Isaiah 8:5-8 “The LORD spoke to me again: “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.””
Isaiah 8 has a reference to gently flowing water that was rejected by Judah in favor of the River Euphrates. The first is a metaphor for blessing and salvation and the latter of judgment in explicit terms of overflowing its banks including Israel and Syria and flowing now to Judah in the text. This gently flowing water from the place called Shiloah is called Siloam in the Greek New Testament and LXX. New Testament Word Study Dictionary records the following:
4611. Σιλωάμ Silōám; masc. proper noun. Siloam, meaning sent. The name of the pool and tower near the temple in Jerusalem. Also known as the Pool of Shiloah by the king’s garden (Neh. 3:15; Is. 8:6); called the Pool (John 9:7, 11). According to Josephus, Siloam was a pool at the mouth of the Tyropoeon valley, about sixty yards west of the southern point of Ophel at Jerusalem. It is probable that this was the pool dug by King Hezekiah. It was to the Pool of Siloam that a Levite was sent with a golden pitcher on “the last [p. 1289] day, that great day of the feast” of tabernacles. To this Jesus alluded when, standing in the temple, He cried, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink” (John 7:37–39). To this pool the blind man was sent to wash and returned seeing (John 9:7–11). The tower of Siloam, which killed eighteen men in its fall (Luke 13:4), was nearby.
Gathering from this, a picture of salvation is set forth in Jesus Christ for people to choose the gentle waters that he offers, as opposed to a river of judgment. This especially noted in the references in the gospel accounts of Luke and John above.
The Hebrews would say Shalom Shalom, meaning peace be with you. Siloam is directly said to mean “sent’ in the New Testament. IN Christ our peace has been sent, reception of him who is our peace is wise. Choosing a River of judgment is folly.
Something worth noting is that peace is sent. We often think in terms of self-centered autonomous governance that we are the makers of peace with God, but God is himself the reconciler. It is he who has sent his Son. There is no peace for the wicked who think they can make peace by their efforts and alliances. Peace is received like righteousness—Shalom Siloam.1
or it could be said, “Shalom Shiloam”
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