Oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea (Joshua 15:62; 1 Samuel 23:29; 24:1; 2 Chronicles 20:2; Song of Solomon 1:14; Ezekiel 47:10), named spring of the kid for the freshwater springs that flow from the cliffs into the Dead Sea, supporting an unexpected lush ecosystem of palm trees and vineyards in the otherwise desert environment. En-Gedi is the site of one of the most theologically significant episodes in the David-and-Saul narrative. David, fleeing Saul, took refuge in the wilderness of En-Gedi: David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at En-gedi (1 Samuel 23:29). When Saul learned of David's location, he took three thousand chosen men and went seeking David among the rocks of the wild goats. Saul entered a cave to relieve himself; David and his men were hidden in the very depths of the cave; David's men urged him to kill Saul as the LORD's deliverance of his enemy into his hand; David refused, cut off only the skirt of Saul's robe, and even his heart smote him for that minor act because Saul was the LORD's anointed (1 Samuel 24:1-7). David then called out to Saul as he left the cave, displayed the skirt of his robe, and made his great appeal: The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee (1 Samuel 24:12). Saul wept and acknowledged David's righteousness. The episode is one of the great OT lessons on refusing to take the LORD's anointed into one's own hand. The Song of Solomon 1:14 also celebrates En-Gedi: my beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi. The patriarchal-Reformed reader receives En-Gedi as the place of refuge and the place of David's restraint — the cave-of-conscience-honoring that established David's distinction from Saul.