Cave: There are numerous natural caves among the limestone rocks of Syria,
many of which have been artificially enlarged for various purposes.
The first notice of a cave occurs in the history of Lot
(Genesis 19:30) The
next we read of is the cave of Machpelah (q.v.), which Abraham
purchased from the sons of Heth
(Genesis 25:9,10) It was the burying-place
of Sarah and of Abraham himself, also of Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and
Jacob
(Genesis 49:31; 50:13) The cave of Makkedah, into which the five
Amorite kings retired after their defeat by Joshua
(Joshua 10:16,27) The
cave of Adullam (q.v.), an immense natural cavern, where David hid
himself from Saul
(1 Samuel 22:1,2) The cave of Engedi (q.v.), now called
'Ain Jidy, i.e., the "Fountain of the Kid", where David cut off the
skirt of Saul's robe
(1 Samuel 24:4) Here he also found a shelter for
himself and his followers to the number of 600
(1 Samuel 23:29; 24:1) "On
all sides the country is full of caverns which might serve as
lurking-places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the
present day." The cave in which Obadiah hid the prophets
(1 Kings 18:4)
was probably in the north, but it cannot be identified. The cave of
Elijah
(1 Kings 19:9) and the "cleft" of Moses on Horeb
(Exodus 33:22) cannot
be determined. In the time of Gideon the Israelites took refuge from
the Midianites in dens and caves, such as abounded in the mountain
regions of Manasseh
(Judges 6:2) Caves were frequently used as
dwelling-places
(Numbers 24:21; The Song of Solomon 2:14; Jeremiah 49:16; Obadiah 1:3) "The excavations
at Deir Dubban, on the south side of the wady leading to Santa
Hanneh, are probably the dwellings of the Horites," the ancient
inhabitants of Idumea Proper. The pits or cavities in rocks were also
sometimes used as prisons
(Isaiah 24:22; 51:14; Zechariah 9:11) Those which had
niches in their sides were occupied as burying-places
(Ezekiel 32:23; John 11:38)
