Bible Dictionary
Siloam, Tower of
The Tower of Siloam was a tower near Jerusalem that fell and killed eighteen people. Jesus referred to its collapse while teaching that those who suffered were not necessarily greater sinners than others.
Definition
The Tower of Siloam was a tower near Jerusalem that fell and caused the deaths of eighteen people. Its exact structure and location are not otherwise known with certainty.
Biblical Usage
Jesus referred to the tower’s collapse in teaching that those who died were not necessarily more guilty than others. The event served as a call to repentance rather than as proof of exceptional personal guilt.
Historical Background
The place was associated with the village of Silwan, or Kefr Silwan, near the Pool of Siloam on the east side of the Kidron valley. A possible connection with a projecting tower near Ophel was suggested.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Mentioned only Luke 13:4. The place here spoken of is the village now called Silwan, or Kefr Silwan, on the east of the valley of Kidron, and to the north-east of the pool. It stands on the west slope of the Mount of Olives. As illustrative of the movement of small bands of Canaanites from place to place, and the intermingling of Canaanites and Israelites even in small towns in earlier times, M.C. Ganneau records the following curious fact: “Among the inhabitants of the village (of Siloam) there are a hundred or so domiciled for the most part in the lower quarter, and forming a group apart from the rest, called Dhiabrye, i.e., men of Dhiban. It appears that at some remote period a colony from the capital of king Mesha (Dibon-Moab) crossed the Jordan and fixed itself at the gates of Jerusalem at Silwan. The memory of this migration is still preserved; and I am assured by the people themselves that many of their number are installed in other villages round Jerusalem” (quoted by Henderson, Palestine).