a small
army, with Abiathar as priest, and the ephod, rescued from Nob, in his
possession.**

* 1 Sam. xix.-xxii., where, according to some critics, two
contradictory versions have been blended together at a late
period. The most probable version is given in 1 Sam, xix. 8-
10 [11-18a], xxi. 1-7 [8-10], xxii., and is that which I
have followed by preference; the other version, according to
these writers, attributes too important a role to Jonathan,
and relates at length the efforts he made to reconcile his
father and his friend (1 Sam. xviii. 30, xix. 1-7, xx.). It
is thought, from the confusion apparent in this part of the
narrative, that a record of the real motives which provoked
a rupture between the king and his son-in-law has not been
preserved.

** 1 Sam. xxii. 20-23, xxiii. 6. For the use of the ephod by
Abiathar for oracular purposes, cf. 1 Sam. xxiii. 9-12, xxx.
7, 8; the inquiry in 1 Sam. xxiii. 2-4 probably belongs to
the same series, although neither Abiathar nor the ephod is
mentioned.

The country was favourable for their operations; it was a perfect
labyrinth of deep ravines, communicating with each other by narrow
passes or by paths winding along the edges of precipices. Isolated
rocks, accessible only by rugged ascents, defied assault, while
extensive caves offered a safe hiding-place to those who were familiar
with their windings. One day the little band descended to the rescue of
Keilah, which they succeeded in wresting from the Philistines, but no
sooner did they learn that Saul was on his way to meet them than they
took refuge in the south of Judah, in the neighbourhood of Ziph and
Maon, between the mountains and the Dead Sea.*

* 1 Sam. xxiii. 1-13; an episode acknowledged to be
historical by nearly-all modern critics.

[Illustration: 326.jpg THE DESERT OF JUDAH]

Drawn by Boudior, from photograph No. 197 of the _Palestine
Exploration Fund._ The heights visible in the distance are
the mountains of Moab, beyond the Dead Sea.

Saul already irritated by his rival's successes, was still more galled
by being always on the point of capturing him, and yet always seeing him
slip from his grasp. On one afternoon, when the king had retired into a
cave for his siesta, he found himself at the mercy of his adversary; the
latter, however, respected the sleep of his royal master, and contented