Page 98 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

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In the 8 century B.C., King Hezekiah was attacked by the
Assyrians, and in preparation for the siege of the city, he
constructed a tunnel to bring water from the Gihon spring
to a pool within the city walls. (2 Kings 20:20). Two teams
of workers carved the tunnel out of solid rock, each from
opposite directions. It was an amazing feat.

Most scholars think that Hezekiah’s tunnel emptied into
what is known today as the Pool of Siloam. It was called
the “upper pool” in Hezekiah’s time. The Jewish historian
Josephus (37 AD -100 AD) described Siloam as a fountain
and located it near the exit of the tunnel that Hezekiah
constructed. In Jesus’ time, Siloam was a well-known area
containing a tower as well as a pool, where Jesus sent a
blind man to wash (John 9:7, 11). It was near the tower
that Jesus referenced those who died without repentance
(Luke 13:1-9). Jesus warned His disciples that unless a
person bears good fruit in his life, his life is as worthless as
a fig tree that never bears figs.

Again, on the Sabbath as Jesus healed a woman who
could not straighten up for 18 years, the Jewish leaders
became indignant. Rather than rejoice in her healing, The pool of Siloam at exit of Hezekiah’s Tunnel
they rejected the event as an act of disobedience to the
Law, because it occurred on the Sabbath. Jesus called them hypocrites which humiliated them, but the
people who watched this miracle delighted in what He was doing. While Jesus never violated the Law of
Moses, He did transgress some of the traditions of the Jewish elders – their own man-made additions to
God’s law.

The Story of Hezekiah’s Tunnel

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