or CAVERNS. The country of Judea, being mountainous and rocky, is
in many parts full of caverns, to which allusions frequently occur in
the Old Testament. At Engedi, in particular, there was a cave so large,
that David, with six hundred men, hid themselves in the sides of it, and
Saul entered the mouth of the cave without perceiving that any one was
there, 1 Sam. xxiv. Josephus tells us of a numerous gang of banditti,
who, having infested the country, and being pursued by Herod with his
army, retired into certain caverns, almost inaccessible, near Arbela in
Galilee, where they were with great difficulty subdued. “Beyond
Damascus,” says Strabo, “are two mountains, called Trachones, from which
the country has the name of Trachonitis; and from hence, toward Arabia
and Iturea, are certain rugged mountains, in which there are deep
caverns; one of which will hold four thousand men.” Tavernier, in his
“Travels in Persia,” speaks of a grotto between Aleppo and Bir, that
would hold near three thousand horse. And Maundrel assures us, that
“three hours distant from Sidon, about a mile from the sea, there runs
along a high rocky mountain, in the sides of which are hewn a multitude
of grottoes, all very little differing from each other. They have
entrances about two foot square. There are of these subterraneous
caverns two hundred in number. It may, with probability, at least, be
concluded that these places were contrived for the use of the living,
and not of the dead.” These extracts may be useful in explaining such
passages of Scripture as the following: “Because of the Midianites, the
children of Israel made them dens which are in the mountains, and caves,
and strong holds,” Judges vi, 2. To these they betook themselves for
refuge in times of distress and hostile invasion:--“When the men of
Israel saw that they were in a strait, for the people were distressed,
then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in
rocks, and in high places, and in pits,” 1 Sam. xiii, 6. See also Jer.
xli, 9: “To enter into the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the
earth,” became with the prophets a very proper and familiar image to
express a state of terror and consternation. Thus Isa. ii, 19: “They
shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth,
for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth
to shake terribly the earth.”
in many parts full of caverns, to which allusions frequently occur in
the Old Testament. At Engedi, in particular, there was a cave so large,
that David, with six hundred men, hid themselves in the sides of it, and
Saul entered the mouth of the cave without perceiving that any one was
there, 1 Sam. xxiv. Josephus tells us of a numerous gang of banditti,
who, having infested the country, and being pursued by Herod with his
army, retired into certain caverns, almost inaccessible, near Arbela in
Galilee, where they were with great difficulty subdued. “Beyond
Damascus,” says Strabo, “are two mountains, called Trachones, from which
the country has the name of Trachonitis; and from hence, toward Arabia
and Iturea, are certain rugged mountains, in which there are deep
caverns; one of which will hold four thousand men.” Tavernier, in his
“Travels in Persia,” speaks of a grotto between Aleppo and Bir, that
would hold near three thousand horse. And Maundrel assures us, that
“three hours distant from Sidon, about a mile from the sea, there runs
along a high rocky mountain, in the sides of which are hewn a multitude
of grottoes, all very little differing from each other. They have
entrances about two foot square. There are of these subterraneous
caverns two hundred in number. It may, with probability, at least, be
concluded that these places were contrived for the use of the living,
and not of the dead.” These extracts may be useful in explaining such
passages of Scripture as the following: “Because of the Midianites, the
children of Israel made them dens which are in the mountains, and caves,
and strong holds,” Judges vi, 2. To these they betook themselves for
refuge in times of distress and hostile invasion:--“When the men of
Israel saw that they were in a strait, for the people were distressed,
then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in
rocks, and in high places, and in pits,” 1 Sam. xiii, 6. See also Jer.
xli, 9: “To enter into the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the
earth,” became with the prophets a very proper and familiar image to
express a state of terror and consternation. Thus Isa. ii, 19: “They
shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth,
for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth
to shake terribly the earth.”