Pool of Siloam
The Pool of Siloam, at the southern tip of ancient Jerusalem, received water from the Gihon spring through Hezekiah's remarkable tunnel - cut through a third of a mile of solid rock to secure the city's water against the Assyrian siege. Its lasting fame, though, comes from John 9: Jesus anointed the eyes of a man born blind with clay, and told him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by interpretation, Sent).' He went, washed, 'and came seeing' - the only Gospel healing of someone blind from birth, and the spark for an interrogation in which the healed man ran rhetorical circles around the Pharisees: 'One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.' Jesus had also invoked Siloam's waters at the feast of tabernacles, and the pool itself - rediscovered by archaeologists in 2004 - can be visited today.
Details
- Region
- Jerusalem
- Modern Location
- City of David, Jerusalem
Key Passages
The Man Born Blind Washes and Sees
John 9:6-11
Clay, a command, and a pool named 'Sent' - the blind man's obedience completes a healing that becomes John's great parable of spiritual sight.
6hen he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
Did You Know?
Hezekiah's workmen dug the tunnel feeding Siloam from both ends simultaneously and met in the middle - their victory inscription, carved where they met, survives today.
The pool itself was rediscovered in 2004 during sewer repairs - its broad stone steps now confirm it was a monumental public pool in Jesus's day.
John notes Siloam means 'Sent' - and Jesus, the sent one, sent a blind man to the pool called Sent; the wordplay is the theology.