Bethesda (Bethzatha) was a pool in Jerusalem with five roofed colonnades, where Jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. (Jhn.5.2)
Also known as Bethzatha
Bethesda, also known as Bethzatha, was a pool located in Jerusalem, mentioned in the Gospel of John. The name Bethesda is derived from the Hebrew term meaning "house of mercy" or "house of grace," while Bethzatha comes from the Aramaic, meaning "house of olives" or "house of the olive tree."
The pool is described as having five roofed colonnades or porticoes, suggesting a structure with covered walkways surrounding the pool. It was located near the Sheep Gate, which was likely a gate in the northern wall of the city, used for bringing sheep into Jerusalem for sacrificial purposes.
In Jhn.5.1-15, Jesus visits the Pool of Bethesda and encounters a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. The man explains that he has been unable to enter the pool when the water is stirred up, as someone else always steps in before him. It was believed that an angel would periodically come down and stir up the water, and the first person to enter the pool after this would be healed of their infirmities.
Jesus, seeing the man and knowing his long-standing condition, asks him, "Do you want to get well?" The man responds by explaining his inability to enter the pool first. Jesus then commands him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." Instantly, the man is healed, takes up his mat, and starts walking.
This miracle leads to a controversy, as it occurred on the Sabbath, and the Jewish leaders considered carrying a mat on the Sabbath to be a violation of the law. Jesus later finds the man in the temple and advises him to stop sinning, lest something worse happens to him.
The Pool of Bethesda is an example of Jesus' power to heal and his authority over the Sabbath. It also highlights the contrast between the man's long-standing infirmity and the instantaneous nature of Jesus' healing.
Archaeologists have uncovered a site near the Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem, which is believed to be the location of the Pool of Bethesda. The excavations revealed a pool with multiple porticoes, consistent with the biblical description.
Approximate location: 31.777, 35.235 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
House of mercy, a reservoir (Gr. kolumbethra, “a swimming bath”) with five porches, close to the sheep-gate or market (Neh. 3:1; John 5:2). Eusebius the historian (A.D. 330) calls it “the sheep-pool.” It is also called “Bethsaida” and “Beth-zatha” (John 5:2, R.V. marg.). Under these “porches” or colonnades were usually a large number of infirm people waiting for the “troubling of the water.” It is usually identified with the modern so-called Fountain of the Virgin, in the valley of the Kidron, and not far from the Pool of Siloam (q.v.); and also with the Birket Israel, a pool near the mouth of the valley which runs into the Kidron south of “St. Stephen’s Gate.” Others again identify it with the twin pools called the “Souterrains,” under the convent of the Sisters of Zion, situated in what must have been the rock-hewn ditch between Bezetha and the fortress of Antonia. But quite recently Schick has discovered a large tank, as sketched here, situated about 100 feet north-west of St. Anne’s Church, which is, as he contends, very probably the Pool of Bethesda. No certainty as to its identification, however, has as yet been arrived at. (See FOUNTAIN; GIHON.)
(house of mercy, or the flowing water), the Hebrew name of a reservoir or tank, with five “porches,” close upon the sheep-gate or “market” in Jerusalem. (John 5:2) The largest reservoir - Birket Israil - 360 feet long, 120 feet wide and 80 feet deep, within the walls of the city, close by St. Stephen’s Gate, and under the northeast wall of the Haram area, is generally considered to be the modern representative of Bethesda. Robinson, however, suggests that the ancient Bethesda is identical with what is now called the Pool of the Virgin, an intermittent pool, south of Birket Israil and north of the pool of Siloam.
house of pity or mercy
BETHES'DA (house of mercy, or flowing water), a pool in Jerusalem near the sheep-gate or market, John 5:2-9; tradition identifies it with the modern pool Birket-Israel, 360 feet long, 120 feet wide, and 80 feet deep, half filled with rubbish. Capt. Warren found an aqueduct leading from it, probably into the Kedron. Robinson, with more probability, regards Bethesda as identical with the intermittent Pool of the Virgin, outside of the city, above the Pool of Siloam.
BETHES'DA (house of mercy, or flowing water), a pool in Jerusalem near the sheep-gate or market, John 5:2-9; tradition identifies it with the modern pool Birket-Israel, 360 feet long, 120 feet wide, and 80 feet deep, half filled with rubbish. Capt. Warren found an aqueduct leading from it, probably into the Kedron. Robinson, with more probability, regards Bethesda as identical with the intermittent Pool of the Virgin, outside of the city, above the Pool of Siloam.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
1 verse in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G0964
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.