BETHZATHA

(Beth·zaʹtha).

The name occurs with reference to a pool bearing this name at which Jesus healed a man who had been ill for 38 years. (Joh 5:1-9) In John 5:2, some manuscripts and translations (KJ, NE) read “Bethesda.” The pool is described as having five colonnades, in which large numbers of sick, blind, and lame persons congregated, evidently attributing healing powers to the waters, particularly so immediately after the waters were disturbed. The last seven words of verse 3 as found in the King James Version and verse 4 of this chapter, attributing the disturbing of the waters to an angel, are not found in some of the oldest Greek manuscripts and are viewed as an interpolation. Thus the Bible does not give any indication as to the cause of the water disturbance but merely shows the people’s belief in the curative powers of the waters.

In 1888 excavations just to the N of the temple site revealed a double pool divided by a rock partition and embracing an overall area about 46 by 92 m (150 × 300 ft). Evidence of colonnades existed and a faded fresco portraying an angel moving the waters, although the painting may well have been a later addition.