SPIRITUAL CITIZENSHIP

In his letters Paul also refers to spiritual citizenship. He describes uncircumcised Gentiles who became spiritual Israelites as those who were at one time without Christ, alienated from Israel and strangers to the covenants, without hope, without God, but who are “now in union with Christ Jesus.” “Certainly, therefore,” he continues in this vein of thought, “you are no longer strangers and alien residents, but you are fellow citizens of the holy ones.” (Eph. 2:12, 13, 19) It was especially significant when Paul wrote to the Christians at Philippi, one of those cities granted Roman citizenship, where ten years earlier his Roman citizenship had been trampled on: “As for us, our citizenship exists in the heavens.”—Phil. 3:20.

CITY

A compact settled area, greater in size, population or importance than a town or village. The Hebrew word ʽir, translated “city,” occurs nearly eleven hundred times in the Scriptures. Sometimes the word qir·yahʹ (town) is used as a synonym or in a parallelism. For example, “After this you will be called City [ʽir] of Righteousness, Faithful Town [qir·yahʹ],” or “How is it that the city [ʽir] of praise has not been abandoned, the town [qir·yathʹ] of exultation?”—Isa. 1:26; Jer. 49:25.

“Settlements,” “dependent towns” and “villages,” also mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures, were distinguished from “cities” and “towns” in that they were not walled-in communities, but were associated with the open country. (1 Sam. 6:18) If located in the suburbs or immediate vicinity of a fortified city or town these communities were described as “dependent towns,” literally “daughters” of the walled-in city. (Num. 21:25; see DEPENDENT TOWNS.) The law of Moses also made a legal distinction between the walled cities and towns, and the unwalled settlements and villages. If a person living in an unwalled settlement sold his house he always retained the right to buy it back, but, if unable to, it was returned to him during the year of Jubliee. When, on the other hand, a house in a walled city was sold, the seller had to repurchase it during the coming year or the property remained irrevocably that of the purchaser, except in the case of Levite cities. (Lev. 25:29-34) John called Bethlehem “the village where David used to be,” and Luke (aware that Rehoboam fortified the village) spoke of it as a city.—John 7:42; Luke 2:4; 2 Chron. 11:5, 6.

The first city builder seems to have been Adam’s murderous son Cain, who named the city after his son Enoch. (Gen. 4:17) If there were other cities before the Flood, their names disappeared along with them in the Deluge in 2370 B.C.E. After the Flood, the cities of Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar formed the initial nucleus of Nimrod’s kingdom. He then expanded this by building Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah and Resen (collectively described as “the great city”) to the N in the Mesopotamian valley. (Gen. 10:10-12) On the other hand, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob built no cities, but lived as temporary residents in tents even when visiting towns and villages in Canaan and Egypt; landless Abraham had to purchase the field of Machpelah just to bury his dead. (Heb. 11:9; Gen. 23:10-13) The spies who entered Canaan reported that there were many strongly fortified cities in the land.—Num. 13:28; Deut. 9:1.

PURPOSE IN BUILDING

There seem to be a number of contributing reasons why people began to build cities: for protection, industry, commerce and religion. Judging from the number and size of the temples uncovered by the archaeologists, religion was undoubtedly one of the principal motivations behind the construction of many ancient cities. The city of Babel with its religious tower is one example. “Come on!” said its builders to one another, “Let us build ourselves a city and also a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a celebrated name for ourselves, for fear we may be scattered over all the surface of the earth.” (Gen. 11:4-9) The danger of enslavement to warlike individuals bent on conquest was another compelling reason for fearful people to band together into cities. These cities they invariably fenced in and walled up; the gateways they closed at night and in times of danger.—Josh. 2:5; 2 Chron. 26:6.

The basic occupation of city dwellers was often agriculture and livestock raising carried on beyond the walls of the city, the typical farmer still residing inside the city rather than on his farm. Other segments of the community were employed in other pursuits, such as making weapons, chariots, armaments, pottery; or they occupied themselves in weaving and dyeing. The products of handicraft industries furnished the medium of exchange for needed raw materials, such as metals from far-off places, and this, in turn, stimulated commerce. The cities served as storage depots, trade centers and markets for distribution. Cities like Tyre, Sidon, and Joppa came to be primarily shipping and exchange centers between the traffic of the sea lanes and the overland caravans.—Ezek. chap. 27.

Many cities began as simple villages, grew to the size of a town or the status of a city, and sometimes became great city-states controlling the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. With such growth, government and judicial power became concentrated in the hands of a few political and military leaders, and quite often the overriding power dictating the urban way of life resided in a hierarchy of priestly despots. It was, therefore, a striking contrast when Israelite cities began to appear on the world stage, the rule of which was in the hands of theocratically appointed administrators bound by duty to enforce God-given constitutional laws. Jehovah was that nation’s King, Lawgiver and Judge, and when his visible representatives faithfully carried out their duties the people rejoiced.—Isa. 33:22; Ezra 7:25, 26; Prov. 29:2.

SELECTION OF SITES

Selecting the location for a city depended on several factors. Since defense was generally of prime importance, ancient cities were usually placed on high elevations. Though this exposed them to open view, they were difficult to reach. (Matt. 5:14) Coastal cities and those along the banks of rivers were exceptions. In addition to the natural barriers, often massive walls, or a complex of walls and towers and, in some instances, moats were built around the city. (2 Ki. 9:17; Neh. 3:1–4:23; 6:1-15; Dan. 9:25) As cities grew, it was sometimes necessary to extend the walls to include greater perimeters. Entrances through the walls were secured with strong gates that could withstand prolonged siege. (See FORTIFICATIONS; GATE, GATEWAY; WALLS.) Outside and beyond the walls were the fields, pasture grounds and suburbs that were often undefended during attack.—Num. 35:1-8; Josh. 21:41, 42.

A good nearby water supply was absolutely essential and not to be overlooked when selecting a site for a city. For this reason it was counted ideal when cities had springs or wells enclosed within their limits. In certain instances, notably Megiddo, Gezer and Jerusalem, there were underground water tunnels, aqueducts and conduits to bring water inside the walls from sources outside. (2 Sam. 5:8; 2 Ki. 20:20; 2 Chron. 32:30) Reservoirs and cisterns were often constructed for catching and holding water during the wet season for use at a later time. In some instances the terrain was honeycombed with cisterns, as each household endeavored to have its own supply of water.—2 Chron. 26:10.

Common aims and purposes in building ancient cities led to great similarities in their design and