Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(hollow). Used for storage houses, dwellings, hiding and burial places (Gen. 19:30; Josh. 10:16; Judg. 6:2; 1 Sam. 13:6; 22:1; 24:3; 2 Sam. 23:13; 1 Kings 18:4; Heb. 11:38).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
Palestine is remarkable for its number of caves, some of which are of great extent. David and his followers were in a cave in the wilderness of En-gedi, so extensive that they could hide themselves, though Saul came into the same cave (1 Sam. 24:1-8; compare Heb. 11:38). The Adullam cave and others also are of note in the Old Testament The tomb of Lazarus was a cave (John 11:38).
“18. Cave Dwellings” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Genesis 19:30. He [Lot] dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
The country of Judea being mountainous and rocky is full of caverns. Caves and clefts in the rock were probably among the earliest dwelling-places of man. The inhabitants of Mount Taurus, even to this day, live in caves, as do many of the wandering shepherds of Arabia Petrea. Thus Lot found a home for himself and his daughters. Some of these caves are of immense size, capable of holding hundreds, and even thousands, of people, and might easily be converted into strongholds for troops. It was in this way that the children of Israel sheltered themselves from the Midianites (Judges 6:2), and from the Philistines (1 Samuel 13:6). It was thus that David, with four hundred men, was concealed in the cave Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1-2), and afterward with six hundred in Ziph and in En-gedi (1 Sam. 23:13-14,29; 1 Sam. 24:3). Caves have been common places of resort for the persecuted people of God in all ages. See Hebrews 11:38.
“28. Cave Sepulchers” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Genesis 23:19. Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah.
Sepulchral caves are still found in many parts of the East. Sometimes a natural cave is used, with such modifications as necessity may require. The place where Abraham buried Sarah was undoubtedly a natural cave. Tombs were frequently hewn out of the rock. See note on Isaiah 22:16 (#501).
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