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 at Jerusalem, by the sheep [market]. The supplement here is an unhappy one, as no such market-place is known. But as the sheep gate is mentioned in Nehemiah 3:1; Nehemiah 3:32, and is familiar in the Jewish references to the temple, no doubt the supplement ought to be, as in the margin, "by the sheep [gate]."
A pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, х beeyt (H1004) chacdaa' (H2617)] - that is, 'Mercy-house;' doubtless from the cures performed there.
Having five porches - for shelter to the patients. That Jerusalem was yet standing when this Gospel was written cannot be inferred, as Bengel thought, from the use of the present tense "is." The water here referred to did not necessarily disappear with the overthrow of the city. There are indeed two distinct sites yet to be seen which have been identified with this pool: one, and the more probable site, a ruined reservoir near Stephen's gate, which ancient tradition has fixed upon and late investigations strongly confirm; the other, what is known as the Fountain of the Virgin. But even though all remains of it had disappeared with the destruction of Jerusalem, the Evangelist might have no knowledge of the fact; nor did he require to know it, as its well-known existence at the time of this incident is all that the word necessarily implies.