Gihon

A stream. (1.) One of the four rivers of Eden (Gen. 2:13). It has been identified with the Nile. Others regard it as the Oxus, or the Araxes, or the Ganges. But as, according to the sacred narrative, all these rivers of Eden took their origin from the head-waters of the Euphrates and the Trigris, it is probable that the Gihon is the ancient Araxes, which, under the modern name of the Arras, discharges itself into the Caspian Sea. It was the Asiatic and not the African “Cush” which the Gihon compassed (Gen. 10:7-10). (See EDEN.) (2.) The only natural spring of water in or near Jerusalem is the “Fountain of the Virgin” (q.v.), which rises outside the city walls on the west bank of the Kidron valley. On the occasion of the approach of the Assyrian army under Sennacherib, Hezekiah, in order to prevent the besiegers from finding water, “stopped the upper water course of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David” (2 Chr. 32:30; 33:14). This “fountain” or spring is therefore to be regarded as the “upper water course of Gihon.” From this “fountain” a tunnel cut through the ridge which forms the south part of the temple hill conveys the water to the Pool of Siloam, which lies on the opposite side of this ridge at the head of the Tyropoeon (“cheesemakers’”) valley, or valley of the son of Hinnom, now filled up by rubbish. The length of this tunnel is about 1,750 feet. In 1880 an inscription was accidentally discovered on the wall of the tunnel about nineteen feet from where it opens into the Pool of Siloam. This inscription was executed in all probability by Hezekiah’s workmen. It briefly narrates the history of the excavation. It may, however, be possible that this tunnel was executed in the time of Solomon. If the “waters of Shiloah that go…

(a stream).

valley of grace

GI'HON (fountain, or stream). The name of the second river of Eden, Gen 2:13. Some identify it with the Nile. See Eden. A place near Jerusalem where Solomon was proclaimed king, 1 Kgs 1:33-45. Hezekiah stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and Manasseh built a wall on the west side of Gihon in the valley. 2 Chr 32:30; 2 Chr 33:14. Upper Gihon has been identified by some with Birket Mamilla, 150 rods west of the wall of Jerusalem, which is a pool 300 feet long, 200 wide, and 20 deep. Lower Gihon is supposed to have been the same as Birket es-Sultan, south-west of the Jaffa gate, a pool 600 feet long, 250 broad, and 40 deep. Warren, however, proposes the Pool of the Bath or Hezekiah as the Lower Gihon, the valley being that from the Jaffa gate to the temple-site, now filled up, while Grove and Conder favor the pool Siloam as the site of Gihon. See Jerusalem.

GI'HON (fountain, or stream). The name of the second river of Eden, Gen 2:13. Some identify it with the Nile. See Eden. A place near Jerusalem where Solomon was proclaimed king, 1 Kgs 1:33-45. Hezekiah stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and Manasseh built a wall on the west side of Gihon in the valley. 2 Chr 32:30; 2 Chr 33:14. Upper Gihon has been identified by some with Birket Mamilla, 150 rods west of the wall of Jerusalem, which is a pool 300 feet long, 200 wide, and 20 deep. Lower Gihon is supposed to have been the same as Birket es-Sultan, south-west of the Jaffa gate, a pool 600 feet long, 250 broad, and 40 deep. Warren, however, proposes the Pool of the Bath or Hezekiah as the Lower Gihon, the valley being that from the Jaffa gate to the temple-site, now filled up, while Grove and Conder favor the pool Siloam as the site of Gihon. See Jerusalem.