Joshua 12:15

15. Libnah] See Jos_10:29-30.

Adullam] In the low country of Judah, a place of great antiquity (Gen_38:1; Gen_38:12; Gen_38:20). The limestone cliffs of the locality are pierced with extensive caverns, one of which is famous as the refuge of David (1Sa_22:1; 2Sa_23:13). The city was fortified by Rehoboam (2Ch_11:7). Adullam has been traditionally identified with a place called Khureitun, where is a great cave which has been explored by Captain Warren and Lieutenant Conder. Later writers are inclined to place it at Deir Dubbân, about six miles north of Beit Jibrîn (Eleutheropolis). M. Clermont Ganneau, however, was the first to discover the site of Adullam and the existing name of Ayd el Mieh, which preserves all the essential letters of the Hebrew. Lieutenant Conder has now made a careful survey of the spot. He finds the ruins of an ancient town (Gen_38:1; Gen_38:12; Gen_38:20), strongly situated (Jos_12:15, and 2Ch_11:7) on a height commanding the broad valley of Elah, which was the highway by which the Philistines invaded Judah (1Sa_17:19), and where David killed Goliath. Roads connect it with Hebron, Bethlehem, and Tell es Safiyeh—the probable site of Gath. There are terraces of the hill for cultivation, scarped rock for fortification, tombs, wells, and aqueducts. The “Cave” is a series of caves, some of moderate size and some small, but quite capable of housing David’s band of followers.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 15. Adullam] A city belonging to the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:35. In a cave at this place David often secreted himself during his persecution by Saul; 1Sa 22:1.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The king of Libnah, one,.... Taken at the same time as the kings of Makkedah, Debir, and of other places were, Jos 10:29,

the king of Adullam, one; a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:35; Jerom says (k) there was a village in his time, not a small one, called by this name, ten miles to the east of Eleutheropolis: near to this place was a cave where David hid himself when he fled from Saul, Sa1 22:1; See Gill on Mic 1:15.

(k) De loc. Heb. fol. 88. F.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Odullam, ten miles east of Eleutheropolis, and famous for the retreat of David. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

15. Libnah — See Jos_10:29. Adullam is placed, in Jos_15:35, among the cities of the valley between Jarmuth and Socho. Eusebius and Jerome place it ten miles east of Eleutheropolis, but its site has not been ascertained.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Adullam. In the Shephelah. (valley in our version. See Jos_15:33-35) Canon Tristram in his "Bible Lands," as well as Conder in his "Handbook," identify this with Aid-el-Me, or Mich. In the Quarterly Paper of the Palestine Exploration Fund for July, 1875 (see also Jan., 1874), Lieut. Conder details a visit to this place, previously identified by M. Clermont-Ganneau. These explorers reject the idea approved by Vandevelde and others, that this Deir Dabban is the ancient Adullam. The place he prefers fulfils all requirements. It is in the Shephelah. It is near Jarmuth and Socoh. It is an ancient site with "rock cut tombs, good water supply, and main road, and communications from different sides, and it is moreover a strong military position. It contains no remarkable cave, but a number of small ones, now used as habitations by the peasantry." Keilah, which David saved from the Philistines, (1Sa_23:1-5) was within a reasonable distance. The present name, Aid-el-Me or Mieh, the feast of the hundred, may be a misapprehension of the word Adullam similar to that which converts the Welsh "yr eifel," in Carnarvonshire, into the English "the rivals," or which identifies in many English names the English burn (brook) with the French borne (boundary). One of the greatest objections to the theory is that the Hebrew so frequently speaks of the place as Cave-Adullam (Ma"arah-Adullam), as though some special cave existed there. Adullam plays a somewhat important part in Scripture history. We hear of it as early as Genesis 38, where Hirah the Adullamite is spoken of as a friend of the patriarch Judah.. It is well known as the refuge of David and his mighty men. (1Sa_22:1 2Sa_23:13-17) It was the place where David composed two of his psalms, the 57th and the 142nd. Rehoboam fortified it. (2Ch_11:7) It seems to be regarded as a refuge in Mic_1:15. And it is mentioned among the cities re-occupied after the return from the captivity in Neh_11:30.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.