Adullam

Adullam, from the Hebrew word pronounced awd-ool-lawm, meaning refuge, was a Canaanite city in the valley of Elah (where David faced Goliath in battle - see also The Valley Of The Shadow). It, along with numerous other cities in the area, was captured by the Israelites under Joshua.

"^12:7 And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west (see The Jordan River; listen also to our Sermon The Jordan River), from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions; ^12:8 In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
^12:9 The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;
^12:10 The king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;
^12:11 The king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
^12:12 The king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
^12:13 The king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;
^12:14 The king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
^12:15 The king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
^12:16 The king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
^12:17 The king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
^12:18 The king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;
^12:19 The king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;
^12:20 The king of Shimronmeron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
^12:21 The king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;
^12:22 The king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one;
^12:23 The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one;
^12:24 The king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one. (Joshua 12:7-24 KJV)

"David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam"

After the time of Joshua, and then the Judges (see Joshua's Warning), when the Israelite monarchy was being contested between David and Saul (see the Fact Finder question below for the complete series of studies), David took refuge in caves at Adullam (about 14 miles west of David's home town of Bethlehem; the caves overlooked the valley where David killed Goliath) where "every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him."

"^22:1 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house [see Jesse] heard it, they went down thither to him. ^22:2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men." (1 Samuel 22:1-2 KJV)

It was also from the caves at Adullam that the famous incident of the three mighty men occurred i.e. "the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David":

"^23:8 These be the names of the mighty men whom David had:

The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.

^23:9 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away: ^23:10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD [i.e. Jesus Christ; see Christ The Creator and 'Before Abraham Was, I AM'] wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.

^23:11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. ^23:12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a great victory.

^23:13 And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. ^23:14 And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ^23:15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! ^23:16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD. ^23:17 And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it.

These things did these three mighty men." (2 Samuel 23:8-17 KJV)

Later, after the division of Israel into "Israel" and "Judah" (see the Fact Finder question below), Rehoboam, who was the son and successor of King Solomon, fortified Judah against invaders from the north and the south. Adullam was among the cities built up in the defense against Egypt.

"^11:1 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin [see also Was Paul A Jew or a Benjamite?] an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

^11:2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ^11:3 Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ^11:4 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

^11:5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah. ^11:6 He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, ^11:7 And Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam, ^11:8 And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph, ^11:9 And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, ^11:10 And Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin fenced cities. ^11:11 And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine. ^11:12 And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

^11:13 And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts. ^11:14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem [see No Levites In The Lost Ten Tribes?]: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the LORD: ^11:15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made. ^11:16 And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers." (2 Chronicles 11:1-16 KJV)

After their return from the Babylonian exile in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the people of Judah re-settled the towns in the region of Jerusalem, including Adullam.

"^11:25 And for the villages, with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjatharba, and in the villages thereof, and at Dibon, and in the villages thereof, and at Jekabzeel, and in the villages thereof, ^11:26 And at Jeshua, and at Moladah, and at Bethphelet, ^11:27 And at Hazarshual, and at Beersheba, and in the villages thereof, ^11:28 And at Ziklag, and at Mekonah, and in the villages thereof, ^11:29 And at Enrimmon, and at Zareah, and at Jarmuth, ^11:30 Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish, and the fields thereof, at Azekah, and in the villages thereof. And they dwelt from Beersheba unto the valley of Hinnom." (Nehemiah 11:25-30 KJV)

Fact Finder: (a) How did the Israelite / Messianic monarchy begin? (b) Who were the two kings of the civil war? Who won? (c) When was the only time, of the past (see David, Future King Of Israel), that Israel was a united kingdom? (d) When and why did Israel become two independent kingdoms? (e) Where was the kingdom of "Israel"? (f) Where was the kingdom of "Judah"? (g) Who is going to rule all the world from "Zion"?
(a) See The Origin
(b) See The Civil War
(c) See The United Kingdom
(d) See The Division Of Israel
(e) See The Northern Kingdom; see also Kings of Israel and Judah
(f) See The Southern Kingdom; see also Israelite Dynasties
(g) See The Messiah and Anti-Zion Is Anti-Christ

This Day In History, December 13

1204: Medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon) died at age 69.

1250: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany and Sicily, died and was succeeded by Conrad IV.

1545: The Council of Trent, summoned by Pope Paul III in 1542, opened to discuss doctrinal matters, especially the rise of Protestantism.

1577: British explorer Sir Francis Drake left England with 5 ships, including the Golden Hind, on his voyage around the world - a journey that took almost 3 years.

1642: New Zealand was discovered by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman.

1862: During the U.S. Civil War, General Robert E. Lee with 80,000 Confederates repulsed General Burnside with his 150,000 Federals at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia. After hard fighting, Burnside lost almost 14,000 troops.

1916: During the First World War (listen to our Sermon The European World Wars), an avalanche killed 10,000 Austrian and Italian troops in Tyrol.

1937: Japanese forces took the Chinese city of Nanking. Over the next 6 weeks, in one of the worse atrocities of the Second World War, they killed an estimated 200,000 Chinese in what became known as the "Rape of Nanking."

1939: During the Second World War (listen to our Sermon The European World Wars), the captain of the German battleship Graf Spee ordered his vessel scuttled after being encircled by 3 British cruisers (Exeter, Ajax and Achilles) off the coast of Uruguay.

1941: During the Second World War, British forces withdrew to Hong Kong island as the invading Japanese army took Kowloon and the New Territories.

1945: France and Britain announced that were leaving Syria and Lebanon.

1949: In defiant response to United Nations and Papal demands to make Jerusalem an "international" city, the Israeli Knesset unanimously approved David Ben-Gurion's proposal that the sovereign legislature of the state of Israel be moved to Jerusalem, from Tel Aviv, which it was the next January 1.

1967: King Constantine of Greece and his family fled the country after a counter-coup failed to topple the military-backed government.

1981: In response to the success of the Solidarity Union, Polish communist leader General Wojciech Jeruzelski proclaimed a national emergency and martial law. His action in all probability prevented a Soviet invasion which would have made Solidarity's later victory less likely.

1993: The European Union ratified a treaty creating the world's largest trade bloc, the European Economic Area (EEA).

2000: Al Gore conceded the U.S. Presidential election to George W. Bush, 5 weeks after the very close election was held (Gore actually won the popular vote i.e. nationwide, 500,000 more people voted for Gore than Bush). A 5-4 vote of the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately decided the election however with the decision to stop an in-progress vote recount in Florida (that many people believe Gore also actually won).