The works of the Reverend and learned John Lightfoot D. D., late Master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge such as were, and such as never before were printed : in two volumes : with the authors life and large and useful tables to each volume : also three maps : one of the temple drawn by the author himself, the others of Jervsalem and the Holy Land drawn according to the author's chorography, with a description collected out of his writings.

CHAP. V. BETHESDA. Joh. V.

I. The Situation of the Probatica. II. The Fountain of Siloam, and its streams. III. The Pool 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Shelach, and the Pool 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Shiloach. IV. The Targumist on Eccles. II. 5. noted. V. The Fountain of Etam. The Water-gate.

SECT. I. The Situation of the Probatica.

IT is commonly said that the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the Probatica, or the Sheep-gate, (for let us annex the word Gate to it out of Nehem. III. 1.) or at least Bethesda was neer the Temple. Consult the Commentators and they almost all agree in this opinion; with their good leave, let it not be amiss to interpose these two or three things.

I. That no part of the outward wall of the City (which this sheep-gate was) could be so neer the Temple, but that some part of the City must needs lye between. Betwixt the North gates and the Temple, Zion was situated. On the West was part of Zion and Millo. On the South Jerusalem, as it is distinguisht from Zion. On the East the East-street, whose Gate is not the sheep-gate, but the water-gate.

II. The 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the sheep-gate, according to Nehemiah's description, should be situated on the South-wall of the City not far from the corner that pointed South-East. So that a considerable part of Jerusalem lay betwixt the Temple and this Gate.

We have elswhere made it plain that Zion was situated on the North-part of the City, contrary to the mistake of the Tables, which place it on the South. Now therefore con∣sider to how great an extent the wall must run before it can come to any part of Zion; to wit, to the stairs that go down from the City of David, v. 15. which were on the West; and thence proceed to the Sepulchres of David, v. 16. till it come at length to

the water-gate and Ophel toward the East, v. 26. and thence to the corner neer which is the sheep-gate, v. 31, 32. and this will plainly evince that the description and progress in Nehemiah is first of the South-wall, from the sheep-gate to the West-corner; then of the West-wall, and so to the Northern and the Eastern, which makes it evident that the sheep-gate is on the South-wall, a little distant from the corner which looks South-East, which could not but be a considerable distance from the Temple, because no small part of Jeru∣salem as it was distinguisht from Zion, laid between.

SECT. II. The Fountain of Siloam, and its streams.

OUR enquiry into Bethesda, (if I be not greatly mistaken) must take its rise from the fountain of Siloam.

I. The proper and ancient name for the fountain of Siloam was Gihon, 1 King. I. 33.* 1.1 Bring ye him [Solomon] down to Gihon. Targum, to Siloam. Kimchi, Gihon is Siloam, and is call'd by a twofold name. The Tables that describe Jerusalem speak of a mount Gihon, by what warrant I cannot tell; if they had said the fountain Gihon it might have pleas'd better.

II. How that name Gihon should pass into Siloam, is difficult to say. The waters of it are mention'd Isa. VIII. 6. to signifie the reign and soveraignty of the house of David. So the Targum, & Sanhedr.

Rabh. Joseph saith, If there had been no Targum of this Scrip∣ture,* 1.2 we had not known the sense of it, which is this: Forsomuch as this people is weary of the house of David, whose reign hath been gentle, as the flowing of the wa∣ters of Siloam, which are gentle, &c.

Therefore it was not in vain that David sent his Son Solomon to be anointed at Gihon or Siloam; for he might look upon those waters as some type or shadow by which the reign of his house should be decipher'd.

III. The situation of it was behind the West-wall, not far from the corner that pointed* 1.3 toward the South-west. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. The wall bent Southward above the fountain of Siloam, and then again inclin'd toward the East.

The waters of this spring by different streams derived themselves into two Fish-pools, as seems hinted in 2 Chron. XXXII. 30. Hezekiah stopt the upper water-course of Gihon, and brought it streight down to the West-side of the City of David; where a M. S. of the Targum, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 instead of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 we should write 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 of the waters. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 I suspect that for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 should be writ 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in pipes. He stopped up the up∣per waters of Gihon, and brought them in pipes. But to let this pass, that which I would observe is this, that there was a water-course from Gihon or Siloam, which was call'd the upper water-course, which flow'd into a Pool, call'd also the upper Pool, Isa. XXXVI. 2. and as it should seem, the old Pool, Isa. XXII. 11. By Josephus the Pool or Fish-pool of Solomon; for so he in the place before cited.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. The wall again inclin'd Eastward, even to Solomon's Fish-pond, and going on to the place call'd Ophel, it came over against the Eastern Porch of the Temple. From whence we may gather that Solomon's Fish-pool was within, hard by the East-wall of the City, and on this side the place they call'd Ophel; which does so well agree with the situation of Bethesda within the sheep-gate, that it seems to me beyond all doubt or question, that Solomon's Pool, and the Pool of Bethesda was one and the same.

SECT. III. The Pool 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Shelach, and the Pool 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Shiloach.

BY another stream the waters of Siloam are deriv'd into another Pool which is call'd the lower Pool, Isa. XXII. 9. and the Kings Pool, Nehem. II. 14. neer the West∣wall of Zion.

We have the mention of it also in Nehem. III. 15. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the Pool of Siloam by the Kings garden. Where we may observe that it is here written 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Shelah, different from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Shiloah, Isa. VIII. 6. by a difference hardly visible in Bibles not pointed, indeed sometimes overlookt by my self, and so as is evident by others. For 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is render'd in the very same sound with Shiloahh, in the Complutensian, Vulgar, English and French Bibles. And in St. Joh. IX. 7. where there is mention of the Pool Siloam, some Commentators refer you to that Text in Nehemiah.

The Greek Interpreters did indeed observe the difference, and thus render the words of Nehemiah, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. The Pool of skins by the Kings

Wool. Nor doth the Italian over-look it, for that renders it thus: La Piscina di Selac presse al Orto del Re: The fish-pond of Selac hard by the Garden of the King.

It is observable in the Greek Version, that whereas they render the word by 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the King's Wool, or Hair; they may seem to have read 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 a ••lcece of Wool, for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 a Garden: and whereas they translate 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 by 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉▪ the Pool of Skins, the follow they signification of the word as it is frequently used amongst the Talmudists.

Now therefore here ariseth a question, whether that Pool be the Pool of Siloam or no, which as yet hath hardly been questioned by any, and for some time not by my self. But I am now apt to think, that it was so distinguished betwixt the two Pools, that the lower Pool retaining its name of the Pool of Shelah, the upper Pool obtained that of Si∣loah. For,

I. How otherwise should that distinction in the Greek Version arise, but that the Inter∣preters followed the common pronunciation of the word Shelahh, when they render it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, of Skins.

II. Those words of St. John IX. 7. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, In the Pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation, Sent, seem to intimate that there were two Pools of a very near sound, whereof one signified 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Sent, the other not.

III. The Jerusalem Talmudists seem to say that the upper Pool was called the Pool of Siloam, in these words: * 1.4 He that is unclean by a dead body, doth not enter into the mount of the Temple. It is said, that they appear only in the Court. Whence do you measure? From the wall or from the Houses? It is Samuel's Tradition, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 from Siloam; now Siloam was in the midst of the City.

The question here propounded is, whether he that is unclean by a dead body may be permitted to enter the Temple, and the stating of it comes to this, that enquiry be made, within what measure he is to be admitted, whether within the wall of the Tem∣ple, or at that distance where the Houses next to the Temple end: especially where the Houses of Siloam end.

Now whereas they say 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 that Siloam is in the midst of the City, it must by no means be understood of the Fountain its self, for that was plainly without the City; nor yet of the lower Pool Shelahh for that also was without the City, or scarce within it. There is therefore no third, unless that this upper Pool be called the Pool of Siloam, and that it give denomination to the adjacent part of the City, to wit, to the five Porches and the buildings about it: which, though they were not in the very centre of the City, yet they might properly enough be said to be in the middle of it, be∣cause they were situated a good way within the walls, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Luk. XIII. 4. the Tower of Siloam was amongst these buildings.

SECT. IV. The Targumist on Eccles. II. 5. noted.

IT is an even lay, whether the Targumist on this place deal more cunningly, or more obscurely. The passage is about the King's Gardens: and He, I planted me all trees of Spice 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which the Goblins and the Demons brought me out of India: and then goes on, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and the bound of it was from the wall that is in Jerusalem, by the bank of the waters of Siloam. Render 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 juxta ripam, by the bank, for illustration's sake; for ad ripam, to the bank (as the Latine Interpreter renders it) although it might signifie the same, yet it may also signifie something else, and so become a difficulty not to be resolved. Besides it is to be observed, that it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 upon, or above, not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 unto.

The meaning of the Targumist seemeth to be this, that the King's Gardens were bounded in this manner. They extended from the descent of Zion untill they come over against Shelahh, or the lower Pool, even to the beginning of the wall of the City which is in Jerusalem; which wall runs near to the bank of the waters of Siloam.

That passage in Nehem. III. 15. illustrates this: The Gate of the Fountain repaired Shallum—and the wall of the Pool of Shelahh by the King's Gardens. The Gate of the Fountain, whether that was called so from thee Pool of Siloam, or otherwise, was at some distance from the King's Pool, Nehem. II. 14. And by the wall of the City that run be∣tween the Gate and the Pool, there was Rivulets drawn from the Fountain into that Pool.

The words of the Targumist therefore, are to be so rendred, as that the King's Gardens may not be said to extend themselves to the bank of the waters of Siloam, but that the wall of Jerusalem ran along by the bank of those waters, and the Garden to the first part

of that wall. So that he does not call the lower Pool, by the name of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Siloah, but by the waters of Siloah he understands the stream that came from the Fountain, and fell into that Pool.

SECT. V. The Fountain of Etam. The Water-gate.

THE Collector of the Hebrew Cippi, Grave-stones, hath this passage concerning the Fountain of Etam. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 In the way betwixt He∣bron and Jerusalem, is the Fountain Etam, from whence the waters are conveighed by Pipes, into the great Pool at Jerusalem. It is so translated by the Learned Hottinger, who also himself adds, I suppose here is meant the Probatica, or the Pool by the Sheep-gate.

The Rabbins often and again tell us of an Aqueduct from the Fountain of Etam to Je∣rusalem. But it may very well be doubted, whether that Fountain be in the way to Hebron, or whether those waters run into the Pool by the Sheep-gate. For,

I. If the Fountain of Etam be the same with the waters of Neptoah mentioned, Jos. XV. 9. Which the Gloss supposeth * 1.5, (where it is treating about the Fountain of Etam) then it lieth quite in another quarter from Hebron, for Hebron lies on the South, and Neptoah on the West.

II. The waters streaming from the Fountain Etam, were not conveighed into the City, but into the Temple. Which might be abundantly made out from the Talmudists, if there were any need for it. And probably Aristeas hath respect to this Aqueduct. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. There is a confluence of water that never fails (speaking of the Temple) as if there were a great spring within naturally flowing, and for the space of five furlongs (as appeared every where about the Temple) there were certain receptacles made, under the Earth, by a wondrous and unspeakable art. And a little after: They led me out of the City above four furlongs, where one bad me lean down my head at a certain place and listen at the noise that the flow of waters there made, &c.

In a word, to any one that is conversant in the Talmudick Authors, nothing can be more plain, than that the Aqueduct from the Fountain of Etam was into the Temple and not into the City: and it is plain enough in Holy Writ, that the Aqueduct into the Sheep-Pool, was from the Fountain of Siloam: which also from that spring from whence it was derived, is called the Pool of Siloam; and from him that first made it, the Pool of Solomon, and from the miraculous medicinal vertue in it, the Pool of Bethseda.

As to the Water-gate, we find it mentioned Nehem. III. 26. situated on the East-wall of the City; called the Water-gate, because through that, the waters flowed out of the Temple, and perhaps those also out of Bethesda. For, whereas the waters ran incessantly out of Etam into the Temple, and those that were more than needed, flowed out of the Temple, they all fell down into the Valley that lay between the Temple and Jerusalem, and emptied themselves by that Gate, which bore the name of the Water-gate upon that account. And it is probable, that the Pool of Bethesda which also had its constant supply by the Aqueduct from the spring of Siloam, did also continually empty it self along the descent of the Hill Acra, through the same Gate, and so into the Brook Kidron.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Kimchi in loc.
• * 1.2

  Targ. & Sanhed. fol. 94. 2.
• * 1.3

  Ioseph. de Ex∣cid.
• * 1.4

  Chagiah, fol. 76. 1.
• * 1.5

  Joma, fol. 31. 1.