Reference: Cave
American
The geological structure of Judea is highly favorable to the formation of caves; and the whole region abounds with subterranean caverns of various dimensions, often giving rise to small rivulets. These were used as dwellings, places of refuge, and tombs. It was in a cave that Lot resided after the destruction of Sodom, Ge 19:30. Petra, in Idumea, was a city of caves, Nu 24:21; Song 2:14; Jer 49:16; Ob 1:3. In the vicinity of Hebron, the poor still live in caves while pasturing their flocks. Natural cavities were sometimes enlarged, and artificial ones made for refuge and defense, Jg 6:2; 1Sa 13:6; Isa 2:19; Jer 41:9. The caves of Machpelah, of Adullam, of Engedi, of Carmel and of Arbela, still exist. See SEPULCHRE.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.
He looked at the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said, "Your dwelling place is strong. Your nest is set in the rock.
The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.
My dove in the clefts of the rock, In the hiding places of the mountainside, Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
Men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.
Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed, by the side of Gedaliah (the same was who which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel), Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed.
As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says Yahweh.
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, 'Who will bring me down to the ground?'
Easton
There are numerous natural caves among the limestone rocks of Syria, many of which have been artificially enlarged for various purposes.
The first notice of a cave occurs in the history of Lot (Ge 19:30).
The next we read of is the cave of Machpelah (q.v.), which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth (Ge 25:9-10). It was the burying-place of Sarah and of Abraham himself, also of Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob (Ge 49:31; 50:13).
The cave of Makkedah, into which the five Amorite kings retired after their defeat by Joshua (Jos 10:16,27).
The cave of Adullam (q.v.), an immense natural cavern, where David hid himself from Saul (1Sa 22:1-2).
The cave of Engedi (q.v.), now called 'Ain Jidy, i.e., the "Fountain of the Kid", where David cut off the skirt of Saul's robe (1Sa 24:4). Here he also found a shelter for himself and his followers to the number of 600 (1Sa 23:29-24:1). "On all sides the country is full of caverns which might serve as lurking-places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day."
The cave in which Obadiah hid the prophets (1Ki 18:4) was probably in the north, but it cannot be identified.
The cave of Elijah (1Ki 19:9), and the "cleft" of Moses on Horeb (Ex 33:22), cannot be determined.
In the time of Gideon the Israelites took refuge from the Midianites in dens and caves, such as abounded in the mountain regions of Manasseh (Jg 6:2).
Caves were frequently used as dwelling-places (Nu 24:21; Song 2:14; Jer 49:16; Ob 1:3). "The excavations at Deir Dubban, on the south side of the wady leading to Santa Hanneh, are probably the dwellings of the Horites," the ancient inhabitants of Idumea Proper. The pits or cavities in rocks were also sometimes used as prisons (Isa 24:22; 51:14; Zec 9:11). Those which had niches in their sides were occupied as burying-places (Eze 32:23; Joh 11:38).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.
Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre, the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth. Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife.
There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah:
for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by;
He looked at the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said, "Your dwelling place is strong. Your nest is set in the rock.
These five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah.
It happened at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave in which they had hidden themselves, and laid great stones on the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.
The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.
David therefore departed there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered themselves to him; and he became captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.
The men of David said to him, "Behold, the day of which Yahweh said to you, 'Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.'" Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly.
for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
He came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
My dove in the clefts of the rock, In the hiding places of the mountainside, Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
They shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison; and after many days shall they be visited.
The captive exile shall speedily be freed; and he shall not die [and go down] into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.
As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says Yahweh.
whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, 'Who will bring me down to the ground?'
As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.
Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
Hastings
The soft limestone hills of Palestine abound in caves, natural and artificial; and these must have attracted attention from a very early period. The aboriginal race of Horites were cave-dwellers, and the excavation at Gezer has revealed remains of a probably analogous race in W. Palestine. Lot (Ge 19:30) and David (1Sa 22:1 etc.) dwelt for a time in caves; and their use as places of hiding and refuge is illustrated by many passages, e.g., Jos 10:16; Jg 6:2; 1Ki 18:4 etc. Caves were also used, at all periods in the history of Palestine, for sepulture, as in the case of Machpelah (Ge 23). Probably the most remarkable series of caves yet discovered in Palestine are the great labyrinths tunnelled in the bills round Beit Jibrin; one of these, in Tell Sandahannah, contains sixty chambers, united by doors and passages, and groups containing fourteen or fifteen chambers are quite common in the same hill. Another artificial cave near Beit Jibrin contains a hall 80 ft. high and 400 ft. long; it has now fallen in. Other groups of caves, only less extensive, occur in various parts of Palestine on both sides of the Jordan. Little or nothing is known about the history of these great excavations; no definite information about their origin has yet been yielded by them, so far as they have been scientifically explored.
R. A. S. Macalister.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.
These five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah.
The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.
David therefore departed there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.
Smith
Cave.
The most remarkable caves noticed in Scripture are, that in which Lot dwelt after the destruction of Sodom,
the cave of Machpelah,
cave of Makkedah,
cave of Adullam,
cave od Engedi,
Obadiah's cave,
Elijah's cave in Horeb,
the rock sepulchres of Lazarus and of our Lord.
Mt 27:60; Joh 11:38
Caves were used for temporary dwelling-places and for tombs.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.
So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded
Yahweh confused them before Israel, and he killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth Horon, and struck them to Azekah and to Makkedah.
David therefore departed there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.
He came to the sheep pens by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave.
for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
He came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock, and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.
Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.