Christians, Muslims, and Jews consider Hebron to be a holy city because it is believed to be the burial place of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Joseph was instructed by his father Jacob (Genesis 49:30-32) to "Bury me near my fathers, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan…. There Abraham was buried and his wife Sarah. There Isaac was buried and his wife Rebekah. There I buried Leah." Joseph honored Jacob’s wishes, the story tells us, and took Jacob’s body from Egypt to "across the Jordan" (Genesis 50:10) for burial. "They performed there a long and solemn lamentation, and Joseph observed three days’ mourning for his father." Still visible today is the impressive wall that Herod the Great built around the burial sight.

Hebron is also associated with David, one of the first kings of Israel, who had his capital in Hebron before moving it to Jerusalem. Hebron was undoubtedly a familiar place to Jesus whose genealogy in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38 described him as a direct descendant of David.