It was here, where almost three thousand years ago, one of the most dramatic meetings described in Tanakh took place – the meeting of King Shaul and of the young David, hiding from his persecution.
This episode is covered in the First Book of Shmuel (1 Kings).
Shaul was chasing David with a large squad while he was hiding in desert mountains with a handful of loyal men.
The king knew that the only place where the runaway could be hiding was in this oasis.
Here, by the stream, which today bears the name of David, the king's squad stopped briefly, and Shaul himself went into a nearby cave.
It was dark, and the king, having come from the bright light outside, could not see that there was someone already there in the cave.
The other, having been sitting in the cave for a long time, got used to the darkness and could see everything... It was David with his small party hiding in the cave .
He did not harm the king and stopped his people from taking revenge on him.
He only stole up on Shaul and secretly cut off a corner of his robe.
And when the king and his squad had departed far enough, David went out of the cave, and called out to him.
Showing him the knife and the cut off corner of the robe, he told Shaul that he had been at his mercy.
That he could have hurt Shaul with the same knife he used to cut the robe, but he hadn't done so because he wished him no evil. “May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.”