During the reign of King David, the land boundaries were spectacularly expanded (2 Samuel 5-12). First, David conquered Jerusalem, making it his royal city. He then decisively defeated the Philistines so that their hold on Israelite territory was broken and their threat to Israel eliminated. Next, he defeated the Moabites who lived to the east of the Dead Sea, imposing his authority over them. In the northeast, David crushed the Aramean kingdoms and forced them to pay tribute. To the south, he subdued Edom and incorporated it into his growing empire. Then, in an effort to secure his eastern border, he defeated the Ammonites, bringing them into subjection. Finally, in a "mopping up" operation, David subjugated the remaining strongholds of Canaanite resistance in the northern region of Israel.
David's military actions completed the conquest begun by Joshua. These victories secured Israel's borders and inaugurated it's golden age. By the time of David's death and Solomon's ascension (c. 971 B.C.), Israel's empire stretched from the eastern arm of the Red Sea in the south to shores of the Euphrates river in the north. Never again would Israel be such a prominent geo-political power in the ancient Near East than during the reigns of David and Solomon.
