Bible > John > Chapter 5 > Verse 2
◄ John 5:2 ►
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.
Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, having five porches.
Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.
Now in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five porticoes.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes.
Now in Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew (Jewish Aramaic) Bethesda, having five porticoes (alcoves, colonnades).
By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades.
By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five colonnades.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches.
But there was a certain baptismal place in Jerusalem called in Aramaic, Bayth Khesda, and there were in it five porches.
In the city near the sheep gate was a pool with five porches, and its name in Hebrew was Bethzatha.
Now there is at Jerusalem a pond, called Probatica, which in Hebrew is named Bethsaida, having five porches.
Near Sheep Gate in Jerusalem was a pool called [Bethesda] in Hebrew. It had five porches.
Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool with five porches; in Hebrew it is called Bethzatha.
Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem is a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew. It has five colonnades,
and there is in Jerusalem by the sheep-[gate] a pool that is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches,
Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep [Gate] a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool called Bethzatha in Aramaic, which has five covered walkways.
Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes.
Now in Jerusalem by the sheep area there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, "Beth Hesda," having five porches.
Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda, having five porches.
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, called in Hebrew 'Bethesda.' It has five arcades.
Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, "Bethesda", having five porches.
and there is in Jerusalem by the sheep -gate a pool that is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches,
The Pool of Bethesda
1Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda. 3On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.…
At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.
And between the upper room above the corner and the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.
Nehemiah 12:39
over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.
On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.
Jesus answered them, "I did one miracle, and you are all amazed.
When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, which in Hebrew is Gabbatha.
Carrying His own cross, He went out to The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.
market.
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.
And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep gate: and they stood still in the prison gate.
Isaiah 22:9,11
Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool…
Bethesda.
Aramaic Bath Covered Doorways Five Gate Hebrew Jerusalem Market Pool Porches Porticoes Public Sheep Surrounded Tongue
1. Jesus on the Sabbath day cures him who was diseased thirty-eight years.
10. The Jews therefore object, and persecute him for it.
17. He answers for himself, and reproves them, showing by the testimony of his Father,
31. of John,
36. of his works,
39. and of the Scriptures, who he is.
(2) Now there is at Jerusalem.--We have no certain knowledge of the time referred to in the last, nor of the place referred to in this, verse. For "sheep-market," we should read with the margin, sheep-gate (Nehemiah 3:1; Nehemiah 3:32; Nehemiah 12:39). This gate was known well enough to fix the locality of the pool, but is itself now unknown. St. Stephen's Gate, which has been the traditional identification, did not exist until the time of Agrippa. There is something tempting in the interpretation of the Vulgate adopted by some modern travellers and commentators, which supplies the substantive from the immediate context, and reads "sheep-pool." But the fact that the Greek adjective for "sheep," is used here only in the New Testament, and in the Old Testament only in the passages of Nehemiah referred to above, seems to fix the meaning beyond doubt.
Bethesda means "house of mercy." The "Hebrew tongue" is the then current Hebrew, what we ordinarily call Aramaic, or Syro-Chaldaic. The spot is pointed out traditionally as Birket Israil, near the fort of Antonia, but since Dr. Robinson's rejection of this, it has been generally abandoned. He himself adopted the "Fountain of the Virgin," which is intermittent. He saw the water rise to the height of a foot in five minutes, and was told that this occurs sometimes two or three times a day. The fountain is connected with the pool of Siloam, and probably with the fountain under the Grand Mosque. The seventh edition of Alford's Commentary contains, an interesting letter, pointing out that Siloam itself was probably the pool of Bethesda, and that the remains of four columns in the east wall of the pool, with four others in the centre, show that there was a structure half covering it, which resting upon four columns would give five spaces or porches. The fact that this pool is called Siloam in John 9:7 does not oppose this view. The word "called" here, is more exactly surnamed, and "House of Mercy" may well have been given to the structure, and thus extended to the pool in addition to its own name. But to pass from the uncertain, it is established beyond doubt, (1) that there are, and then were, on the east of Jerusalem mineral springs; (2) that these are, and then were, intermittent; and (3) that such springs are resorted to in the East just as they are in Europe.
Verse 2. - Now there is in Jerusalem. A phrase denoting intimate acquaintance with the topography of the city, and the present tense suggests either a hint of a ruin yet existing after the fall of Jerusalem, or it may betray the fact that the evangelist wrote down at the very time some details of the incident which formed the occasion of the following discourse, and never, in his later editing of the document, omitted or altered the form of his sentence. At the sheep (market) or (gate) a pool, surnamed in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes or porches. The adjective προβατικῇ requires some substantive to be introduced, and since there is no reference to any sheep market in the Old Testament, little justification can be found for the gloss contained in the Authorized Version. There was a "sheep gate" mentioned in Nehemiah 3:1, 32 and Nehemiah 12:39. There is no reason against this method of supplying the sense, except this, that there is no other instance of the word πύλη, or "gate," being omitted after this fashion. The "sheep gate" stood next. in Nehemiah's recital, to the "fish gate," and it was built by the priests. The old "sheep gate" is now known by the name of St. Stephen's Gate, to the north of the Haram es-Sherif, or temple area from which the path leads down into the valley of the Kedron, and if "gate" be the proper term to add to προβατικη and we have its site fixed by the modern St. Stephen's Gate, then we must look for the pool surnamed Bethesda in that vicinity. Eusebius and Jerome speak of a piscina probatica as visible in their day, but do not determine its site. Robinson ('Bib. Researches,' 1, p. 489) did not accept the identification of the sheep gate with St. Stephen's Gate, and places the former more to the south, and nearer to what is now called the Fountain of the Virgin. This fountain, on Robinson's visit, displayed some curious phenomena of periodical and intermittent ebullition, receiving a supply of water from another source. It was found by Robinson to be connected by a tunnel with the fountain of Siloam, and the relations of these wells have been quite recently submitted to fresh examination ('Palestine Expl. Soc. Rep.,' Oct. 1883). Robinson identified this pool with "Solomon's Pool" of Josephus and "King's Pool" of Nehemiah, and thought it might be the original pool of Bethesda. Neander and Tholuck incline to agree with him. The observations of Robinson have been confirmed by Tobler, and at least show that what certainly happens now in some of these fountains may have been phenomena constantly expected at some other fountain bearing the name now before us, on the northeastern side of the Haram area. Within the (sheep gate) St. Stephen's Gate the traditional site of Bethesda is pointed out. The modern name is Birket lsrael, and this tank, from the accumulation of rubbish, does not now show its original extent; neither does it now hold water, but receives the drainage of neighbouring houses (Colonel Wilson in 'Plot. Palestine,' vol. 1, pp. 66, 106-109). A church, near that of St. Anne, was built by the Crusaders over a well, in this immediate vicinity - a spot which was supposed to be the site of the angelic disturbance. Colonel Wilson prefers this traditional site to that fixed upon by Robinson. So also Sir G. Grove, in Smith's 'Bible Dict.' The five porches, or porticoes, may have been a columnar structure of pentagonal form, which sheltered the sick and the impotent folk. At present no indubitable relic of this building has been discovered. Alford (7th edit.) quotes a letter which makes it probable that Siloam was Bethesda, and the remains of four columns in the east wall of that pool, with four others in the centre, show that a structure with five openings or porches might easily have been erected there. Bethesda, which is said to be the Hebrew (that is, Aramaic) surname of the pool, is very doubtful. Probably this is the correct form of the text, though there are many variants, such as Bethzatha, in א, 33, Tischendorf (8th edit.); Bethsaida, in some versions and Tertullian. It seems generally allowed that its significance (בֵּית חֶסְדָּא) is "house of grace or mercy," and that it derived its reference from the dispensation there of God's providential gifts. The healing virtue of waters charged with iron and carbonic acid and other gas is too well known to need reference, and the remarkable cures derived from their use may account forevery part of the statement which was here written by John. Eusebius speaks of these waters as "reddened," so he thought, with the blood of sacrifices, but tar more probably by chatybeate earth.
δὲ (de)
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.
Ἔστιν (Estin)
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.
ἐν (en)
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.
Ἱεροσολύμοις (Hierosolymois)
Noun - Dative Neuter Plural
Strong's 2414: The Greek form of the Hebrew name: Jerusalem. Of Hebrew origin; Hierosolyma
ἐπὶ (epi)
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.
τῇ (tē)
Article - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.
Sheep Gate
προβατικῇ (probatikē)
Adjective - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4262: Pertaining to sheep. From probaton; relating to sheep, i.e. through which they were led into Jerusalem.
a pool
κολυμβήθρα (kolymbēthra)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2861: (lit: a diving or swimming place), a pool. A diving-place, i.e. Pond for bathing.
ἔχουσα (echousa)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.
πέντε (pente)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 4002: Five. A primary number; 'five'.
covered colonnades,
στοὰς (stoas)
Strong's 4745: A colonnade, portico. Probably from histemi; a colonnade or interior piazza.
ἡ (hē)
Article - Nominative Feminine Singular
in Aramaic
Ἑβραϊστὶ (Hebraisti)
Strong's 1447: In the Hebrew, or rather, in the Aramaic dialect. Adverb from Hebrais; Hebraistically or in the Jewish language.
is called
ἐπιλεγομένη (epilegomenē)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1951: To call; mid: I choose for myself; pass: To be named. Middle voice from epi and lego; to surname, select.
Βηθζαθά (Bēthzatha)
Strong's 964: Bethesda, name of a pool in Jerusalem. Of Chaldee origin; house of kindness; Beth-esda, a pool in Jerusalem.
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NT Gospels: John 5:2 Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate (Jhn Jo Jn)