SILOAII
742
SILOAH
Sifloe. The Greek fathers, adhering to the Sept., have JSiloam. The word does not occur in the Apocryjiha. Josephus gives both Siloam and JSiloa (IWuid// and i'l- Xwa), generally the former.
II. Jtkiitijicalwn. — Siloam is one of the few undis- puted localities (thougli Kelaiid and some others mis- jdaced it) in the topography of Jerusalem, still retaining its old name (with the Arabic modification, i^iUicdn), while everj' other pool has lost its Bible designation. This is the more remarkable as it is a mere suburban tank of no great size, and for many an age not partic- ularly good or plentiful in its waters, though Josephus tells us that in his day they were both "sweet and abundant" ( Wa?; v, 4, 1). Apart from the identity of 7uime, there is an unbroken chain of exterior testimony, during eighteen centuries, connecting the present Bir- ket iSilirdn with the Shiloah of Isaiah and the Siloam of John. There are difficulties in identifying the Bir Eyub (the well of Salah-ed-din, Ibn-Kyub, the great digger of wells, Jalal-Addin, p. 239), but none in fixing Siloam. Josephus mentions it fretpiently in his Jewish War, and his references indicate that it was a somewhat noted place, a sort of city landmark. From him we learn that it was without the city (j'^w rov aarewc, War, v, 9, 4); that it was at this pool that the "old wall" took a bend and shot out eastward (ai'rtKrt^/Trrov iig ch'aro- Xfjv, ibid, v, (5, 1); that there was a valley under it {rip' VTTo ^iXwufi (pdpayya, ibid, vi, !S, 5), and one beside it (r{/ Kara T))v SiXuid/i (pdpayyi, ibid, v, 12, 2); a hill {\u(por) right ojiposite, apparent!}' on the other side of the Kedron, hard by a cliff or rock called Peristereon (ibid.) ; that it was at the termination or mouth of the Tyropoeon {ibid, v, 4, 1) ; that close beside it, apparent- ly eastward, was another pool called Solomon's Pool, to which the "old wall" came after leaving Siloam, and past which it went on to Ophlas. where, bending north- ward, it was united to the eastern arcade of the Temple. In the A ntonine Itinerary (A.D. 333) it is set down in the same locality, but it is said to be "juxta murum," as Josephus implies; whereas now it is a considerable distance — upwards of 1200 feet — from the nearest angle of the present wall, and nearly 1900 feet from the south- ern wall of the Hariim.
Jerome, towards the beginning of the 5th centurA', describes it as "ad radices montis Moriah" {in Matt, x), and tells (though without endorsing the fable) that the stones sprinkled with the blood ("rubra saxa") of the prophet Zechariah were still pointed out {in Matt, xxiii). He speaks of it as being in the Valley of the Son of Iliiniom, as Josephus does of its being at the mouth of the Tyropteon («« .Jer. ii)\ and it is noticeable that he (like the rabbins) never mentions the Tyropieon, while he, times without numl)er, speaks of the Valley of the Son of Ilinnom. He speaks of llinnom and Tophet, with their groves and gardens, as watered by Siloam {in Jer. xix, G; xxxii, 35). " Tophet, (piie est in valle filii Knnom, ilium locum significat qui Siloe fontibus irriga- tur, et est amwnus at(|ue nemorosus, hodieque hortorum pncbet delicias" {in Jer. viii). He speaks of Siloam as dependent on the rains, and as the only fountain used in bis day : " Uno fonte Siloe et hoc non perpetuo utitur ci vitas; et ustpie in prtesentem diem sterilitas phivia- rum, lion solum frugiim sed et bibendi inopiam facit" {in Jer. xir). Now, though .Jerome ought to have known well the water supplies of .Jerusalem, seeing he lived the greater part of his life within six miles of it, yet other authorities and the modern water provision of the city show us that it could never have been wiiolly de- pcndent on U» poidn. Its innumeralile boitle-necketl private cisterns kept up a supjily at all times, and hence it often happened that it was the besiei/er.f, not the bi- Kief/ed, that suffered most; though .I(ise]>lius records a memorable instance to the contrary, wlieii, relating a speech he made to the .Jews, standing beyond their darts on a part of the south-eastern wall which the h'o- mans had carried, lie speaks of Siloam as overflowing since the IJoniaiis had got access to it, whereas before,
when the Jews held it, it was drj' {War, v, 9, 4). We may here notice, in passing, that Jerusalem is, except perhaps in the verj' heat of the year, a well-watered city. Dr. Barclay says that " within a circuit swept by a radius of seven or eight miles there are no less than thirty or forty natural springs" {City of the Great King, p. 2'J.j) ; and a letter from consul Finn adds, "This I be- lieve to be under the truth, but they are almost all found to the south and south-west: in those directions there does not appear to be a village without springs." Stra- bo's statement is that Jerusalem itself was rocky but well watered {evvdpov), hut all the region around was barren and waterless (Xvirpciv Kai ufv?por, xvi, 2, 36). We have only to add that Jerome {Comment, in Esa. viii,&), indicating its situation more precisely, also men- tions its irregular flow — a very remarkable circumstance, which has been noticed by most subsequent pilgrims and travellers. This assures us that the present fountain of Siloam is that which he had in view, and that it is the same to which the scriptural notices refer there is no reason to doubt.