1Now these were the sons of David, who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess; 2the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; 3the fifth, Shephatiah of Abital; the sixth, Ithream by Eglah his wife: 4six were born to him in Hebron; and he reigned there seven years and six months. He reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem; 5and these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon, four, by Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel; 6and Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, 7Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 8Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. 9All these were the sons of David, in addition to the sons of the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.
10Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abijah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son, 11Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, 12Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son, 13Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son, 14Amon his son, and Josiah his son. 15The sons of Josiah: the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, and the fourth Shallum. 16The sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, and Zedekiah his son. 17The sons of Jeconiah, the captive: Shealtiel his son, 18Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. 19The sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei. The sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah; and Shelomith was their sister; 20and Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab Hesed, five. 21The sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah; the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah. 22The son of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. The sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat, six. 23The sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam, three. 24The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani, seven.
Beyond the important connections between Abraham the other patriarchs and the matriarchs centered around the Machpelah Cave (see above at Gen 23:3), Hebron continued to be a central city in Biblical history, earning the place of one of four most sacred cities in Jewish tradition. Hebron was a city of refuge and a Levitical city (Jos 21:11-13 and 1 Chr 6:55-57) as well as the place where David first centered his reign: at the pool (traditionally connected with Birket es-Sultan), David executed the two sons of Rimmon who had murdered Saul’s son Ishboshet (2 Sam 4:12); and where David was crowned king (2 Sam 2:3-4; 5:5) and reigned for 7 ½ years where six sons were born to him before conquering Jerusalem where he had 13 more sons. Even after the Exile in the sixth century BC, Jews returned to Hebron (Neh 11:25) probably living alongside Edomites. In the second-century BC Simon Maccabeus took Hebron from the Edomites (1 Macc 5:65; Josephus, Antiquities, XII, viii, 6) and in the Great revolt of AD 70, first Simon bar-Gioras captured the city (Josephus, War, IV, ix, 7), and then Vespasian’s general Cerealis conquered it, slaughtering its inhabitants and burning it (War IV, ix, 9).