Bethesda

Biblical Text

In the Bible, Bethesda appears only in chapter 5 of the Gospel of John. John 5:2 describes it as a pool "at Jerusalem by the sheep market" (commonly rendered "Sheep Gate"), "which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches," that is, roofed colonnades. In these porches "lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered" (5:3).

Among them was a man who "had an infirmity thirty and eight years" (5:5). Jesus asked him, "Wilt thou be made whole?" (5:6). The man replied that he had no one to put him into the pool when the water was troubled. Jesus said, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk," and immediately the man was made whole and walked (5:8–9). That day was the Sabbath. The Jews objected to the man's carrying his bed, and Jesus answered, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (5:17). Because of this the Jews sought to kill Jesus (5:18), and in the discourse that follows (5:19–47) Jesus speaks at length about the authority of the Son.

Background

The name varies among the manuscripts. Besides Bethesda, forms such as "Bethsaida" and "Bethzatha" are attested. The name is often interpreted as "house of mercy," but scholars disagree about its exact original form.

Modern excavations near the Church of St. Anne in northeastern Jerusalem have uncovered two large reservoirs, and many scholars identify this site as Bethesda. Some understand the "five porches" as the colonnades along the four sides of the two pools plus one on the central dividing wall. Scholars differ, however, on the precise location and structure of the pool and on its relationship to a healing shrine of the Roman period.

Significance in Scripture

This healing is commonly counted among the seven signs in the Gospel of John. In John's Gospel, the event marks the beginning of the sustained Sabbath controversy between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. Jesus' reference to God as "my Father" and his claim to be working together with God are read as revealing the Christology of John's Gospel. The healing of the man born blind in John 9 likewise involves a pool, the Pool of Siloam, and leads to a Sabbath dispute, so the two accounts are frequently compared.

Interpretation and Issues

• The passage about the angel troubling the water: The latter part of 5:3 and verse 4—"For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had"—is absent from the oldest major manuscripts. Accordingly, some translations include it in the text, while others place it in brackets or in a marginal note. Some regard the passage as part of the original text; others see it as a later addition intended to explain popular belief of the time. Nevertheless, the sick man's words in 5:7 appear in all manuscripts, so the text itself confirms that there was a custom of waiting for the water to be troubled.
• The nature of the illness: In Korean churches the man is often called "the paralytic." The text, however, says only that he had "an infirmity thirty and eight years" and does not name the illness. This event is distinct from the healing of the paralytic in the Synoptic Gospels, where similar words appear.
• Sin and sickness: Interpreters are divided over Jesus' words to the healed man, "sin no more" (5:14). Some see them as indicating that the man's illness was connected with sin; others take them as a general warning.
• Allegorical interpretation: Some of the ancient Church Fathers interpreted the five porches as the Pentateuch; Augustine is a leading example. There is also a tradition of reading the healing at the troubled water as a type of baptism.

In the Korean Church

The question "Wilt thou be made whole?" is a frequent sermon text, often cited in sermons on the role of the will in faith, on restoration, and on divine healing. Because the name "Bethesda" is taken to evoke healing and care, it is also used for groups within churches and for Christian welfare and mission organizations.