Greek word · G2861

κολυμβήθρα

kolymbēthra

pool

A pool you can swim or immerse in, from kolymbaō, 'to dive, swim.' It means a built reservoir or bathing pool, not a natural pond.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

κολυμβήθρα, -ας, ἡ

(κολνμβάω), [in LXX for בְּרֵכָה, 2 Kings 18:27, al. ;]

a swimming pool, pool: John 5:2, 4 5:7 9:7.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: A pool you can swim or immerse in, from kolymbaō, 'to dive, swim.' It means a built reservoir or bathing pool, not a natural pond.
Against the English: All the major versions say 'pool.' That is accurate, though it can call up a small pond rather than a large stepped masonry basin.
Used elsewhere in the period: Plato uses it for a swimming pool (Republic 453d). The Greek Old Testament uses it for Jerusalem's reservoirs, such as 'the upper pool' (2 Kgs 18:17; Isa 7:3), and for royal pools (Eccl 2:6). John uses it again for the Pool of Siloam (9:7).

Range of meaning: A built pool or reservoir. Etymologically it means 'a place for diving or swimming' (from κολυμβάω). In Greek it refers to bathing pools and public cisterns.
Against the English: 'Pool' is correct, but it can suggest a small pond. The Siloam pool was a large public construction.
How it drifted: Modern English 'pool' brings to mind a swimming pool or a small natural pond, and neither fits.
Used elsewhere in the period: LXX 2 Kgs 18:17 and Isa 7:3 ('the conduit of the upper pool'); Neh 2:14; 3:15–16. In John only here and at Bethesda (5:2). In 2004 archaeologists (R. Reich and E. Shukron) uncovered a Second Temple-period pool at the south end of the City of David. It had broad flights of steps on its sides and was more than 50 m long. It is widely identified as the Pool of Siloam of Jesus' day.

John · 3

John 5:2 κολυμβήθρα, a pool,

Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.
John 5:7 κολυμβήθραν· pool;

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.”

Here: A built pool deep enough to go down into. The word comes from the verb 'to swim, dive.' This is the pool near the Sheep Gate with five colonnades (v.2).
John 9:7 κολυμβήθραν pool

Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.

Here: Literally a 'diving place', from κολυμβάω, 'to dive or swim'. It means a constructed pool or reservoir. In John it is used only here and for Bethesda (5:2, 4, 7).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.