2 Samuel 5:6 - Meaning and Application

If Salem, the city where Melchizedek was king, was the same as Jerusalem, as Psalm 76:2 seems to suggest, then Jerusalem was already an important place in Abraham’s time. Joshua later found it to be the chief city in the southern part of Canaan (Joshua 10:1-3). It was assigned to Benjamin’s tribe (Joshua 18:28), though it stood right on the edge of Judah’s land as well (Joshua 15:8). Judah had captured it for a time (Judges 1:8), but Benjamin allowed the Jebusites to live among them (Judges 1:21), and in time the city came to be known as a Jebusite stronghold (Judges 19:11).

Now David’s first great act after being anointed king over all Israel was to take Jerusalem from the Jebusites. Since the city belonged to Benjamin, he could not easily move against it until that tribe, which had long stayed loyal to Saul’s family (1 Chronicles 12:29), came under his rule. Here we see, first, the Jebusites boldly mocking David and his army. They said, “You will never get in here unless you remove the blind and the lame” (2 Samuel 5:6). They sent this taunting message because, like the people described later on another occasion, they could not imagine that an enemy would ever enter the gates of Jerusalem (Lamentations 4:12).

They trusted either in their gods, whom David had spoken of in scorn as blind and lame because idols have eyes but do not see, feet but do not walk, or in the strength of their defenses. Some think they had set up bronze images in the fortress and treated them as guardians of the city. They called their idols their strongholds, their “Mauzzim” (Daniel 11:38), and leaned on them as if they could save them. But the Lord’s name is a strong tower, and his power is not blind. His eyes see clearly, and his arm is strong.

Or else the Jebusites trusted in the natural strength of Jerusalem’s walls and height. They thought the city was so strong by nature and by skill that even the blind and lame would be enough to defend it against any attacker. Their main confidence was the stronghold of Zion, which they believed no one could force. They may even have placed blind or lame men, or injured soldiers, on the walls to mock David and his men, as if such people could turn them away. Even if only wounded men remained, they thought those men would still be enough to drive off the besiegers. The enemies of God’s people are often full of confidence in their own strength, and they feel safest just when their downfall is near.

Second, David conquered the Jebusites. Their pride did not frighten him, it stirred him to action. When he ordered a full attack, he told his men that whoever struck the Jebusites should also throw down the blind and the lame who had been set on the wall to insult them and their God. It is likely the Jebusites had spoken blasphemous words too, which made David hate them from the heart. This wording fits 2 Samuel 5:8, and 1 Chronicles 11:6 speaks only of striking the Jebusites, not of the blind and the lame. The Jebusites had said that if these images did not protect them, the blind and lame would never come into the house. David, after taking the fortress, spoke in the same spirit about those images. Since they could not defend their worshipers, they would have no place there anymore.

Third, David made Zion his royal seat. He lived in the fortress itself, and the very stronghold that had once opposed him now became his protection. He also built houses around it for his servants and guards (2 Samuel 5:9), from Millo, likely the public or state center, inward. He kept moving forward and prospered in everything he did. He grew greater in honor, strength, and wealth, and became more respected by his own people and more feared by his enemies, because the Lord God of hosts was with him.

God rules over all creatures and uses them as he chooses to work out his purposes. He was with David to guide him, protect him, and make him succeed. Those who have the Lord of hosts on their side need not fear what armies of men or devils can do against them. And those who rise in greatness should give God the credit, because his presence with them is what raised them up. The church is called Zion and the city of the living God. In the same way, Christ’s enemies, like the Jebusites, must first be overcome and driven out. The blind and the lame must be removed, and then Christ shares the spoil, sets up his throne there, and makes that his dwelling by his Spirit.