Gihon

2 definitions found

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  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 softly" (Isa. 8:6) refers to
     the gentle stream that still flows through the tunnel into the
     Pool of Siloam, then this excavation must have existed before
     the time of Hezekiah.
     
       In the upper part of the Tyropoeoan valley there are two pools
     still existing, the first, called Birket el-Mamilla, to the west
     of the Jaffa gate; the second, to the south of the first, called
     Birket es-Sultan. It is the opinion of some that the former was
     the "upper" and the latter the "lower" Pool of Gihon (2 Kings
     18:17; Isa. 7:3; 36:2; 22:9). (See {CONDUIT}; {SILOAM}.)
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Gihon, valley of grace