Before becoming king, David had entered the service of King Saul. In the palace, David would play the lyre to calm the king’s anxiety attacks. There, he became friends with Jonathan, Saul’s son. But David, due to his victories against the Philistines—particularly against Goliath—became more popular than the king. One day, after returning from a victory, the daughters of Jerusalem sang: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, David his tens of thousands’ (1 Sam 18:7). Saul grew very angry with David. He began plotting how to kill him. When Jonathan learned of this, he secretly warned David to flee. For several years, David lived as an outcast, always at the mercy of falling into King Saul’s hands. The Bible recounts his wanderings in the Judean desert.
Interestingly, water is not lacking in the Judean desert. While it’s true that it rains less than 150 mm per year in Ein Gedi, one must consider that it rains up to four times more in the Judean mountains, above the desert. The abundant rainfall on the summit of those mountains flows partially towards the Mediterranean to the west and in part towards the Dead Sea to the east.
The prophet Ezekiel highlights that reality: “He said to me, ‘This water flows out into the eastern district, runs down into the Arabah and empties into the polluted waters of the sea to freshen them’.” (Ez 47:8)
The arid slope of the Judea-Samaria mountain range, though of an arid climate, is intersected by several streams. Some, like the Kidron, carry water year-round; others, only when heavy rain falls on the heights of Judea. Ein Gedi also benefits from the presence of two living springs: Ein Gedi and Ein Arugot. They have such an abundance of water that it began to be used commercially. Every Israeli is familiar with the 2-liter bottles of water from Ein Gedi
Ein Gedi bottled at the kibbutz of the same name.
“David then went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi”, that is Ein Gedi (1 Sm 24:1).
Archaeologists found the remains of two fortresses from the Israelite period in the surroundings of Ein Gedi. However, it was not in these fortresses, defended by Saul’s soldiers, that David chose to hide, but rather in one of the numerous caves carved into the slopes of the mountains that border the stream of Ein Gedi.
Mount Yishai (Jesse) overlooking the stream of Ein Gedi. In the background, the Dead Sea and the Moab Mountains in Jordan. Photo: Henri Gourinard, 2021.
“When Saul returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, he was told that David was in the desert near Engedi. So Saul took three thousand of the best men from all Israel and went in search of David and his men in the direction of the wild goat crags.
When he came to the sheepfolds along the way, he found a cave, which he entered to relieve himself” (1 Sm 24:2-4).
In that cave, where David and his companions were hiding; David resisted the temptation to get rid of the one who had been pursuing him for so long. He had too much respect for the person of the king, anointed by God. However, to make it clear to Saul that he spared his life when he could have killed him, “David moved up and stealthily cut off an end of Saul’s robe.” (1 Sm 24:5)
Once Saul had moved away from the cave, David came out shouting, “My lord the king!” (1 Sm 24:9) and prostrated himself to the ground as a sign of reverence toward Saul’s royal office. What follows is a tragic dialogue in which Saul calls David “my son.” Despite this and his oath, Saul would continue to pursue David until his own tragic death alongside his son Jonathan, in a battle against the Philistines (1 Sm 31).