1 Samuel 22:1

1. Departed thence, and escaped Whether he was thrust out of the land or escaped by stealth we are not here told, but from the title of Psalms 34:0 we infer that he was driven away. Having thus effected his escape, his joyful heart gives vent to its feelings in that inimitable psalm.

The cave Adullam A city Adullam was situate in or near the plain of Philistia, (Joshua 15:35;) but there is no passage of Scripture that necessarily connects the cave of Adullam with the city of that name. There appears, therefore, no sufficient reason to disturb the tradition of seven hundred years, which fixes this cave about six miles southeast of Bethlehem, in the side of the wild gorge el-Kureitun. It has been visited by many travellers, who all describe it as an immense natural cavern in the side of the cliff, and very difficult of access. Dr. J.P. Newman, who explored it in 1861, thus writes: “Entering the cave through a passage way six feet high, four wide, and thirty long, but which soon contracted to such dimensions as to compel us first to stoop and then to creep, we at length found ourselves in the hiding place of David. Owing to the curve in the entrance, no sunlight ever penetrates this dismal abode. Lighting our candles, we began to explore.

We found the interior divided into chambers, halls, galleries, and dungeons, connected by intricate passageways. The chief hall is one hundred and twenty feet long, and fifty wide; the ceiling is high and arched, ornamented with pendants resembling stalactites; and from the walls extend sharp projections, on which the ancient warriors hung their arms. The effect was grand as our tapers revealed each irregular arch, graceful pendant, and sharp projection, giving the whole the appearance of a grand Gothic hall. Lateral passages radiate in every direction from this chamber, but ultimately converge in a central room. The darkness and silence were oppressive, and the seclusion and intricacies of the cave would have baffled any attempt of Saul to capture the object of his pursuit. From the side of the first chamber we reached a pit ten feet deep, and from it a low, narrow alley, two hundred and ten feet long, leads to another hall, the inner sanctum, where David held his secret counsels.” David probably became familiar with this cave in his childhood, when he kept his father’s flocks near Beth-lehem.

His brethren and all his father’s house… went down thither Because, on account of Saul’s rage, their lives were no longer safe at Bethlehem.