Or those eighteen – Jesus himself adds another similar case, to warn them – a case which had probably occurred not long before, and which it is likely they judged in the same manner.

Upon whom the tower in Siloam fell – The name Siloah or Siloam is found only three times in the Bible as applied to water – once in Isa 8:6, who speaks of it as running water; once as a pool near to the kings garden in Neh 3:15; and once as a pool, in the account of the Saviours healing the man born blind, in Joh 9:7-11. Josephus mentions the fountain of Siloam frequently as situated at the mouth of the Valley of Tyropoeon, or the Valley of Cheesemongers, where the fountain long indicated as that fountain is still found. It is on the south side of Mount Moriah, and between that and the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The water at present flows out of a small artificial basin under the cliff, and is received into a large reservoir 53 feet in length by 18 feet in breadth. The small upper basin or fountain excavated in the rock is merely the entrance, or rather the termination of a long and narrow subterranean passage beyond, by which the water comes from the Fountain of the Virgin. For what purpose the tower here referred to was erected is not known; nor is it known at what time the event here referred to occurred. It is probable that it was not far from the time when the Saviour made use of the illustration, for the manner in which he refers to it implies that it was fresh in the recollection of those to whom he spoke.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 4. The tower in Siloam] This tower was probably built over one of the porticoes near the pool, which is mentioned Joh 9:7. See also Ne 3:15.

Debtors, , a Jewish phrase for sinners. Persons professing to be under the law are bound by the law to be obedient to all its precepts; those who obey not are reckoned debtors to the law, or rather to that Divine justice from which the law came. A different word is used when speaking of the Galileans: they are termed , as this word is often used to signify heathens; See Clarke on Lu 7:37; it is probably used here in nearly a similar sense. “Do ye who live in Jerusalem, and who consider your selves peculiarly attached to the law, and under the strongest obligations to obey it – do ye think that those Galileans were more heathenish than the rest of the Galileans, because they suffered such things? No. It was not on this account that they perished: both these cases exhibit a specimen of the manner in which ye shall all perish, if ye do not speedily repent, and turn to God.”

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

4, 5. tower in Siloamprobablyone of the towers of the city wall, near the pool of Siloam. Of itsfall nothing is known.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Or those eighteen,…. Men; the Persic version reads, “those twelve”; but all copies, and other versions, agree in this number:

upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them; there was a pool near Jerusalem, called the Pool of Siloam, Joh 9:7 near, or over which, was a tower built, which fell down and killed eighteen men; very likely as they were purifying themselves in the pool, and so was a case very much like the other, and might be a very late one: and this Christ the rather observes, and puts them in mind of, that they might see that not Galileans only, whom they had in great contempt, but even inhabitants of Jerusalem, died violent deaths, and came to untimely ends; and yet, as not in the former case, so neither in this was it to be concluded from hence, that they were sinners of a greater size, or their state worse than that of other men:

think ye that they were sinners; or debtors; for as sins are called debts, Mt 6:12 so sinners are called debtors:

above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? there might be, and doubtless there were, as great, or greater sinners, in that holy city, and among such that made great pretensions to religion and holiness, as they were.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The tower in Siloam ( ). Few sites have been more clearly located than this. Jesus mentions this accident (only in Luke) of his own accord to illustrate still further the responsibility of his hearers. Jesus makes use of public events in both these incidents to teach spiritual lessons. He gives the “moral” to the massacre of the Galilean pilgrims and the “moral” of the catastrophe at Siloam.

Offenders (). Literally,

debtors , not sinners as in verse 2 and as the Authorized Version renders here. See Luke 7:41; Luke 11:4; Matt 6:12; Matt 18:24-34.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Sinners [] . Lit., debtors. Possibly with reference to the figure at the close of the last chapter. Compare Mt 5:25; Mt 6:12; Mt 18:24; Luk 11:4.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “Or those eighteen,” (e ekeinoi ho dekaokto) “Or even those eighteen,” to whom calamity fell, an event with which Jesus too was familiar.

2) “Upon whom the tower in Siloam fell,” (eph ous epesen ho purgos en to Siloam) “Upon whom the former tower in Siloam fell,” or near the pool of Siloam. Victims of acts of providence are no greater sinners, necessarily, than some others.

3) “And slew them,” (kai apekteinen sutois) “And slew them,” who were building it, in a manner offensive to God. The idea is moral wrong comes to dismal judgment, frequently, even in this life, Gal 6:7-8.

4) “Think ye that they were sinners,” (dikeite hoti auto! opheiletai egenonto) “Do you all think that they were debtors,” obligated to pay a bill for their deeds.

5) “Above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?” (para pantas tous anthropous tous katoikountas lerousalem) “More than, (above) all other men residing in Jerusalem?” Who rejected the Messiah, received him not, tried to establish their own righteousness, Mat 5:20; Rom 10:2-4.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(4) Upon whom the tower in Siloam fell.Here, again, we have a reference to an incident not recorded elsewhere. It was clearly one that had impressed the minds of men with horror, as a special judgment. At or near to Siloam, the modern Birket-Silwan, is a swimming-pool, or tank (Joh. 9:7), where the valley of Tyropon opens into that of the Kedron. It was supplied through artificial conduits, and appears to have been one of a series of pools so fed. It is not unlikely, connected as Siloam thus was with the water-system of the city, that the tower in question was part of the works which Pilate had planned, and partly executed, for the construction of an aqueduct, and for which he appropriated part of the Corban or sacred treasure of the Temple, and if so, the popular excitement which this measure caused (see Note on Mat. 27:2) might well lead men to look on its fall as an instance of a divine judgment on what they regarded as an act of sacrilege.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

4. Or those eighteen A more striking instance, as being more purely providential. Of course history makes no mention of so ordinary an accident as the fall of a tower.

The tower of Siloam Siloam is a fountain south-east of Jerusalem, for a full account of which see Joh 9:7. This tower seems to have stood near the fountain, or perhaps in the locality which received its name from the fountain.

Dwelt in Jerusalem And this brings it home to those informants themselves. Not the poor Galileans alone, but the proud inhabitants of the mountain-girt capital even, must repent or perish.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

“Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, do you think that they were offenders above all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?”

He then takes another example, this time of an ‘accident’ that had happened in the vicinity of Jerusalem. Siloam was the reservoir from which Jerusalem’s water supply came. The tower may have been a watch tower, or it may have been connected with the aqueduct that Pilate built. Whatever tower it was it had clearly simply collapsed. So here the deaths had been purely connected with what could be called ‘an act of God’, that is, something not resulting from men’s actions. Was this then any different?

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Luk 13:4. The tower in Siloam This tower, by its name, appears to have been built beside the bason, or pool of Siloam, (see Joh 9:7.) whose waters running into a lower bason, formed what was called the pool of fleeces, probably from the sheep which were washed in it. The upper bason, or pool of Siloam, seems to have been used as a bathing-place for men; and if it had porticos round it for them to undress in, will answer to the description of the pool of Bethesda, Joh 5:2. Besides, the situation of Bethesda, just by the sheep-gate, agrees with this supposition; for that gate had its name from the sheep-market which was kept at it, and to which the sheep were driven, after having been washed in the pool of fleeces. The tower of Siloam, therefore, which fell, and slew the eighteen persons here mentioned, may have been one of the porticos of Bethesda. This last instance might seem in some respects more to the purpose than the former, as there was no human interposition attending the death of these men; so that it seemed more immediately providential, than that of the Galileans whom Pilate had massacred.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Luk 13:4-5 . Likewise historically unknown.

] the well-known tower. What sort of a one it was is altogether uncertain; perhaps a tower of the town-walls (Joseph. Bell . v. 4. 2), so that the spring of Siloah is here meant (Joseph. l.c. says of the walls of the ancient city, ). As to the spring (on the south-east side of the ancient city) and the pool of Siloah, see on Joh 9:7 .

. .] of the immediate neighbourhood, at . Comp. Xen. Anab . iv. 8. 32, and thereon, Khner, Hom. Il . xviii. 521, and elsewhere.

. ] a genuine Greek transition from a relative to a demonstrative sentence on account of the different government of the two verbs. Comp. on Luk 10:8 .

] (see the critical remarks) they on their part , in opposition to the others, taking them up emphatically, Bornemann, ad Sympos . iv. 63, p. 154; Bernhardy, p. 290. Observe that is stronger than , and hence most appropriately used at Luk 13:5 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

Ver. 4. The tower of Siloam ] A tower, belike, upon the wall of Jerusalem, which stood by the fish pool of Siloam, mentioned Joh 9:17 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

4, 5. ] Our Lord introduces this incident as shewing that whether the band of man or (so called) accidents, lead to inflictions of this kind, it is in fact but one Hand which doeth it all Amo 3:6 . There is also a transference from the Galilans a despised people to the inhabitants of Jerusalem , on whom the fulness of God’s wrath was to be poured out in case of impenitence. Of the incident itself, or of the tower in Siloam (probably the district in which the fountain, Joh 9:7 , was situated, though on the whole matter, and the situation of the fountain itself, there is considerable uncertainty), we know nothing. Josephus says of the wall of the ancient city, , B. J. ver. 4. 2: see also Neh 3:15 . In B. J. vi. 7. 2, he uses , as here, meaning apparently a district of the city: see on John l. c.

, sinners, see Mat 6:12 ; perhaps the same thought may be traced as pervading the saying, as in Luk 12:58-59 , of the last chapter. (No such idea as that the tower was a prison for debtors is for a moment to be thought of.)

] See on above, similarly in the ruin of your whole city. This does not render it necessary that these words should have been spoken to actual dwellers in Jerusalem: for nearly the whole nation was assembled there at the time of the siege.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 13:4 . Jesus refers to another tragic occurrence, suggesting that He was acquainted with both. His ears were open to all current news, and His mind prompt to point the moral. The fact stated, otherwise unknown to us. , word changed, in meaning the same as , moral debtors paying their debt in that dismal way.

The utterances of Jesus on this occasion do not bear on the general question: how far may lot be viewed as an index of character? which was not then before His mind. He assumed that the sufferers in the two catastrophes were sinners and even great sinners, so acquiescing in the popular view, because He wanted to point a lesson for the whole nation which He regarded as fast ripening for judgment. From the saying in the Teaching on the Hill concerning the Father in Heaven giving sunshine and rain to evil and good alike, it is evident that He had risen not only above popular current opinion, but even above the O.T. view as to the connection between physical and moral good and evil. That saying implies that there is a large sphere of Divine action within which moral distinctions among men are overlooked, that good may come to had men and evil to good men. To our Lord it would not have appeared impossible that some of the best men in Israel might be involved in the two calamities here mentioned.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

upon. Greek. epi. App-104.

in. Greek en. App-104. Not the same word as in Luk 13:21.

Siloam. See App-68. Compare Neh 3:16. Isa 8:6. Joh 19:7.

slew = killed.

men. Greek. anthropos. App-123.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

4, 5.] Our Lord introduces this incident as shewing that whether the band of man or (so called) accidents, lead to inflictions of this kind, it is in fact but one Hand which doeth it all-Amo 3:6. There is also a transference from the Galilans-a despised people-to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, on whom the fulness of Gods wrath was to be poured out in case of impenitence. Of the incident itself, or of the tower in Siloam (probably the district in which the fountain, Joh 9:7, was situated,-though on the whole matter, and the situation of the fountain itself, there is considerable uncertainty), we know nothing. Josephus says of the wall of the ancient city, , B. J. ver. 4. 2: see also Neh 3:15. In B. J. vi. 7. 2, he uses , as here, meaning apparently a district of the city: see on John l. c.

, sinners,-see Mat 6:12;-perhaps the same thought may be traced as pervading the saying, as in Luk 12:58-59, of the last chapter. (No such idea as that the tower was a prison for debtors is for a moment to be thought of.)

] See on above,-similarly-in the ruin of your whole city. This does not render it necessary that these words should have been spoken to actual dwellers in Jerusalem: for nearly the whole nation was assembled there at the time of the siege.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Luk 13:4. , or) From the Galileans He passes in His discourse, inasmuch as His departure from Galilee was close at hand, to the people of Jerusalem; comp. Luk 13:33. He passes from slaughter inflicted by men to a casualty, which might seem to have happened by chance.- , those eighteen) A profound and mysterious judgment in the case of the deaths of so many joined together.-, debtors[129]) Comp. Luk 13:34.- ) So the LXX. In Jerusalem, a city in other respects esteemed the holy city.

[129] Sinners, Mat 18:24, and above, ch. Luk 11:4-ED. and TRANSL.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

in Siloam: Neh 3:15, Joh 9:7, Joh 9:11

fell: 1Ki 20:30, Job 1:19

sinners: or, debtors, Luk 7:41, Luk 7:42, Luk 11:4, Mat 6:12, Mat 18:24

Reciprocal: Job 5:4 – they are crushed Mat 21:28 – what Luk 13:2 – Suppose Act 28:4 – No doubt

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

4

Jesus then added another event which they doubtless knew about, though we have no other account of it. He then asked them the same question as in verse 2.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

[Upon whom the tower in Siloam fell.] The poor of Bethesda was the pool of Siloam; and from thence all that adjacent part of the city is denominated Siloam. And therefore it is left doubtful, whether this tower were built over the pool, that is, over the porches of the pool, or stood something remote from it in those parts that yet bore the name of Siloam. And if the article in does not determine the matter, we must continue still in doubt. Will grammar permit that that article should be prefixed to that part of the city? It is certain, that the very pool is called the pool of Siloam. So that I conceive this tower might be built over the porticoes of the pool, and might overwhelm those eighteen men, while they were busied about purifying themselves (and so this event falls in the more agreeably with that of the Galileans), or as they were expecting to be healed at the troubling of the waters: for it is very uncertain at what time this tower fell.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

Luk 13:4. Those eighteen. An allusion to an occurrence then well known, but about which we have no further information.

The tower in Siloam. Probably a tower of the city wall near the pool of Siloam, or in that district, which may have been called by the name of the pool (see on Joh 9:7). The village named Silwan occupies the site of the ancient suburb where the valley of Tyropoeon opens into that of the Kidron.

Offenders, literally debtors (not the same word as in Luk 13:2) as in the Lords prayer (Mat 6:12); there is no reason for supposing that they were actual debtors imprisoned in the tower. This accident (as it is supposed to have been) is classed by our Lord with the slaughter by Pilate. All such events are under Gods control. He is just in permitting them, but we are unjust in drawing uncharitable inferences from them.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Another instance our Saviour gives of persons that fell by a sudden death, even eighteen that were slain by the fall of a tower in Jerusalem. He takes occasion from thence to caution the Jews, that they did not rigidly censure the sufferers, or conclude that those have wrought the most sin, who are brought to most shame. Oh, how ready are we to judge of men’s eternal condition, by their present visitation; and to conclude them the greatest offenders, upon whom God inflicts the most visible punishments! Our Saviour forbids this, and advises every one to look at home, telling the whole body of the Jews, that if they did not repent, they should all likewise perish, and that two ways:

1. By as certain a punishment as these did.

2. Ye shall likewise perish, by the same kind of punishment; you shall perish by the ruin of your whole city, as they did by the downfall of that tower, if a timely and sincere repentance does not intervene.

Learn hence, that we must judge of persons by their conversation towards God, and not by God’s dispensation towards them; all things here fall alike to all. A sudden death, yea, a violent death, as it comes upon many men, so it may come upon the best of men, as well as others: think not, says Christ, that those eighteen were sinners above all that dwelt in Jerusalem, because they sufferd such things, I tell you, Nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Teaching us, that repentance is the only way and means to prevent punishment here, and perishing hereafter: Except ye repent, ye shall perish.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Luk 13:4. Or those eighteen, &c. The case here referred to seems to have occurred lately, and may seem, in some respects, more to the purpose than the former, as there was no human interposition attending the death of these men; so that their destruction appeared to be more immediately from Providence than that of the Galileans, whom Pilate had massacred: on whom the tower in Siloam fell From the fountain of Siloam, which was without the walls of Jerusalem, a little stream flowed into the city, (Isa 8:6,) which was received in a kind of basin, thought by some to be the same with the pool of Bethesda. Being near the temple, it is no wonder that many frequented it for purification. And the calamity here spoken of, occasioned by the fall of a neighbouring tower, had probably happened at some late feast; and some of Christs hearers might then have been at Jerusalem.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Verse 4

Siloam; a fountain near the walls of the city of Jerusalem. The tower might have been a part of the wall. (Nehemiah 3:15.)

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

13:4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in {b} Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

(b) That is, in the place, or river: for Siloam was a small river from which the conduits of the city came; see Joh 9:7 Isa 8:6 ; and therefore it was a tower or a castle, built upon the conduit side, which fell down suddenly and killed some.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Jesus reinforced His point by citing another apparently recent tragedy and repudiating the common view of judgment again. The pool of Siloam lay in the southeastern quarter of Jerusalem. [Note: See the diagram "Jerusalem in New Testament Times" at the end of these notes.] The Greek word opheiletai ("culprits" or "more guilty") means debtors. The Jews used this term as a synonym for sinners (cf. Mat 6:12; Mat 18:24). Jesus asserted that people who experience calamities are not necessarily worse sinners than people who do not. More important, all people face God’s judgment unless they repent.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)