was come, and that [1]he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, 3he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city; and they helped him. 4So there was gathered much people together, and they stopped all the fountains, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water? 5And he took courage, and built up all the wall that was broken down, and [2]raised it up to the towers, and [3]the other wall without, and strengthened Millo in the
3. to stop the waters] Cp. 2 Kin. xx. 20 "[Hezekiah] made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city," and Is. xxii.
9, 11.
At the present day there is an underground tunnel cut through the rock leading from St Mary's Well down to the Lower Pool of Siloam (Bädeker, Pal.5, pp. 25, 83). It is rudely constructed and owing to its windings is 586 yards long, though the distance in a straight line is only 368 yards. As therefore the Lower Pool was probably within the ancient walls, while St Mary's Well was outside, this tunnel may be Hezekiah's conduit. If the well were stopped, the besiegers would lose the water, which would collect in the Pool for the use of the besieged. An inscription in ancient Hebrew characters ("The Siloam Inscription") discovered in situ describes briefly the digging of the tunnel, but does not enable us to fix the date of it with certainty. For the original text and an English translation see G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, I. 95 f., or Driver, Notes on Hebrew Text of Samuel, viii. ff.
4. the brook that flowed] The Heb. verb means "flow with strong stream" (as a flood). We naturally look for such a brook either east of Jerusalem in the valley of Kidron or south in the valley of the son of Hinnom, but no perennial stream runs in either valley now. Possibly (owing to physical changes in the configuration of the country) the waters which fed such a brook in the Chronicler's day now lose themselves in the soil.
5. broken dozen] Cp. xxv. 23 (note).
raised it up to the towers] Heb. vayya'al 'al. Read and he heightened the towers, i.e. omitting the second 'al as a dittography.
the other wall] In Is. xxii. 9—11 the preparations to meet the Assyrian attack are described by the prophet who speaks of a "ditch" (R.V. "reservoir") made at this time between "the two walls." In Excavations at Jerusalem, 1894—1897, Dr Bliss describes a buttressed wall (pp. 96 ff.) built without lime (see his frontispiece for an illustration
