(6) The cave of Makkedah at Beth-horon, in which the five kings of the Canaanites hid them- selves (Jos 10").
(c) Caves in which the Israelites hid themselves from the Midianites in the time of the Judges (Jg 6'), and from the Philistines in the time of Saul (1 S 13''). Both these references point to the conclusion that caves, both natural and artificial, were very numerous in these times ; some of them may be now covered over and their entrances hidden from view.
id) One of the most celebrated caves in biblical history was the cave of AduUam, in which David took refuge from the wrath of Saul (1 S 22', 2 S 23"). Adullam was one of the cities of Judah, and the reMdence of a Canaanite king (Jos 12"), and the cave was probably the largest of several occupying a position near the summit of the table- land, and overlooking the Plains of Philistia.*
(e) The cave of En-gedi, in the cliffs overlooking the Dead Sea, was another place of refuge for David, after he had been dislodged from the cave of Adullam (1 S 23-'9 24^). See Engedi.
(/) The cave in which Obadiah fed the prophets of the Lord in the days of Ahab (1 K 18*). This cave was probably situated on the flank of Mount Carmel.
The above instances explain the language of Is 2"'- '"■ " where ' men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before tliK terror of the LoKD, and from the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake miglitUy the earth.'
4. Caves, both natural and artificial, were used as places of sepulture : the cave of Machpelah, purchased of Ephron the Hittite, was the sepulchre of Sarah (Gn 23'^), and afterwards of Abraham (Gn 25^), Isaac (35-''-=''), and Jacob (50"). There can be no doubt but that the mosque of Hebron covers the last resting-place of the patriarchs ; it is a spot considered of the highest sanctity by the Arab tribes.t E. Hull.
CEDAR (n,x 'erez, K^Spos, cedrus). — We cannot enter intelligently on the discussion of the cedar without premising that the Heb. word 'erez was probably used for three or more different trees. In this it resembles its English equivalent. Cedar, in English, is used for the cedar of Lebanon, for the Bermuda cedar, of which lead pencils are made, for Juniperus Virginiana, L., and for Cupressus thyoides, L., and other trees. The cedar wood, which (ace. to P) was used with scarlet and hyssop for purification (Lv 14*, Nu 19"), was not, in all probability, the cedar of Lebanon, but a plant obtainable m Sinai, and afterwards in Palestine. Such a tree is Juniperus Phcrnicea, L., which is found on Mt. Hor, and on the brow of the Edomitic limestone dill's overlooking the .\rabah, and probably in the Sinaitic peninsula. If no longer there, there is nothing in the climate to hinder its having grown there formerly. Houghton erroneously calls it oxycedrus, which is a shrub oi small tree of the moiintains of Syria.
It is uncertain what tree is meant by 'drazim (Nu 24'). They are said to be trees growing by water. The cedar of Lebanon does not grow in moist places. On the contrary, it seeks the dry sloping mountain-side, where nothing but the moisture in the clefts of the rocks nourishes
• JosepbuB, Ant. vi. xii. 2; Conder, Tent Work, p. 153. f lb. fSS ; see also Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, 1. 101, 149 ; Robinson, TraveU, ii. 79,
CEDAK
it. Unless we suppose, as has been hinted in the article on Aloes, that the location of the 'drnzim is poetic licence, we must suppose some water-loving tree to be intended in this passage, certainly not the Cedrus Libnni, Barr., nor Juni- perus oxycedrus. Lam., nor indeed any of the conifer.-E of the Holy Land.
Avicenna defines 'arz, in Arab., as the well- known juniper berry. This is the product of Juniperus communis, L.
In most of the passages of Scripture not already cited, probably in all, there can be no doubt that the cedar of Lebanon is intended. Let us analyse them in detail. (1) It was abundant (1 K 6''"'* 10"). There is every reason to believe that the cedar was exceedingly abundant in Solomon's day. The remains of the old forests exist above el- Me'asir, Barflk, 'Ain-Zehalta, el-Hadeth, Besherri, Sir, and the Dunniyeh. They probably covered all the sub-alpine peaks of Lebanon. It is also extremely probable that the cedar flourished in those days on Hernion and Antilebanon, both of which belong to the Lebanon system, and are suited climatically to the growth of these trees. Large forests of them exist in Anianus, and thence
k CED.\R FROM TriK liKSIIKnKI onOVR.
(It Is not one ot the larj^est, but exhibits the charaotcrislic sbape and horizontal ramification.)
they extend northward and westward to Akher- dagh, and for a long distance into the Taurus. The cedar exi.sted also in Cyi)rus ; an.l large forests of it are found in the Atlas and the Himalayas. (2) It was a tall tree (Is 2'^ Am 'I'). Several of the trees in the Besherri grove are 60 or 70 ft. high. In Amanus it often reaches 100 ft. It is quite likely that it reached or exceeded this height in Lebanon. (3) It was not only a tree 'of a high stature,' but one 'with fair (beautiful) branches, and with a shadowing shroud' (dense shade) (Rzk 31"). No qu.ality of the cedar tree is more beautiful than its horizontal spray, with an upper surface flat, and presenting an even carpet of dark green,