Gutter

Gutter (Hebrew tsinnor) appears in 2 Samuel 5:8 in the account of David's capture of Jerusalem from the Jebusites: "Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites..." The word has been interpreted as a water shaft, conduit, or tunnel — possibly the vertical water shaft connecting the city of Jebus to the Gihon Spring below, through which David's warriors may have climbed to take the city by surprise. This interpretation is supported by archaeological discoveries at Jerusalem, including Warren's Shaft (discovered in 1867), a natural vertical shaft connected to the ancient water system that may be the passage referenced.

The same Hebrew word (tsinnor) occurs in Psalm 42:7 in the plural: "deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts (tsinnor)" — where it describes the rushing of waters, consistent with a channel or conduit. In Genesis 30:38, 41, a different but related word appears for the gutters or troughs Jacob placed before the flocks as part of his selective breeding strategy. The Siloam tunnel, Hezekiah's famous engineering project, is the most celebrated water channel system in ancient Jerusalem, though it dates later than the David narrative.