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Have you ever been in a deprived or
dangerous situation where you craved the
comfort food of your childhood? I
suspect this was the case when David, hiding
out from the king with his band of outlaws
and refugees, longed for the sweet water of
his childhood village.
Taking this whimsical comment literally,
David's mightiest musketeers (Adino,
Eleazar and Shammah) rose to the challenge.
They broke through the camp of the
Philistines, drew water from the well of
Bethlehem by the city gate and brought it
back to David. But David refused to
drink it. Instead, he poured it out as
an offering to the Lord. He said, "Far
be it from me, O Lord, that I should do
this! Is this not the blood of the men who
went in jeopardy of their lives?"
(Second Samuel 23:17)
This episode takes place after David has
killed Goliath with just a sling and a stone
in the adjacent Elah Valley. In the
aftermath of the battle, David becomes a
folk hero with a multitude of fans on
Facebook as adoring women chant, "Saul has
his thousands, but David his tens of
thousands." |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Terebinth or elah
tree in the Valley of Elah |
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Saul vows vengeance and David becomes a man
on the run. In fact, he is Number 1 on the
Most Wanted list of the kingdom of Israel.
In the lowlands of the
Judean hills, Adullam is on the margins of both
Saul's kingdom and the enemy Philistine
territory. It becomes an ideal center
for organizing and recruiting "les
miserables," the
distressed, discontented and displaced, all
on the margins of society. These men
helped David become the undisputed champion
of the farmers in the area as he protected
their fields against all kinds of marauders,
particularly Philistine.
Of the 400 men who gathered around David
in the Cave of Adullam, Second Samuel names
the top thirty-seven champions whose
courageous deeds became legendary. But
most notable were the Gutsy Trio who dared
to sneak into the Philistine stronghold at
Bethlehem. (Second Samuel 23)
Adino Haetzni slew 800 of the enemy at
one go. Eleazar ben Dudu tirelessly
beat back the Philistine fighters with one
hand, and Shammah ben Ageh defeated the
enemy engaged in a field of lentils.
(Around the campfire they may have shared
anecdotes later popularized as "Lentil Soup
for the Soul!") |
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Copyright
2016 by Gila Yudkin |
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Map showing Adullam where
David hid from Saul |
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In all these many years of guiding, I have
often been asked about the location of the
Cave of Adullam. But I had never been
inside – or even close. Access is difficult.
You need a jeep or safari vehicle with a
driver knowing who to call to get certain
gates unlocked. And who knows the
exact whereabouts of the cave itself. |
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So I was thrilled on a recent guide seminar
sponsored by IGM and NET, two companies I
have been working with since the middle
1980s, to get the opportunity to explore the
Cave of Adullam. A jeep brought us
from our minibus up through a rugged stony
forest to an opening at the summit with
scattered ruins. The entrance to the
cave, however, was not at all obvious.
As a matter of fact, our driver had to call
his mentor to get the exact coordinates. |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Old sheikh's tomb next to
the opening to the Cave of Adullam |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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The opening to the Cave of
Adullam, hidden in shadow |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Our guide Steve locating 2
Samuel 23 before entering the Cave of
Adullam |
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Once found, crawling into the cave was easy. Disclosure: I really didn't crawl -- I
bounced down into the cave on my well-padded
fanny….Then I was astounded to discover how
large and high the cave actually is. It
could easily fit up to 40 people! Then I was
ever more flabbergasted when the coin
suddenly dropped and I realized that it's
"the" cave. The biblical geography is a snug
fit and there was even once an Arab village
named Id-el-ma that somewhat distorted yet
preserved the ancient biblical name. |
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Photo
courtesy of Pete Albright, IGM |
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The Cave of Adullam is big
enough for at least 40 people! |
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With little distractions, this hideaway
where David and his most trusted band of
outlaws found refuge from the search parties
of both the Philistines and the army of Saul
is an awesome venue. We read the relevant
passages from First and Second Samuel by the
light of our flashlights and then trace
David's wanderings and heroic exploits as a
man on the run, until he is finally
inaugurated king in Hebron. |
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Photo
courtesy of Pete Albright, IGM |
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Listening to First and Second
Samuel inside the Cave of Adullam |
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Someone may even suggest that later tales of
popular bandits like Robin Hood and Jesse
James are a takeoff on David's early
escapades of deception, protection,
extortion, and seduction! |
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But yet let's not forget to consider the
transformation of David from lonely shepherd
and sweet singer of lullabies to fearless
warrior and brazen Mafia-style chieftain to
the beloved anointed of the Almighty whose
descendent would be destined to redeem the
world. |
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Copyright 2016 Gila Yudkin.
Permission needed to reprint in any medium. |
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After our visit to the Cave of Adullam,
we'll descend to the Valley of Elah (the
battlefield where David fought the
Philistine giant) and collect stones in the
riverbed to
use with our
traditional slingshot that
killed Goliath. It's a cool
tool to slay the giants in your life! |
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“THE
SLINGSHOT THAT KILLED GOLIATH”
Just
kidding. But this “traditional”
slingshot, woven
in Bethlehem, David's hometown, makes a singular
gift for anyone who wants to emulate David, and have
fun doing it! Use it as a visual for Sunday
School Bible classes and as a prop for David and
Goliath skits. The slingshot is accompanied by a
three-page commentary
on the famous duel: the geographical setting, its
historical roots and the “smoking sling.”
The
slingshot comes without the stone – but to
give you a sense of size, the stone is 2.5 inches in
diameter, similar to the real size of the stone
David would have picked up from the river bed.
The stone that hit Goliath’s forehead was not a
pebble! |
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If you are an armchair historian, a wannabe
archeologist or a regular cool, curious and
open-minded individual coming to Jerusalem,
you'll want to
book Gila for a
half-day insight-full walk through the
biblical sites in Jerusalem, D.C.
(David's capital) |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Bernini's David in
Galleria Borghese with the sculptor's idea
of the sling |
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Gila Yudkin,
who calls herself a Connecticut-born Yankee
living in King David's court. She has been
guiding in the footsteps of David for well
over three decades. Her tours are fun,
funky and biblically inspired. And she knows
A LOT about biblical archeology! She
revels in showing veteran tour leaders new
sites that illustrate the Bible in living
color and three dimensions. |
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Tour the Temple Mount in the
company of David and Solomon, Abraham and Isaac,
Jesus and the disciples, the angel Gabriel and
Mohammed. Meet many other luminaries,
both real and legendary.
Gila's Temple Mount tour
is now available as a written
24-page PDF with a
Temple Mount plan,
guidelines for passing the security check
and ten recommended reads on the
Temple Mount from Gila's bookshelves.
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| More on
David's Life and Times: |
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David / Temple Mount |
Absalom's Tomb
Monument |
David and
Bathsheba |
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Read about the very recent identification of
Ziklag,
where David spent 16 months as a fugitive,
right until the death of Saul at the hands
of the Philistines. |
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