The legend that the cave was a hiding place of King Zedekiah (Tzidkiyahu; a Judean king of the 6th century BC[10]) dates back to at least the 11th century AD. At that time, Biblical commentator Rashi wrote that Zedekiah tried to escape from the troops sent by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar to besiege Jerusalem. (The story was also repeated in the next century by the commentator Radak.)