Archaeologists miraculously unearth steps to ancient Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed a blind man

Blaze Media ^ | September 10, 2023 | PAUL SACCA

[george76]

Archaeologists in Israel have unearthed a sacred Christian site in Jerusalem, where Jesus performed a miracle by healing a blind man. The steps to the ancient Pool of Siloam haven't been seen for more than 2,000 years.

The discovery of the steps is a bit of a miracle as well. Construction was being conducted in 2004 to repair a large sewage pipe south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount in the City of David. During the repair procedure, a strange scrapping noise was heard. Archaeologists identified ancient stone steps in the vicinity.

Since the discovery, major excavations have been taking place in the area.

According to the Biblical Archaeology Society, "Further excavation revealed that they were part of a monumental pool from the Second Temple period, the period in which Jesus lived. The structure Reich and Shukron discovered was 225 feet long, with corners that are slightly greater than 90 degrees, indicating a trapezoidal shape, with the widening end oriented toward Tyropoeon valley."

...

In recent weeks, archaeologists uncovered a series of steps leading to the ancient Pool of Siloam, that are being seen for the first time in over 2,000 years.

Some experts say the pool may have been used as a mikveh or a ritual bath for Jewish pilgrims to purify themselves before visiting the Temple.

However, the Pool of Siloam also has major significance for Christians. It is at the steps to the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed a blind man.

The Gospel of John (John 9:1–11) states that Jesus found a man blind from birth at the steps near the pool, and then performed a miracle. Jesus Christ advised the blind man to wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam, and upon doing so he had his vision restored.

The Siloam Pool is also believed to be mentioned in the Old Testament book of II Kings 20:20.

The ancient Pool of Siloam is estimated to have been constructed some 2,700 years ago during the reign of King Hezekia. Water from the Gihon Spring flowed to the pool through a 1,750-foot tunnel under the City of David. The religious landmark is believed to have reached the size of 1.25 acres at one point.

Ze’ev Orenstein – international affairs director for the City of David Foundation – recently told Fox News, "The ongoing excavations within the City of David — the historic site of Biblical Jerusalem — particularly of the Pool of Siloam and the Pilgrimage Road, serve as one of the greatest affirmations of that heritage and the millennia-old bond Jews and Christians have with Jerusalem."

The Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel National Parks Authority, and the City of David Foundation announced earlier this year that the Siloam Pool and the nearby biblical site would be open to the public in the near future for the first time in 2,000 years.

Orenstein proclaimed, "There is no half-mile anywhere on Earth which means more to more people — not to millions, but to billions — than the half-mile that is the City of David."

[ComputerGuy]

...a strange scrapping noise...

That's a dead giveaway.

[Jim W N]

What’s the difference between Jerusalem and the City of David?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

What's the difference between Jerusalem and the City of David?

Jerusalem is the what ever boundaries the city happens to have now.

The City of David is much smaller and older part. I think the boundary is the wall but don't quote me on that because it has been some time since I looked it up and I don't have time now.

[jjotto]

City of David is south of the current walls of Jerusalem’s Old City.

The current walls of the Old City are around 500 years old.

[fella]

Go to the article, there’s a picture of a man dragging a bucket through the water.(/sarc)

So much current writing make unexplained statements. Go to your library and look up Newspapers and magazines from the 1950s and 1960s and see how things used to be written.

[Honorary Serb]

Orthodox Sunday of the Blind Man (during the Pascha season):

https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2016/06/05/40-sunday-of-the-blind-man

At the end of Chapter 8 in Gospel of Saint John, the Savior was disputing with the Pharisees in the Temple during the Feast of Tabernacles. He told them, “Your father Abraham was glad that he should see my day; and he saw it and rejoiced” (John 8:56). The Jews said that Jesus was not even fifty years old, so how could He claim to have seen Abraham? The Lord replied, “Before Abraham was, I am.” I am, of course, is the name that God revealed to Moses in the Burning Bush. When the Jews picked up stones to throw at Him, He hid Himself and went out of the Temple.

We read in SaInt John’s Gospel (9:1-38): “As He passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth.” It might appear that Jesus was on His way to something or someone else, but in his Commentary on the Gospel of Saint John, the ever-memorable Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas, quotes from Homily LVI of Saint John Chrysostom: “that on going out of the Temple, He proceeded intentionally to the work, is clear from this: it was He who saw the blind man, and not the blind man who came to Him....”

Christ’s disciples asked Him who had sinned, the blind man or his parents that he had been born blind. Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God might be manifested in him” (John 9:3). It was thought that a person who had some affliction must have sinned (or his parents did) to deserve such punishment. In the Book of Exodus (20:5), God said that he would visit “the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.” This, however, applied to the sin of idolatry, if the children emulated their parents’ behavior.

The blind man was not born blind just so the miracle could be performed, but seeing the man in such a condition, the Lord decided to use him in a way that would manifest God’s glory. He Who is the Light of the world healed the blind man and enlightened him. Giving sight to the blind was one of the signs which would identify the Messiah (Matthew 11:4-6).

The Lord made clay when He spat on the ground, and placed it in the man’s empty eye sockets and sent him to the pool of Siloam to wash. Most versions of the Gospels translate the word επεθηκεν as “anointed,” but it can also mean “to spread on,” or “to smear.” Siloam means “sent,” and in Saint John’s Gospel Christ says about forty times that He Himself had been sent by the Father.”

This manner of healing reminds us of the way God created man by fashioning him from the dust of the earth. In the Old Testament God created man from the dust of the earth, now Christ, the same God, fashions eyes from the clay and places them in the blind man’s empty sockets.

[The Truth Will Make You Free]

The structure Reich and Shukron discovered was 225 feet long, with corners that are slightly greater than 90 degrees, indicating a trapezoidal shape, with the widening end oriented toward Tyropoeon valley."

Incomprehensible. If all angle are 90+ degrees it must have 5 or more sides. A trapezoid MUST have at least one angle less than 90 degrees.

[ComputerGuy]

Yes. I remember the days before Journalism became mainstream.

[Jim W N]

OK, so what’s the difference between Jerusalem’s Old City walls and the City of David?

[Spaceman49]

The first mention in the Old Testament of Jerusalem as the “City of David” is found in 2 Samuel 5:7-9

Hope this helps.

[jjotto]

Modern Jerusalem is huge compared to even Ottoman Jerusalem. Current population is about one million. The City of David is within current Jerusalem boundaries, but is outside the Old City.

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/map-of-jerusalem-municipal-boundaries

[Verginius Rufus]

If this is really the pool of Siloam, it’s less than 2000 years since it was last seen—since Jesus’ miracle was less than 2000 years ago, and the pool may have continued to be used until the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70.

[scouter]

Exactly the point I was going to make. I hate bad editing. If they make this kind of error it casts doubt on everything else in the article.

[Jim W N]

Thank you.

I get the tabernacle of David. The tabernacle of David differs from the tabernacle of Moses because in the tabernacle of David, there were no barriers between the people and the Holy of Holies (as in today’s unfettered relationship with Jesus Christ).

David was an old Testament (law) person with a new Covenant (grace) mentality. David understood God better than most (today as well as in his day) because David was a man after God’s own heart.

I guess I’ve never really studied the City of David which the Bible also called “the stronghold of Zion” (1 Chronicles 11:4-8). Looks like Jerusalem was called “Jebus” when David came upon it, captured “the stronghold of Zion”, and established the City of David in “Jebus” later known as Jerusalem.

David was ahead of his time then and in many ways still ahead of believers who don’t understand the grace and love of God the way he did.

[samiam5]

...a strange scrapping noise...

They’re always scrapping in the middle east.

[samiam5]

Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

[ComputerGuy]

They just can’t get along like we do here in the USA.

[SunkenCiv]

The rest of the Pool of Siloam keyword, sorted:

• Pool of Siloam Discovered, Silencing Many Skeptics [05/13/2023]
• Excavation Site of Pool of Siloam Where Jesus Cured a Blind Man to Open to Public [01/10/2023]
• Archaeologists Find Rare 'Balm of Gilead' Gemstone Near Jerusalem's Western Wall [10/24/2021]
• Ancient Jerusalem Road Leading to Holy Temple Unveiled [07/02/2019]
• Finding the Pool of Siloam: Historicity of the Gospel of John [02/01/2016]
• Biblical Pool of Siloam uncovered in Jerusalem [02/24/2006]
• True size of Pool of Siloam discovered due to sewer blockage [12/24/2005]
• Archeology Proves Bible History Accurate [11/13/2005]
• Raiders Of The Lost Pool (New finds bolster the historicity of John's gospel) [10/27/2005]
• Raiders of the Lost Pool [of Siloam] New finds bolster the historicity of John's Gospel [10/27/2005]
• RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN ISRAEL PERTAIN TO KING DAVID, JESUS [08/20/2005]
• Pool of Siloam, Where Jesus Healed Blind Man, Uncovered [08/12/2005]
• Biblical Pool Uncovered in Jerusalem [08/09/2005]
• Biblical Pool of Siloam Is Uncovered in Jerusalem [08/08/2005]
• Archaeologists Identify Remains of Site Where Bible Says Jesus Restored Blind Man's Sight [12/23/2004]

[Bookshelf]

Brings to mind Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Once upon a time some of the loveliest day lilies were sold there.