:30 AND THE WATER SYSTEMS OF PRE-EXILIC

Judith M. Hadley

Most Hebrew Bible scholars contend that the construction of the Siloam Tunnel in Jerusalem, which was hewn out of the bedrock under the City of , and which carries water from the on the eastern side of the Ophel ridge along a winding course to the Pool of Siloam (located in the Tyropean Valley on the western side of the Ophel ridge), was carried out during the reign of King of , in anticipation of King of ’s siege of the city in 701 bce. Indeed, the identi- fication of this tunnel with Hezekiah is so widespread that the tunnel is popularly known simply as ‘Hezekiah’s Tunnel,’1 although that identifica- tion is not without its critics.2 The attribution to Hezekiah is commonly based on discussions in 2 Kgs 20:20; 2 Chr 32:3, 30; Isa 22:9–11 and Ben Sira 48:17. Crucial to this argument is 2 Chr 32:30, which asserts that “Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the ” [NRSV ]. This verse is generally con- sidered to correspond to the earlier 2 Kgs 20:20, which reads: “The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah, all his power, how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?” [NRSV ]. Not everyone interprets 2 Chr 32:30 (or its assumed Vorlage) in just this way, however. Among the dissenters is Hugh Williamson, who notes that Hezekiah’s water sys- tem is mentioned only in the course of the summary of Hezekiah’s reign

1 Cf. e.g., John A. Thompson, 1, 2 Chronicles (NAC 9; Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), 361; Raymond B. Dillard, 2 Chronicles (WBC 15; Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1987), 257; Steven S. Tuell, First and Second Chronicles (IBC; Louisville, Ky.: John Knox Press, 2001), 226; Yigal , “City of David: Excavation 1978,” BA 42 (1979): 165–71, esp. 168. 2 Cf. e.g., Robert North, “Does Archeology Prove Chronicles Sources?” in A Light Unto My Path: Old Testament Studies in Honor of M. Myers (ed. Howard M. Bream, Ralph D. Heim and Carey A. Moore; Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1974), 375–401; and more recently John Rogerson and Philip R. Davies, “Was the Siloam Tunnel Built By Hezekiah?” BA 59/3 (1996): 138–49; but for counter arguments see Ronald S. Hendel, “The Date of the : A Rejoinder to Rogerson and Davies,” BA 59/4 (1996): 233–37; Jane Cahill, “A Rejoinder to ‘Was the Siloam Tunnel Built by Hezekiah?’” BA 60/3 (1997): 184–85; Stig Norin, “The Age of the Siloam Inscription and Hezekiah’s Tunnel,” VT 48 (1998): 37–48, among others. 274 judith m. hadley that is given in Kings and Chronicles, and not in the context specifically of Hezekiah’s preparations for the siege earlier (as outlined for example in 2 Chr 30:3–4). Therefore, Williamson believes that “from a historical point of view . . . it had probably been built earlier. It is in any case unlikely that so large an undertaking could have been completed in time after the immediate Assyrian threat had become known.”3 This essay offers a fresh assessment of the textual and archaeological evidence bearing on this matter, attempting to determine the connection, if any, between Hezekiah and some of the water systems of Jerusalem, and whether or not any of the water systems was built in preparation for the siege of Sennacherib. honoured and extremely delighted to have been asked to contribute the essay to this Festschrift for Professor Williamson, and I offer it with great respect—and with some fear and trembling, as I tread on his ‘turf ’ in the book of Chronicles.

I. Textual Discussion

It has long been the consensus that the Chronicler’s history is to be dated to a much later time than the Deuteronomistic History, of which the book of Kings is a part, and that the author of Chronicles used the book of Kings as a source4 (albeit there have been a few dissenters).5 Assuming that this is so, it is interesting to note that 2 Chr 32:30 and 2 Kgs 20:20, although they are certainly similar to each other, also differ from each other signifi-

3 H. G. M. Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles (NCB; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 380. 4 An examination of the dating of the book of Chronicles is beyond the scope of this article. See among others Martin Noth, The Chronicler’s History (trans. H. G. M. Williamson; JSOTSup 50; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987); Isaac Kalimi, An Ancient Israelite Historian: Stud- ies in the Chronicler, His Time, Place and Writing (Assen: van Gorcum, 2005); Williamson, Chronicles; Sara Japhet, I & II Chronicles: A Commentary (OTL; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/ John Knox Press, 1993). For comparisons between DtrH and Chronicles see Ehud Ben Zvi, “Are There any Bridges out There? How Wide was the Conceptual Gap between the Deu- teronomistic History and Chronicles?” in Community Identity in Judean Historiography: Bib- lical and Comparative Perspectives (ed. Gary N. Knoppers and Kenneth A. Ristau; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2009), 59–86; and Mark J. Boda, “Identity and Empire, Reality and Hope in the Chronicler’s Perspective,” in Community Identity in Judean Historiography: Bib- lical and Comparative Perspectives (ed. Gary N. Knoppers and Kenneth A. Ristau; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2009), 249–72. 5 Some believe that Kings and Chronicles had common sources but that Chronicles was not directly dependent on Kings, or else that Chronicles had a different Vorlage of Samuel- Kings; we may note Graeme Auld, Kings Without Privileges: David and Moses in the Story of the Bible’s Kings (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1984), 22–29; and Steven L. McKenzie, The Chroni- cler’s Use of the Deuteronomistic History (HSM 33; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985), 187.