


POOL (בְּרֵכָה, H1391, a pond of water).

Pool.



The conservation of water was crucial to the people of Pal. Rainfall in Jerusalem averages about twenty-five inches, and it falls between fifty and sixty days per year. Natural terrain was utilized to store water where possible, and where nature was not so obliging, toiling hands carved out a substitute. If the sources of water happened to be outside the walls of the city, the people often would construct tunnels to bring in the precious commodity so that it would be available in time of siege. Hezekiah’s tunnel is an instance of this (2 Kings 20:20), and similar arrangements have been uncovered at Gezer and Megiddo. Because of the cruciality of water, disputes often broke out in the vicinity of its sources (Gen 26:15-22). Moses, it will be remembered, assisted the oppressed daughters of the priest of Midian to secure water for their animals (Exod 2:16ff.). It is quite possible that of the various pools mentioned in the Bible some c