The account of the capture of Jerusalem by David is obscure, but it seems a probable explanation of a difficult passage (
2Sa 5:6-9) if we conclude that the Jebusites, relying upon the extraordinary strength of their position, challenged David: "Thou shalt not come in hither, but the blind and the lame shall turn thee away" (
2Sa 5:6 margin), and that David directed his followers to go up the "watercourse" and smite the "lame and the blind"-a term he in his turn applies mockingly to the Jebusites. "And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief" (
1Ch 11:6). It seems at least probable that David's men captured the city through a surprise attack up the great tunnels (see VII, 3, above). David having captured the stronghold "Zion," renamed it the "City of David" and took up his residence there; he added to the strength of the fortifications "round about from the MILLO (which see) and onward"; with the assistance of Phoenician workmen supplied by Hiram, king of Tyre, he built himself "a house of cedar" (
2Sa 5:11; compare 7:2). The ark of Yahweh was brought from the house of Obed-edom and lodged in a tent (
2Sa 6:17) in the "city of David" (compare
1Ki 8:1). The threshing-floor of Araunah (
2Sa 24:18), or Ornan (
1Ch 21:15), the Jebusite, was later purchased as the future site of the temple.