Ἰωάννην 5:2

Greek Modern Translation

Ειναι δε εν τοις Ιεροσολυμοις πλησιον της προβατικης πυλης κολυμβηθρα, η επονομαζομενη Εβραιστι Βηθεσδα, εχουσα πεντε στοας.

Parallel Translations

Byzantine/Majority Text
εστιν δε εν τοις ιεροσολυμοις επι τη προβατικη κολυμβηθρα η επιλεγομενη εβραιστι βηθεσδα πεντε στοας εχουσα

SBL Greek New Testament (2010)
ἔστιν δὲ ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐπὶ τῇ προβατικῇ κολυμβήθρα ἡ ἐπιλεγομένη Ἑβραϊστὶ ⸀Βηθεσδά, πέντε στοὰς ἔχουσα·

Tischendorf 8th Edition
ἔστιν δὲ ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐπὶ τῇ προβατικῇ κολυμβήθρα, τὸ λεγόμενον Ἑβραϊστὶ Βηθζαθά, πέντε στοὰς ἔχουσα.

Textus Receptus (1550/1894)
εστιν δε εν τοις ιεροσολυμοις επι τη προβατικη κολυμβηθρα η επιλεγομενη εβραιστι βηθεσδα πεντε στοας εχουσα

Westcott/Hort UBS4 (1881)
εστιν δε εν τοις ιεροσολυμοις επι τη προβατικη κολυμβηθρα η επιλεγομενη εβραιιστι βηθζαθα πεντε στοας εχουσα

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

market: or, gate, Nehemiah 3:1, Nehemiah 12:39

pool: Isaiah 22:9, Isaiah 22:11

Bethesda: The supposed remains of the pool of Bethesda are situated on the east of Jerusalem, contiguous on one side to St. Stephen's gate, and on the other to the area of the temple. Maundrell states that, "it is 120 paces long, and forty broad, and at least eight deep, but void of water. At its west end it discovers some old arches, now damned up. These some will have to be porches, in which sat that multitude of lame, halt, and blind. But it is not likely, for instead of five, there are but three.

Reciprocal: Nehemiah 3:32 - the sheep gate Ezekiel 40:16 - arches John 19:20 - in Acts 21:40 - Hebrew Revelation 16:16 - the Hebrew

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep [market],.... The word "market" is not in the text, and of such a market, no account is given in the Scripture, nor in the Jewish writings; and besides, in our Lord's time, sheep and oxen were sold in the temple; rather therefore this signifies, the sheep gate, of which mention is made, in Nehemiah 3:1, through which the sheep were brought into the city, to the temple.

A pool. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, "there is at Jerusalem a sheep pool"; and so it is interpreted in the Arabic version, and Jerom calls it the "cattle pool" f. The Targumist on

Jeremiah 31:39 speaks of a pool called בריכה עגלה, "the calf", or "heifer pool", as Dr. Lightfoot renders it; though the translations of it, both in the London Polyglott, and in the king of Spain's Bible, interpret it "the round pool". This pool of Bethesda, is thought by some, to be the same which the Jews call the great pool in Jerusalem; they say g,

"between Hebron and Jerusalem, is the fountain Etham, from whence the waters come by way of pipes, unto the great pool, which is in Jerusalem.''

And R. Benjamin h speaks of a pool, which is to be seen to this day, where the ancients slew their sacrifices, and all the Jews write their names on the wall: and some think it was so called, because the sheep that were offered in sacrifice, were there washed; which must be either before, or after they were slain; not before, for it was not required that what was to be slain for sacrifice should be washed first; and afterwards, only the entrails of a beast were washed; and for this there was a particular place in the temple, called לשכת המדיחין "the washing room"; where, they say i, they washed the inwards of the holy sacrifices. This pool here, therefore, seems rather, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, to have been a bath for unclean persons; and having this miraculous virtue hereafter spoken of, diseased persons only, at certain times, had recourse to it. The Syriac and Persic versions call it, "a place of a baptistery"; and both leave out the clause, "by the sheep market", or "gate": it is not easy to say where and what it was:

which is called in the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda; which signifies, according to the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions, "an house of mercy", or "grace", or "goodness"; because many miserable objects here received mercy, and a cure. Hegesippus k speaks of a Bethesda, which Cestius the Roman general entered into, and burnt; and which, according to him, seems to be without Jerusalem, and so not the place here spoken of; and besides, this is called a pool, though the buildings about it doubtless went by the same name. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read Bethsaida, very wrongly; and it is called by Tertullian l the pool of Bethsaida. The Hebrew tongue here mentioned is כתב של עבר הנהר, "the language of those beyond the river" m, i.e. the river Euphrates; which is the Chaldee language, as distinct from the Assyrian language, which is called the holy and blessed language; the former is what the Cuthites, or Samaritans used; the latter, that in which the book of the law was written n.

Having five porches; or cloistered walks, which were very convenient for the diseased, which lay here for a cure, so Nonnus: Athanasius o speaks of the pool itself, as in being, though the buildings round about lay in ruins in his time; and p Daviler observes, there are still remaining five arches of the "portico", and part of the basin. Now this place may be an emblem of the means of grace, the ministry of the word, and ordinances: the house of God, where the Gospel is preached, may be called a Bethesda, an house of mercy; since here the free, sovereign, rich, and abundant grace and mercy of God, through Christ, is proclaimed, as the ground and foundation of a sinner's hope; the mercy of God, as it is displayed in the covenant of grace, in the mission of Christ, and redemption by him, in regeneration, and in the forgiveness of sin, and indeed, in the whole of salvation, from first to last, is here held forth for the relief of distressed minds: and this Bethesda being a pool, some of the ancients have thought, it was an emblem of, and prefigured the ordinance of baptism; and that the miraculous virtue in it, was put into it, to give honour and credit to that ordinance, shortly to be administered: but as that is not the means of regeneration and conversion, or of a cure or cleansing, but pre-requires them; rather it might be a symbol of the fountain of Christ's blood, opened for polluted sinners to wash in, and which cleanses from all sin, and cures all diseases; and this is opened in the house of mercy, and by the ministry of the word: or rather, best of all, the Gospel itself, and the ministration of it, mass be signified; which is sometimes compared to waters, and a fountain of them; see Isaiah 4:1 Joel 3:18; and whereas this pool was in Jerusalem, and that so often designs the church of Christ under the Gospel dispensation, it may fitly represent the ministry of the word there: and it being near the sheep-market, or gate, or a sheep-pool, may not be without its significancy; and may lead us to observe, that near where Christ's sheep are, which the Father has given him, and he has died for, and must bring in, he fixes his word and ordinances, in order to gather them in: and inasmuch as there were five porches, or cloistered walks, leading unto, or adjoining to this place, it has been thought by some of the ancients, that the law, as lying in the five books of Moses, may be intended by them; for under the law, and under a work of it, men are, before they come into the light and liberty, and comfort of the Gospel; and as the people which lay in these porches, received no cure there, so there are no relief, peace, joy, life, and salvation, by the law of works.

f De Locis Hebraicis, p. 89. L. Tom. III. g Cippi Hebraici, p. 10. h Itinerar. p. 43. i Misn. Middot, c. 5. sect. 2. Maimon. Beth Habbechira, c. 5. sect. 17. k De Excidio, l. 2. c. 15. l Adv. Judaeos, c. 13. m De Semente, p. 345. Tom. I. n In Chambers' Dictionary, in the word "Piscina". o Vid. Gloss. in T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 115. 1. Megilla, fol. 18. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 21. 2. p Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Yadaim, c. 4. sect. 5. Vid. Gloss. in T. Bab. Megillia, fol. 8. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The sheep-market - This might have been rendered the “sheep-gate,” or the gate through which the sheep were taken into the city for sacrifice. The marginal rendering is “gate,” and the word “market” is not in the original, nor is a “sheep-market” mentioned in the Scriptures or in any of the Jewish writings. A “sheep-gate” is repeatedly mentioned by Nehemiah Nehemiah 3:1, Nehemiah 3:32; Nehemiah 12:39, being that by which sheep and oxen were brought into the city. As these were brought mainly for sacrifice, the gate was doubtless near the temple, and near the present place which is shown as the pool of Bethesda.

A pool - This word may either mean a small lake or pond in which one can swim, or a place for fish, or any waters collected for bathing or washing.

Hebrew tongue - Hebrew language. The language then spoken, which did not differ essentially from the ancient Hebrew.

Bethesda - The house of mercy. It was so called on account of its strong healing properties - the property of restoring health to the sick and infirm.

Five porches - The word “porch” commonly means a covered place surrounding a building, in which people can walk or sit in hot or wet weather. Here it probably means that there were five covered places, or apartments, in which the sick could remain, from each one of which they could have access to the water. This “pool” is thus described by Professor Hackett (“Illustrations of Scripture,” pp. 291, 292): “Just to the east of the Turkish garrison, and under the northern wall of the mosque, is a deep excavation, supposed by many to be the ancient pool of Bethesda, into which the sick descended after the troubling of the water, and were healed, John 5:1 ff. It is 360 feet long, 130 feet wide, and 75 deep. The evangelist says that this pool was near the sheep-gate, as the Greek probably signifies, rather than sheep-market, as rendered in the English version. That gate, according to Nehemiah 3:1 ff, was on the north side of the temple, and hence, the situation of this reservoir would agree with that of Bethesda. The present name, Birket Israil, Pool of Israil, indicates the opinion of the native inhabitants in regard to the object of the excavation. The general opinion of the most accurate travelers is that the so-called pool was originally part of a trench or fosse which protected the temple on the north.

Though it contains no water at present except a little which trickles through the stones at the west end, it has evidently been used at some period as a reservoir. It is lined with cement, and adapted in other respects to hold water.” Dr. Robinson established by personal inspection the fact of the subterranean connection of the pool of “Siloam” with the “Fountain of the Virgin,” and made it probable that the fountain under the mosque of Omar is connected with them. This spring is, as he himself witnessed, an “intermittent” one, and there “may” have been some artificially constructed basin in connection with this spring to which was given the name of “Bethesda.” He supposes, however, that there is not the slightest evidence that the place or reservoir now pointed out as “Bethesda” was the Bethesda of the New Testament (Bib. Res., i. 501, 506, 509). In the time of Sandys (1611) the spring was found running, but in small quantities; in the time of Maundrell (1697) the stream did not run. Probably in his time, as now, the water which had formerly filtered through the rocks was dammed up by the rubbish.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse John 5:2. There IS — This is thought by some to be a proof that John wrote his Gospel before the destruction of Jerusalem; and that the pool and its porticoes were still remaining. Though there can be little doubt that Jerusalem was destroyed many years before John wrote, yet this does not necessarily imply that the pool and its porticoes must have been destroyed too. It, or something in its place, is shown to travellers to the present day. See Maundrell's Jour. p. 108. But instead of εστι, IS, both the Syriac, all the Arabic, Persic, Armenian, and Nonnus, read ην, WAS; which is to me some proof that it did not exist when these versions were made, and that the pool which is shown now is not the original.

By the sheep market — Rather, gate: see Nehemiah 3:1, Nehemiah 3:32; Nehemiah 12:39. This was in all probability the gate through which the sheep were brought which were offered in sacrifice in the temple.

A pool — Bp. Pearce thinks the word κολυμβηθρα should be translated bath, and that this place was built for the purpose of bathing and swimming in. He observes that κολυμβαν signifies to swim, in Acts 27:43. In proof of this, he cites three of the old Itala, which have natatoria, a bathing or swimming place.

Bethesda — This word is variously written in the MSS. and versions: Bezatha-Bethzatha-Betzetha-Belzetha-Belzatha-Berzeta; and many have Bethsaida. But the former reading is the genuine one. Bethesda, or according to the Hebrew ביתחסדה Bethchasdah, signifies literally, the house of mercy. It got this name probably from the cures which God mercifully performed there. It is likely the porticoes were built for the more convenient reception of the poor and distressed, who came hither to be healed. It does not appear that any person was obliged to pay man for what the mercy of God freely gave. Wicked as the Jewish people were, they never thought of levying a tax on the poor and afflicted, for the cures they received in these healing waters. How is it that a well-regulated state, such as that of Great Britain, can ever permit individuals or corporations to enrich themselves at the expense of God's mercy, manifested in the sanative waters of Bristol, Bath, Buxton, c.? Should not the accommodations be raised at the expense of the public, that the poor might enjoy without cost, which they are incapable of defraying, the great blessing which the God of nature has bestowed on such waters? In most of those places there is a profession that the poor may drink and bathe gratis but it is little better than a pretence, and the regulations relative to this point render the whole nearly inefficient. However, some good is done.