Adullam

Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 2min
 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 9
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One of the royal cities of Canaan, afterward part of Judah’s lot (Josh. 12:15; 15:3515The king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; (Joshua 12:15)
35Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah, (Joshua 15:35)). It was rebuilt or fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron. 11:77And Beth-zur, and Shoco, and Adullam, (2 Chronicles 11:7)); and was dwelt in by some who returned from exile (Neh. 11:3030Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish, and the fields thereof, at Azekah, and in the villages thereof. And they dwelt from Beer-sheba unto the valley of Hinnom. (Nehemiah 11:30); Mic. 1:1515Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel. (Micah 1:15)). Identified with Aid-el-ma, a name similar to Adullam, 31° 39' N, 35° 0' E. More interest attaches to the cave of Adullam than to the city, because of its having been a stronghold of David. In the locality of the place named above there are limestone cliffs, in which are extensive excavations, one of which may have been David’s Cave of Adullam. This is in the low country and all David’s house went down from the hills of Bethlehem to him (1 Sam. 22:11David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. (1 Samuel 22:1)). The traditional site is a cave in the Wady Khureitun on the east part of Judah. It is approached by a narrow footpath (now partly blocked up by a fallen rock) which could easily be defended, and the cave is very large. Both this and other caves near where the city of Adullam was located are by different travelers strongly advocated as the true site. The Cave of Adullam has become a proverbial expression for a refuge in distress, because there gathered to David, besides his relatives, “every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented,” or bitter of soul, and he became their captain (1 Sam. 22:1-21David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. 2And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. (1 Samuel 22:1‑2); 2 Sam. 23:1313And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. (2 Samuel 23:13); 1 Chron. 11:1515Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim. (1 Chronicles 11:15)). David was God’s anointed king, and the prophet Gad went to him, and Abiathar the priest; so that with that outcast company were God’s prophet, priest, and king, though all the outward forms of worship were elsewhere: typical of the Lord Jesus in His rejection. When on earth the outward forms were not with Him; and now that He is in glory His virtual rejection is still as complete even by some in Christendom.