Cave (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. Palestine is a region abounding in caves ; hence the frequent reference to them in the ISible. Natural caves and caverns are to be found in most countries formed of limestone strata and considerably ele- vated above the sea level ; such as Malta, Sicily, parts of Italy, and Derbyshire in England. In such countries the underground acidulated waters dissolve channels for themselves out of the rock, and upon a change of level with reference to their outlet, they leave these channels for others; the old channels becoming caverns with generally dry lloors, and roofs decorated with stalactites. The elevated character of Western Palestine and its t'alcareous structure have naturally resulted in the formation of caves which in OT times, and still later, have become interwoven with the historical events of that country ; and, as Dean Stanley observes, when Christianity became degraded in I lie early centuries, caves, the real or supposed scenes in the history of our Lord, became the seats of worship amongst the Eastern Christiana. Tims the 'cave of the Holy Sepulchre' at Jerusalem and the 'cave of the Nativity' at lJetlileliem,t both discovered or identilied (according to Eusebius) by the empress Helena, have remained shrines of semi-idolatrous devotion down to the present day. 2. Prehistoric man appears to have made caves his dwelling wherever available, and it is not improbable that the Ilorites of Mount Seir ((Jn 14" :>()-"), who were cave dwellers as their name implies, were the reiuesentatives of early cave-dwelling races of other countries.J The Ilorites were ex- pelled by the Edomites ; and the vast caverns artiliciallj' hewn out of the sandstone rock of I'etra, the Edomito capital, attest the extent to which these early inhabitants made use of such hollows both for habitations and as sei>ulchres for the dead.§ See Driver on Dt 2". '<}natuor sunt montann i;cntea, TaratI, SolBnati, Balari, Aconites, in spchincis habitantes. Stral>o, v. 225. t It in;iy IJD observed tiiat tlierc 18 no aiitliority in tlie account of the Nativity for connecliiii; the event with a uavo ; see Mt •Jll, l,k2M-'. t SlralOT, I. 42, xvi. 776, 776. i The cavcrn» o( Upper Efypt, hewn out of the same forma- lion, 'the Nubian >Sanutitone,' were made use of by the ancient ]'.^yptinnii for similar purposes. 3G4 CEDAR 3. (^aves were larpely made use of in the troublous timos of Israelitisli history as places of refuge : as suili the following may be specially mentioned : — (ii) The cave in the hills above Zoar inhabited by Lot and his two daughters (Gn 19^). (6) The cave of Makkedah at Beth-horon, in which the five kings of the Canaanites hid them- selves (Jos 10"). (c) Caves in which the Israelites hid themselves from the Midianites in the time of the Judges (Jg 6'), and from the Philistines in the time of Saul (1 S 13''). Both these references point to the conclusion that caves, both natural and artificial, were very numerous in these times ; some of them may be now covered over and their entrances hidden from view. id) One of the most celebrated caves in biblical history was the cave of AduUam, in which David took refuge from the wrath of Saul (1 S 22', 2 S 23"). Adullam was one of the cities of Judah, and the reMdence of a Canaanite king (Jos 12"), and the cave was probably the largest of several occupying a position near the summit of the table- land, and overlooking the Plains of Philistia. (e) The cave of En-gedi, in the cliffs overlooking the Dead Sea, was another place of refuge for David, after he had been dislodged from the cave of Adullam (1 S 23-'9 24^). See Engedi. (/) The cave in which Obadiah fed the prophets of the Lord in the days of Ahab (1 K 18*). This cave was probably situated on the flank of Mount Carmel. The above instances explain the language of Is 2"'- '"■ " where ' men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before tliK terror of the LoKD, and from the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake miglitUy the earth.' 4. Caves, both natural and artificial, were used as places of sepulture : the cave of Machpelah, purchased of Ephron the Hittite, was the sepulchre of Sarah (Gn 23'^), and afterwards of Abraham (Gn 25^), Isaac (35-''-=''), and Jacob (50"). There can be no doubt but that the mosque of Hebron covers the last resting-place of the patriarchs ; it is a spot considered of the highest sanctity by the Arab tribes.t E. Hull.