Tower of Siloam
The
Tower of Siloam was a tower that existed near
Jerusalem in ancient times. The tower evidently fell before or during the time of
Jesus of Nazareth, with substantial loss of life. For many years, the only evidence that there was a Tower of Siloam was its single mention in the
Christian Bible, which occurs in
Luke 13:4. However, more recently
archaeological excavation has revealed what some Biblical scholars believe to be the ruins of the tower.
The fall of the tower and its significance
The Tower of Siloam appears in a discourse of Jesus which addresses \nthe apparent fact that disaster falls upon the just as well as the\nunjust. For extended discussion of this issue, see the Wikipedia article Problem of evil.
The following quotation of the relevant passage is taken from the King James translation:
- 1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Assuming that these words represent an actual utterance of Jesus and were not a later interpolation, it is clear that Jesus takes the view that the worst sinners were
not specially singled out for disaster, either in Pilate's slaughters or under the falling tower.
Aside from this, it is difficult to determine what were Jesus's views on the problem of evil. One possibility is that Jesus simply does not know why God permits the innocent to suffer, but is rhetorically invoking the ever-present possibility of sudden, random death as a way of urging his followers to repent. Another is that Jesus believed that none of the eighteen killed by the falling tower had repented, and that is why God permitted the tower to fall on them. Yet a third (seen, for instance, in
Web postings by
Christian fundamentalists) is that Jesus felt that all of humanity is irredeemably sinful, and that God would be justified in causing the Tower to fall on any of us, irrespective of individual differences in sinfulness. Clearly, other interpretations are also possible.
The Tower of Siloam appeared frequently in Web material written by Christian priests and ministers following the disaster of
September 11, 2001, in which many people also died, apparently at random, under falling towers.
Siloam as a location
The place referred to by the word "Siloam" 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\nfrom place to place, and the intermingling of
Canaanites and\nIsraelites even in small towns in earlier times, M.C. Ganneau\nrecords the following curious fact: "Among the inhabitants of\nthe village (of Siloam) there are a hundred or so domiciled for\nthe most part in the lower quarter, and forming a group apart\nfrom the rest, called Dhiabrye, i.e., men of Dhiban. It appears\nthat at some remote period a colony from the capital of king\nMesha (Dibon-Moab) crossed the
Jordan and fixed itself at the\ngates of
Jerusalem at Silwan. The memory of this migration is\nstill preserved; and I am assured by the people themselves that\nmany of their number are installed in other villages round\nJerusalem" (quoted by Henderson, Palestine).
See also
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