part may come either from a word meaning “inheritance” or from a word meaning “settlement,” the basic ideas of which are similar. There is little doubt that the Jerusalem of Joshua’s time is identical with Jerusalem of today. Egyptian texts as early as the 19th and 18th centuries mention the city. Its existence at that time is confirmed by archeology.
The Amarna Letters, dating from the 14th century B.C., near the time of the conquest of Canaan by Israel, mention a city of Palestine by the name of Urusalim, “city of peace.” This is its name in later Assyrian records. Rabbinical sources claim the word is derived from the name Abraham gave to Mt. Moriah, the place where he offered up his son, plus the name Salem of Gen. 14:18. Mt. Moriah later became the site of the temple Solomon built (Sam. 24:18-25; 2 Chron. 3:1). From the story recorded in Gen. 22 it seems that there was no city on Mt. Moriah in Abraham’s day, but only on the neighboring hills (see PP 703). Abraham called the place Jehovah-jireh (Gen. 22:14). “Jehovah will provide.”
Moriah has been held by some to be derived from the same root and to signify “vision of Jehovah.” According to rabbinical interpretation, the name Jerusalem would be a combination of Jireh and Salem.
Another of Jerusalem’s ancient names was Jebusi or Jebus (Joshua 18:16, 28; Judges 19:10, 11). The Jebusites dwelt there in the time of the judges, and the city was not taken from them until the time of David.
Were among them.
The LXX reads, “had changed sides.” The Gibeonites’ transfer of allegiance precipitated upon them the bitterest hatred of their former friends. Their decision made, the Gibeonites seem ever after to have remained loyal to Israel and the true God. This fact implies that though their method of securing the friendship of Israel was questionable, they were, nevertheless, sincere to the extent of the light they had.