Pool

A pool (Hebrew berekhah; Greek kolumbethra) in ancient Palestine was an artificial reservoir or cistern hewn from rock or built with masonry to collect rainwater or channel spring water. Jerusalem's water supply depended on a series of pools: the upper pool (2 Kgs. 18:17; Isa. 7:3), the pool of Siloam (Neh. 3:15; John 9:7), and Hezekiah's famous tunnel that brought Gihon spring water into the city (2 Kgs. 20:20). The pool of Bethesda near the Sheep Gate had five colonnades and was associated with healing (John 5:2–9). Jesus healed a man born blind by sending him to wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9:7). The pool of Gibeon (2 Sam. 2:13) was the site of the tragic encounter between Joab's and Abner's men that opened the war of succession after Saul.