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August 16, 2005
Pool of Siloam: It's There
I always suspected the pool where Jesus healed "the man born blind (John 9) was not a figment of John's imagination:
When the sewer line in the Old City of Jerusalem needed repairs in the fall of 2004, the workmen made a historic discovery: the biblical Pool of Siloam. The Gospel of John cites this as the place where Jesus cured the blind man. Theologians have long thought the setting of the pool was a "religious conceit" used by John to illustrate a point. Turns out, the place is real. And it's exactly where John said it is, reports The Los Angeles Times of a new study published in the Biblical Archaeology Review.
So now we know. In case you're wondering about the dating:
How could they be so sure? When the workmen crafted the steps centuries ago, they buried four coins in the plaster, all of which date from 103 to 76 BC. In addition, in the soil in one corner of the pool, the archaeologists found a dozen coins that date from 66 to 70 AD, indicating that the pool was being filled in at that time.
Posted by James M. Kushiner at 10:51 AM | Permalink
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Comments
I'm curious: who are some of these theologians who 'have long thought the setting of the pool was a "religious conceit"'? I can't recall having encountered that assertion anywhere.
Posted by: Matthias | Aug 16, 2005 11:20:13 AM
There are some excellent comments on the L.A. Times article here:
http://www.bibleplaces.com/poolofsiloamanalysis.htm
The links in that artcle are also excellent.
I was pleased to see the author ask about the quote "exactly where John said it was," because like him, I couldn't find any mention in John of a location.
There is also an article in the September/October issue of Biblical Archeology Review, freely available as a PDF at their site:
http://www.bib-arch.org/
Paul
Posted by: Paul Jungwirth | Aug 17, 2005 8:16:17 AM
A comment on a related blog points out that Nehemiah 3:15-16 does give some detail on the location of the pool, and that could be the basis for the statement. Perhaps someone said "it's right where the Bible said it would be" and the next person in line assumed that that was a reference to John.
Posted by: Matthias | Aug 17, 2005 12:02:03 PM
I was so pleased to read about the find of the Pool of Siloam! It is wonderful material to tell our young people aboutto enforce the validity of God's word for them. I also learned something I had never heard; there were actualy 3 Pools of Siloam! One is yet to be found. that is really something! thanks, God bless, Rose
Posted by: Rose | Nov 19, 2005 3:22:27 PM








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