The Old Testament speaks of En Gedi both as a fertile oasis and a military stronghold (fortress). In relating the account of Jehoshaphat’s battle against a coalition of armies (2nd Chron. 20), the chronicler equates En Gedi with Hazazon-Tamar and says that the enemies of Israel gathered for battle there.
Interestingly, Hazazon-Tamar is said to be an Amorite stronghold (Genesis 14.7), relating the account of Abraham’s rescue of his nephew Lot from an alliance of five kings.
1st Samuel 23-24 records dramatic encounters of Saul and David at En Gedi.
In a prophetic statement, Ezekiel forecasts a time that En Gedi, along with En Eglaim, will serve as boundaries of the Dead Sea that will be teeming with fish and its saltiness turned fresh by a stream of water flowing from the Temple when Israel is restored. (Ezekiel 47:10)
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