probably in order to avoid the caves in which the kings of Judah had been laid to rest ever since the time of David,* and they were beginning to despair of ever uniting the two sections of the tunnel, when they suddenly heard one another through the wall of rock which divided them.  A few blows with the pick-axe opened a passage between them, and an inscription on the wall adjoining the entrance on the east side, the earliest Hebrew inscription we possess, set forth the vicissitudes of the work for the benefit of future generations.  It was scarcely completed when Kezin, who had joined forces with Pekah at Samaria, came up and laid regular siege to Jerusalem.**

     * This is the highly ingenious hypothesis put forward and
     defended with much learning by Clermont-Ganneau, in order to
     account for the large curve described by the tunnel.

     ** 2 Kings xvi. 5; cf. 2 Chron. xxviii. 5-8.  It was on this
     occasion that Isaiah delivered the prophecies which, after
     subsequent revision, furnished the bulk of chaps, vi. 1—­x. 4.

The allies did not propose to content themselves with exacting tribute from the young king; they meant to dethrone him, and to set up in his room a son of Tabeel, whom they had brought with them; they were nevertheless obliged to retire without effecting a breach in his defences and leave the final assault till the following campaign.  Rezin, however, had done as much injury as he could to Judah; he had laid waste both mountain and plain, had taken Elath by storm and restored it to the Edomites,* and had given a free hand to the Philistines (735).**

     * 2 Kings xvi. 6, where the Massoretic text states that the
     Syrians retained the town, while the Septuagint maintain
     that he restored it to the Edomites.

** Chron. xxviii. 18, where a list is given of the towns wrested from Judah by the Philistines.  The delight felt by the Philistines at the sight of Judah’s abasement seems to be referred to in the short prophecy of Isaiah (xiv. 29-32), wrongly ascribed to the year of Ahaz’s death.

[Illustration:  241.jpg HEBREW INSCRIPTION ON THE SILOAM AQUEDUCT]

A direct reproduction from a plaster cast now in Paris.  The inscription discovered by Schick, in 1880, has since been mutilated, and only the fragments are preserved in the museum at Constantinople.  Some writers think it was composed in the time of Hezekiah; for my own part, I agree with Stade in assigning it to the period of Ahaz.

The whole position seemed so hopeless, that a section of the people began to propose surrendering to the mercy of the Syrians.*