Siloam
Siloam is a body of water mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Pool of Siloam. It appears across 5 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
The Pool of Siloam was a reservoir in the southeastern section of Jerusalem fed by the waters of the Gihon Spring through Hezekiah's famous tunnel. Its Old Testament significance lies in this hydraulic engineering project: facing the Assyrian threat of Sennacherib, King Hezekiah cut a 533-meter tunnel through bedrock to channel the Gihon's waters inside the city walls (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:30), ensuring Jerusalem's water supply during siege. The pool also receives an indirect reference in Isaiah 8:6, where the prophet contrasts the "gently flowing waters of Shiloah" with the overwhelming flood of Assyrian power. In the New Testament, Siloam gains its most celebrated significance in John 9, where Jesus heals a man born blind by making clay and instructing him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. The man obeys and returns seeing — a miracle that provoked intense controversy with the Pharisees. Luke 13:4 also references the tower of Siloam, whose collapse killed eighteen people. Through both testaments, Siloam represents a place where the water of physical provision becomes a symbol of spiritual sight and divine grace.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Hezekiah's Tunnel, connecting the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam, was confirmed archaeologically in the nineteenth century and remains one of the most dramatic Iron Age engineering achievements in the ancient Near East. The Siloam Inscription, discovered in 1880 within the tunnel and now housed in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, describes the moment the two digging teams broke through from opposite ends. In 2004, construction work in Jerusalem's City of David uncovered a large Second Temple-period pool identified as the New Testament Pool of Siloam, distinct from the Byzantine-era pool previously associated with it. The newly found pool, with its broad stone steps, has been confirmed through pottery analysis to date to the Herodian period, directly contemporaneous with Jesus's ministry.
Verse Appearances (5)
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →