Hezekiah's Tunnel
Description
The newer Siloam Tunnel (Hebrew: נִקְבַּת הַשִּׁלֹחַ, Nikbat HaShiloaḥ), also known as Hezekiah's Tunnel (Hebrew: תעלת חזקיהו, is a water channel that was carved within the City of David in ancient times, now located in the Arab neighborhood of Silwan in eastern Jerusalem. Its popular name is due to the most common hypothesis that it dates from the reign of Hezekiah of Judah (late 8th and early 7th century BC) and corresponds to the "conduit" mentioned in (2Kings 20:20) in the Hebrew Bible. According to the Bible, King Hezekiah prepared Jerusalem for an impending siege by the Assyrians, by "blocking the source of the waters of the upper Gihon, and leading them straight down on the west to the City of David" (2Chr 32:30 ). By diverting the waters of the Gihon, he prevented the enemy forces under Sennacherib from having access to water.
The Bible verses relating to a tunnel in Hezekiah's time are these: (2Kings 20:20); (2Chr 32:2 -4); (2Chr 32:30 ; (Isa 22:11 )
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Hezekiah's Tunnel - Gihon Spring to Siloam Pool
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Dictionary information
Hezekiah
whom Jehovah has strengthened.
Son of Ahaz (2Kings 18:1; 2Chr 29:1 ), whom he succeeded on the throne of the kingdom of Judah. He reigned twenty-nine years (B.C. 726-697). The history of this king is contained in (2Kings 18:20; Isa 36:1 etc.; 37:1etc.; 38:1etc.; 39:1etc.), and (2Chr 29:1 etc.; 30:1etc.; 31:1etc.; 32:1etc.). He is spoken of as a great and good king. In public life he followed the example of his great-granfather Uzziah. He set himself to abolish idolatry from his kingdom, and among other things which he did for this end, he destroyed the "brazen serpent," which had been removed to Jerusalem, and had become an object of idolatrous worship (Num 21:9 ). A great reformation was wrought in the kingdom of Judah in his day (2Kings 18:4; 2Chr 29:3 -36).
On the death of Sargon and the accession of his son Sennacherib to the throne of Assyria, Hezekiah refused to pay the tribute which his father had paid, and "rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not," but entered into a league with Egypt (Isa 30:1 etc.; 31:1etc.; 36:6-9). This led to the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib (2Kings 18:13-16), who took forty cities, and besieged Jerusalem with mounds. Hezekiah yielded to the demands of the Assyrian king, and agreed to pay him three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold (2Kings 18:14).
But Sennacherib dealt treacherously with Hezekiah (Isa 33:1 ), and a second time within two years invaded his kingdom (2Kings 18:17; 2Chr 32:9 ; Isa 36:1 etc.). This invasion issued in the destruction of Sennacherib's army. Hezekiah prayed to God, and "that night the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000 men." Sennacherib fled with the shattered remnant of his forces to Nineveh, where, seventeen years after, he was assassinated by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer (2Kings 19:37). (See SENNACHERIB)
The narrative of Hezekiah's sickness and miraculous recovery is found in (2Kings 20:1; 2Chr 32:24 ; Isa 38:1 ). Various ambassadors came to congratulate him on his recovery, and among them Merodach-baladan, the viceroy of Babylon (2Chr 32:23 ; 2Kings 20:12). He closed his days in peace and prosperity, and was succeeded by his son Manasseh. He was buried in the "chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David" (2Chr 32:27 -33). He had "after him none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him" (2Kings 18:5). (See ISAIAH)
EBD - Easton's Bible Dictionary