POOL (בְּרֵכָה, H1391, a pond of water).
1. Pool. Although there are other Heb. words that are tr. “pool,” the characteristic one is בְּרֵכָה, H1391. It usually refers to an artificial pool, but Isaiah 14:23 seems to be otherwise. This word differs from אֲגַמ֒, H106, in that the latter refers to standing water, i.e. “a marsh”; that it can also mean “pool” is evident from the fact that it is used in figure to express the idea of God’s blessing. “The “flowing spring” is usually called the עַ֫יִנ֒, H6524, and the “reservoir” the מִקְוָה, H5225. The Heb. words בְּאֵר֒, H931, and בּﯴר, H1014, also are used. The latter is tr. “well” often in the KJV, but some later VSS render it “cistern.” The OT word most properly meaning “well” appears to be בְּאֵר֒, H931. The only Gr. word tr. pool in the KJV is κολυμβήθρα, G3148, which is used in John 5:2, 4, 7 to refer to the pool of Bethesda, and in John 9:7, 11 to designate the pool of Siloam. Its literal meaning is “a place of diving.”
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 can be identified.
2. Pools of Solomon. There are three pools located in the valley of Etham, just S of Bethlehem and ten m. from Jerusalem, that are designated in this manner. Even today they are an important part of the water supply for Jerusalem. The pools are fed by springs and surface water and a twisting aqueduct, at least as early as Rom. times, conveyed the water ultimately to Jerusalem and to Bethlehem en route. Lacking pumping facilities, the ancients had to plan and engineer with skill to take full advantage of the gravity. The pools were hewn out of rock and in part artificially constructed with masonry. They have been repaired many times through the years. The pools are arranged at successive levels with conduit connections between them. The E wall of the lowest pool forms a dam across the valley. The pools were roughly rectangular in shape and varied in depth from about twenty-five ft. in the upper pool to fifty ft. in the lower pool. The lower pool is the largest, being about 582 ft. long with a width varying from 148 ft. to 207 ft. The water arriving in Jerusalem was run into a huge cistern under the Temple area called the “Great Sea.”
Bibliography W. Smith, A Dictionary of the Bible, II, 904; J. Orr (ed.) ISBE, IV (1939), 657-660.