Adullam
עֲדֻלָּם
Where was biblical Adullam? At Khirbet esh-Sheikh Madhkur, Adullam Park, about 25 km southwest of Jerusalem. I mark it very likely.
David hid in a cave here while running from Saul. His family came down to join him, and so did about four hundred men who were in debt, in distress or bitter of soul. That was the start of David's band.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Khirbet esh-Sheikh Madhkur, Adullam Park
- How sure
- Very likely Strong evidence, with no serious rival.
- Other names
- Odollam, Khirbet esh-Sheikh Madhkur, Khirbet 'Id el-Minya, 'Id el-Ma, Tel Adullam
- Location
- 31.6498° N, 35.0008° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
The name seems to survive at the foot of the hill, in the Arabic ruin-name 'Id el-Minya, also heard as 'Id el-Ma. Eusebius described Odollam as a large village east of Beit Guvrin, and this spot fits. A small dig found pottery from the Early Bronze Age through the Ottoman period. No inscription naming the town has turned up yet. So the case rests on the name, the location and the pottery.
The geography explains why David chose it. Adullam sits at the head of the Elah Valley route coming down from Bethlehem, between the hills of Judah and the Philistine frontier. From here a man could slip up into his home country or down toward the enemy. And the hill is full of caves. So most scholars now look for the cave of Adullam right here, among the caves of the town itself.
With a Philistine garrison sitting in Bethlehem, David said aloud how he longed for water from his hometown well. Three of his warriors broke through the Philistine lines and brought it to him. David would not drink it. He poured it out to G-d.
The town is older than David. Judah left his brothers and settled near Hirah the Adullamite. This is the valley road Judah traveled when he went up to Timnah.
An old tradition put David's cave in a huge desert cavern near Tekoa, the cave of Chariton. It lies far from the town of Adullam, and that tradition is now generally set aside. The lower ruin, 'Id el-Minya, is usually treated as part of the same town.
Visiting today
The hilltop ruin is largely unexcavated, with caves to explore, and marked hiking trails reach it through Adullam Park.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Adullam on the interactive map →
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