Hebron 

Hebron is considered second to Jerusalem in significance to Judaism and Islam, largely because many Old Testament leaders are associated with the city. But it reaches further in religious importance as a place associated with John the Baptist, who lived there as an adult, and Jesus, who traveled and taught there during his ministry. A synagogue in Hebron defied an order from the Sanhedrin to close its doors to Jesus and had an unfortunate fate.

Hebron continues to be an important local economic center, situated along trading routes and positioned between the Dead Sea to the east, Jerusalem to the north, Egypt to the south, and the coastal plain to the west.

Hebron is a Palestinian city on the southern West Bank, nineteen miles south of Jerusalem. Its current population is estimated to be 782,000. It includes the Cave of the Patriarchs, also called the Cave of Machpelah, which Jewish, Islamic, and Christian traditions designate as holy, being the burial site of Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob, along with their primary wives, Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah. This has been a major focus of religious worship for over two millennia.

Hebron is one of the oldest continually occupied cities in the world. It is a bustling hub of West Bank trade, generating roughly a third of the area's gross domestic product, largely due to the sale of limestone from quarries. It has a reputation for grapes, figs, pottery, and glassblowing. The old city of Hebron features narrow, winding streets, flat-roofed stone houses, and bazaars.

The Book of Numbers notes that the city was founded seven years before the Egyptian town of Zoan, or around 1720 BCE. The Book of Joshua records that the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim). In Genesis, it is recorded that Abraham purchased the Cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite for 400 silver shekels as a family tomb. This was the first parcel of land owned by the Jewish people in their Promised Land. Hebron is mentioned 87 times in the Old Testament and is the world’s oldest Jewish community. The city of Hebron is woven into the fabric of Jewish history.

The order of the Melchizedeks is a heavenly order comparable to priests, as they are commissioned to be of service to mankind forever. When humans needed spiritual help, a Melchizedek by the name of Machiventa took on a human form and suddenly appeared on earth at the time of Abraham.

Abraham had set up his military capital in Hebron. Given his ambition to be king and to round up all the neighboring tribes by sword, Machiventa Melchizedek had his hands full to try to dissuade Abraham, and at first had little success. Even the king of Sodom and others ended up joining Abraham’s military confederation centered in Hebron. Thanks to Melchizedek, Abraham later gave up his military dreams to build a spiritual kingdom. He abandoned the Hebron encampment. Abraham did become a great spiritual leader and was held in reverence. When aged, he returned to Hebron, found a wife for his son Isaac, and died confident in that faith in God which he learned from Machiventa Melchizedek.

David, the leader of a small army, made his headquarters at the non-Hebrew city of Hebron. His compatriots proclaimed him king of the new kingdom of Judah, made up largely of groups of non-Hebrew nomads. When the priests recorded this event in the Old Testament, it was greatly embellished and credited as an act of God.

When John was twenty years old, he and his mother Elizabeth moved to Hebron, known as the "wilderness of Judea." John tended the sheep herd, which allowed him plenty of time to meditate and meet with various religious colonies. This is where he met Abner, the leader of the brotherhood located downstream from where his brook led. Abner later became a follower of John, who was soon to be known as John the Baptist.

Jesus first visited the city of Hebron in his thirty-first year, when he traveled alone to see the world of men and how they make their living. One of his stops was at Hebron.

Just four months after Jesus began his public work, the tide of opposition from the Pharisees and Sadducees continued to rise, and the Master left Jerusalem to work in Bethlehem and Hebron. For a month, he and the apostles did personal work, going from house to house. The Sanhedrin passed a mandate to close all synagogues to Jesus, which was an unprecedented act of authority. Except for the synagogues in Jerusalem, each house of worship had been run by its own rules. This freedom was overridden by the mandate. Within two weeks, every synagogue closed to Jesus except the synagogue at Hebron.

The ruling authorities of the Hebron synagogue declined to recognize the Sanhedrin's authority to exercise jurisdiction over their congregation. Their defiance of the Jerusalem decree was not motivated by compassion for Jesus' cause, but rather by their insistence on congregational autonomy. Shortly thereafter, the Hebron synagogue was destroyed by fire.

During Jesus’ Third Preaching Tour, John’s apostles, under the leadership of Abner, made their headquarters at Hebron. From here they would walk to Bethsaida to meet with Andrew and the apostles of Jesus, with whom they would soon join forces.

When Jesus was handed over to be crucified, David Zebedee sent his messengers to multiple cities to keep them informed, one of which was Hebron.