Citadel

A city’s stronghold, tower, or fortification of last resort where people sought safety during an attack. The citadel of Penuel was destroyed by Gideon after he captured two Midianite kings (Jgs 8:17). The citadel of El-berith at Shechem was burned to the ground by Abimelech and his men (9:46-49). Abimelech was killed shortly thereafter when a woman in the citadel at Thebez dropped a millstone on his head and crushed his skull (vv 50-54). David conquered Jerusalem by capturing its citadel (2 Sm 5:7-9; 1 Chr 11:5-8).

During the Maccabees’ struggle for independence in the second century BC, the citadel in Jerusalem often aided the party in power (1 Macc 1:29-33; 11:41-42; 13:49-51). The Fortress of Antonia, the Jerusalem citadel in the day of Jesus, fell to the Romans in AD 70.