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According to the Hebrew Bible the Jebusites ( Hebrew יבוסי Yəbhûsî, Yevusi, Y'vusi) were a Canaänite tribe who inhabited the region around Jerusalem in pre-biblical times (second millennium BC). Jerusalem was known as Jebus until King David conquered it, an event estimated to have occurred in 1004 BC .

The Book of Genesis (10:15-19) gives the cultural affiliations of the Jebusites, related to the city of Sidon, expressed in terms of genealogy:

"Canaän became the father of Sidon his first-born, and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaänites spread abroad. And the territory of the Canaänites extended from Sidon, in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha ."

The books of Genesis (10:16; 15:21) and Exodus (3:8,17; 13:5) mention the Jebusites as one of seven nations doomed to destruction.

When the Israëlites arrived in Canaän around 1200 BC the Jebusites were ruled by a king named Adonizedek ( JoshuaJoshua or Yehoshua " The LORD of/is help/court", Standard Hebrew Yhošua Tiberian Hebrew Yhošu is a Biblical character, much of whose life is described in the Book of Joshua. The name of the Christian messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, is an Aramaic a 10:1,23), whose name, according to the midrashMidrash (pl. Midrashim) is a Hebrew word referring to a method of reading details into, or out of, a Biblical text. The term "midrash" also can refer to a compilation of Midrashic teachings, in the form of legal, exegetical or homiletical commentaries on means "ruler of Zedek" or Jerusalem. Adonizedek participated in a coalition of kings from the neighboring cities of Jarmut , LachishLachish was a town located in the Shephelah, or maritime plain of Palestine ( Joshua 10:3, 5; 12:11). This town was first mentioned in the el-Amarna letters. The Israelites captured and destroyed Lachish for joining the league against the Gibeonites (Josh, EglonA Biblical name, Eglon refers to either: A Canaanite city, whose king Debir joined a confederacy against Gibeon when that city made peace with Israel. The five kings involved were slain and Eglon was later conquered and its inhabitans condemned to destruc and HebronThis article is about the place in the Middle East. For other uses of the name, see Hebron (disambiguation). Hebron ( Arabic al-alil Hebrew Standard Hebrew evron Tiberian Hebrew eron the name in each language is derived from that language's word for "Frie against Israël. Joshua defeated the coalition and slew Adonizedek.

Despite the death of Adonizedek, the Jebusites remained well established in Jebus itself, although their role in Canaän was significantly reduced. They remained in their mountain fastnesses, and they dwelt at Jerusalem with the children of Judah and Benjamin (Joshua 15:63; Judges 1:21).

Jebus was the strongest fortress in Canaän and its defenses were considered impenetrable. This is the reason why the Jebusites said that they could defeat David's army with the blind and the lame, when David asked the Jebusites to give the city to him as his capital. But David and his men took Jebus by surprise after breaching its fortifications through the water tunnel which supplied the city with water.

The last mention of the Jebusites in the Bible occurs when David purchases from Ornan the Jebusite, also called Araunah (2 Samuel 24:16-25), the threshing-floor on Mount Moriah, a place apparently already consecrated to the grain goddess, in order to build an altar to God. The transaction is recounted in 1 Chronicles 21:22-25.

It is unknown what became of the Jebusites, but it seems logical that they were assimilated by the Israëlites.