2 Samuel 5:4

The capture of Jerusalem marks a most important point in the history of Israel. Hitherto, the national life had had no real centre; the residence of a judge or a prophet or a king would be a temporary rallying place, such as the 'palm-tree of Deborah,' Shiloh (see on 1 Samuel 7:1), Mizpah, Gibeah (of Saul), Nob or Hebron. From this time, the centre is fixed, and, at least for the southern kingdom, all the other cities grew less and less important in comparison with the new capital. Its position, however, in the midst of the rocky, barren ridge running down central Palestine, made it always more suitable for a fortress than a commercial and wealthy capital, such as Solomon tried to make it.