sion to them; but in his new character, as master
of the dominions of Saul, David became at once a dangerous rival, whom
they must overthrow without delay, unless they were willing to risk
being ere long overthrown by him. They therefore made an attack on
Bethlehem with the choicest of their forces, and entrenched themselves
there, with the Canaanite city of Jebus as their base, so as to separate
Judah entirely from Benjamin, and cut off the little army quartered
round Hebron from the reinforcements which the central tribes would
otherwise have sent to its aid.* This move was carried out so quickly
that David found himself practically isolated from the rest of his
kingdom, and had no course left open but to shut himself up in Adullam,
with his ordinary guard and the Judsean levies.**

* The history of this war is given in 2 Sam. v. 17-25, where
the text shows signs of having been much condensed. It is
preceded by the account of the capture of Jerusalem, which
some critics would like to transfer to chap, vi., following
ver. 1 which leads up to it. The events which followed are
self-explanatory, if we assume, as I have done in the text,
that the Philistines wished to detach Judah from Israel: at
first (2 Sam. v. 17-21) David endeavours to release himself
and effect a juncture with Israel, as is proved by the
relative positions assigned to the two opposing armies, the
Philistines at Bethlehem, David in the cave of Adullam;
afterwards (2 Sam. v. 22-25) David has shaken himself free,
has rejoined Israel, and is carrying on the struggle between
Gibeah and Gezer. The incidents recounted in 2 Sam. xxi. 15-
22, xxiii. 13-19, seem to refer almost exclusively to the
earlier part of the war, at the time when the Hebrews were
hemmed in in the neighbourhood of Adullam.

** The passage in 2 Sam. v. 17 simply states that David
"went down to the hold," and gives no further details. This
expression, following as it does the account of the taking
of Jerusalem, would seem to refer to this town itself, and
Renan has thus interpreted it. It really refers to Adullam,
as is shown by the passage in 2 Sam. xxiii. 13-17. 1 2 Sam.
xxi. 15-17.

The whole district round about is intersected by a network of winding
streams, and abounds in rocky gorges, where a few determined men could
successfully hold their ground against the o