DAVID HIDES NEAR EN GEDI

1 SAMUEL 18–25

After the victory over Goliath and the Philistines, David was riding a rising wave of popularity that offered him widespread support as Israel’s leader (1 Sam. 18:5, 30). Of course, that position was occupied. The Lord had announced Saul’s rejection as king, but Saul was of no mind to leave his throne quietly, and his changing moods could bring death to David at any moment. So David left Gibeah, Saul’s headquarters, seeking refuge in places like Naioth at Ramah and Nob (1 Sam. 19:18; 21:1). But these villages were located within Benjamin, Saul’s home tribal territory. For that reason David fled farther south near the crags of the Wild Goat, in an area called En Gedi (1 Samuel 24).

David found refuge from Saul in the oasis of En Gedi, about twenty miles southeast of Bethlehem.

En Gedi is located within the Wilderness of Judah, west of the Dead Sea and east of Judah’s watershed line. The rugged and menacing terrain is dominated by narrow and deeply cut east/west gorges. Their stony hillsides show little sign of life since the Wilderness of Judah lies within a rainfall shadow.8 Its canyons often accommodate torrents of water that speed toward the Dead Sea. But this is rainwater that has fallen elsewhere, water that enters and leaves the wilderness quickly, providing little life support.

Chalky soil, demanding terrain, and low humidity combined with the heat of summer made it difficult to travel or live there. But the Wilderness of Judah offered one thing that Benjamin and western Judah did not. This was the place to go to get away from everyone else—a refuge for rebels and a hideout for fugitives. Once a person left the road systems in this region, it was easy to hide from anyone. David was familiar with this area because he had lived in nearby Bethlehem, undoubtedly shepherding the family flocks in these hills. Life would not be comfortable here, but if one could find access to water, this wilderness could provide security.

That is what made En Gedi David’s place of escape. It was located in the midst of a rugged landscape that provided dozens of caves and dry river beds (Arabic, wadi) where a fugitive could hide. Yet unlike most of the surrounding area, it had drinkable water. Due to the geologic contours beneath the earth’s surface, rainwater had fallen on the west side of Judah around Bethlehem, traveled underground, and broken out as a spring in the wilderness oasis of En Gedi.9 There a slash of green in an otherwise pale landscape signaled the spring’s presence. David went there because it offered him both water and security while living on the run.

While David used this setting to hide, it became a proving ground for his character. Saul’s hunt for David eventually brought him to En Gedi, to the very cave in which David and his men were hiding (1 Sam. 24:3). As the unwitting Saul used the cave as a bathroom, David’s men urged him to execute the defenseless man who stood between him and the throne. Many ideas must have crossed David’s mind at that moment. Saul’s vulnerability might spell the end of the running, waiting, and hiding. But when David wielded his knife, it was not to cut the flesh of Saul but to cut his garment. David later explained his actions: “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’S anointed, or lift my hand against him” (1 Sam. 24:6). David would wait for God’s plan to mature on its own. For David, not even more time on the run, living in the difficult landscape of the Wilderness of Judah, was enough justification to advance a plan without the Lord’s approval.

There were reasons David hid near En Gedi. It became the stage for two very different events: David’s escape from Saul and a demonstration of David’s faith that the Lord would make him king at the right time in the right way.

David hides in En Gedi

En Gedi, which in Hebrew means “spring of the wild goats,” is known for the ibex (wild goats) that climb the rugged terrain around the En Gedi oasis.
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