John 5

Some time after this, there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

1After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Note"A feast of the Jews" leaves the festival unnamed, and readers have argued ever since about which one it was. Adult Jewish men were expected to come to Jerusalem for three pilgrim festivals each year: Passover, Weeks (Pentecost) and Tabernacles. "Went up" is the standard idiom for traveling to Jerusalem, which sits high in the hill country, and is used no matter which direction the traveler comes from.

2Now in Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, there is a pool called Bethesda in the Hebrew language. It has five covered porches.

2Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

Note"Sheep market" fills a gap: the Greek has only the adjective "sheep-", with the noun left out, and most now supply "gate", the Sheep Gate in the north wall named in Nehemiah, through which animals for temple sacrifice were brought. The pool's name appears in the manuscripts in several forms (Bethesda, Bethzatha, Bethsaida); Bethesda is probably Aramaic for "house of mercy" or "house of outpouring". "The Hebrew tongue" in this Gospel normally means the Aramaic ordinarily spoken in Judea at the time. The "porches" were colonnades: roofed, open-sided walkways supported by columns, which gave shade. Excavation near the church of St. Anne has uncovered a double pool with colonnades on the four outer sides and one more along the wall dividing the two basins, which would make five.

3Crowds of sick people lay under these porches: people who were blind, people who could not walk, and people whose bodies were shriveled or paralyzed. They were waiting for the water to move.

3In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

NoteThree 1611 words have shifted or dropped out of use. "Impotent" then meant simply without strength, with no sexual sense. "Halt" meant lame, unable to walk. "Withered" described a limb shrunken or wasted, whether from paralysis or from muscle loss.

4For at certain times an angel went down into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first, right after the water was stirred, was healed of whatever illness he had.

4For 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.

ManuscriptsMost modern translations leave this verse out. It is in the Greek text the King James translators worked from, but not in the older manuscripts found since, so scholars generally take it as a copyist’s addition rather than part of the original.

NoteThis whole verse, together with the last clause of verse 3 ("waiting for the moving of the water"), is absent from the oldest surviving Greek manuscripts and is generally taken to be an explanation added by later copyists to account for the sick man's words in verse 7. Most modern Bibles leave it out, which is why their text jumps from verse 3 to verse 5. It is kept here because the King James has it.

5One man there had been sick for thirty-eight years.

5And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

6Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in this condition a long time. So he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

6When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

Note"Wilt thou be made whole?" is not a prediction about the future. In 1611 "wilt thou" meant "do you want", and "made whole" meant restored to health.

7The sick man answered, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else steps down ahead of me."

7The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

8Jesus said to him, "Get up. Pick up your mat and walk."

8Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

NoteA "bed" of this kind was a poor man's bedding: a mat or pallet light enough to roll up and carry under one arm, not a piece of furniture.

9At once the man was well. He picked up his mat and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath, the weekly day of rest.

9And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

NoteThe Sabbath was the seventh day, running from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, on which the law of Moses forbade work of any kind. The narrator holds this detail back until the healing is over, so the reader learns it at the same moment the objection is about to be raised.

10So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath. The law does not allow you to carry your mat."

10The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

NoteIn this Gospel "the Jews" usually means the Judean authorities in Jerusalem who question and oppose Jesus, not the Jewish people in general: Jesus, his disciples and the healed man are all themselves Jews. Their objection is not to the healing but to the carrying. Jeremiah 17 forbids carrying a burden through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath, and Jewish teachers of this period listed carrying an object from one domain to another among the categories of work the day excluded.

11He answered them, "The man who made me well told me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'"

11He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

12They asked him, "Who is the man who told you to pick up your mat and walk?"

12Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

13But the man who had been healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

13And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

Note"Wist not" means did not know; "wist" is the past tense of the old verb "wit", to know, which survives in "to wit" and "unwitting". "Conveyed himself away" means slipped off quietly, not that anyone carried him.

14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "Look, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you."

14Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

15The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

15The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

16So the Jewish leaders began to persecute Jesus and tried to kill him, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

16And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

17But Jesus answered them, "My Father is still working right up to now, and I am working too."

17But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Note"Hitherto" means up to this present moment. The argument turns on a known difficulty: Genesis says God rested on the seventh day, yet Jewish teachers acknowledged that God keeps the world running on the Sabbath too, since babies are born and people die on that day. Jesus places his own activity in that category.

18Because of this, they tried even harder to kill him. He was not only breaking the Sabbath; he was also calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

18Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

NoteThe Greek behind "his Father" uses an adjective meaning "his own, belonging to him personally". Jews commonly called God Father in a general sense, so it is that word, and not the title itself, that the authorities hear as a claim to stand on God's level.

19So Jesus answered them, "I tell you the truth: the Son can do nothing on his own. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does the same.

19Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

Note"Verily, verily" renders "amen, amen". Amen is a Hebrew word meaning something like "surely, it is so", normally said after a statement by way of agreement. This Gospel has Jesus double it and put it at the front of a saying, a formula found nowhere else, marking what follows as a solemn assertion.

20For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he himself does. And he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

20For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whomever he wants.

21For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

Note"Quickeneth" meant makes alive, gives life to. The same sense survives in the phrase "the quick and the dead" and in "quickening", the moment a pregnant woman first feels the child move.

22In fact, the Father judges no one. He has handed over all judging to the Son,

22For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

Note"Committed" here means handed over or entrusted. The word translated "judgment" covers the whole judicial act: hearing the case, reaching a decision, and passing sentence.

23so that everyone will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

23That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

24I tell you the truth: whoever listens to my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life. That person will not be condemned, but has already crossed over from death into life.

24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Note"Condemnation" translates the same word rendered "judgment" in verse 22, used here of the adverse outcome rather than the process. "Is passed from death unto life" uses a tense for a move already completed and still in force: the crossing has happened, not merely been promised.

25I tell you the truth: a time is coming, and is here now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live.

25Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

Note"The hour" in this Gospel means an appointed moment, the time set for something to happen, not a stretch of sixty minutes.

26For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has given the Son to have life in himself.

26For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

27And he has given him the authority to carry out judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

27And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

NoteIn Hebrew and Aramaic idiom "son of man" simply means a human being, a member of the human race, and it is used that way throughout Ezekiel. In Daniel 7 it takes on more weight: one "like the Son of man" comes with the clouds of heaven and is given authority, glory and a kingdom. The Gospels have Jesus use the phrase of himself, and here it stands next to the granting of authority to judge.

28Do not be amazed at this. A time is coming when everyone who is in the grave will hear his voice

28Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

29and will come out. Those who have done good will rise to life, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Note"Damnation" in 1611 meant condemnation, an unfavorable verdict, and did not yet carry the narrowed modern sense; the Greek word is the same one rendered "judgment" earlier in the chapter. "Resurrection" means the dead rising bodily to life again, a hope held by the Pharisees and denied by the Sadducees, so a disputed point among Jesus's hearers rather than common ground.

30I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is fair, because I am not seeking what I want but what the Father who sent me wants.

30I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

31If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.

31If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

Note"My witness is not true" is a legal statement, not an admission of lying. The word behind "true" means valid or admissible. Jewish law required a matter to be established by two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 19), and an uncorroborated claim about oneself carried no weight in court, whether or not it was accurate.

32There is someone else who testifies about me, and I know that what he says about me is true.

32There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.

33You sent messengers to John, and he told the truth about me.

33Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.

NoteThis is John the Baptist, and the reference is to the delegation of priests and Levites the Jerusalem authorities sent out to question him earlier in this Gospel. "Bare witness" is the same courtroom language running through the whole passage: he gave testimony.

34I do not depend on any human being to speak for me, but I say these things so that you may be saved.

34But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.

35John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and for a while you were glad to enjoy his light.

35He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

NoteThe word here is not the one this Gospel uses for "light" itself but the one for a lamp: a small oil lamp, which has to be lit by someone else, gives borrowed light, and eventually burns out. "For a season" means for a while, that is, during the months before John was imprisoned.

36But I have testimony that counts for more than John's. The works the Father has given me to complete, the very works I am doing, show that the Father has sent me.

36But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

Note"Witness" again means testimony, evidence given. "To finish" means to bring to completion, to carry through to the end; the "works" are the things Jesus does, including the healing that started this argument.

37And the Father who sent me has himself spoken for me. You have never heard his voice or seen what he looks like,

37And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

Note"Shape" in 1611 meant outward form or appearance, with none of the modern sense of contour. The wording echoes Deuteronomy 4, where Israel at Sinai heard a voice but saw no form.

38and his word does not live in you, because you do not believe the one he sent.

38And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

Note"Abiding" means remaining, staying put, taking up residence. The image is of a word that lodges in a person rather than passing through.

39You study the Scriptures carefully, because you think that in them you have eternal life. Yet they are the very writings that tell about me,

39Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

NoteThe Greek form behind "search" is identical whether it is a command ("search the scriptures") or a statement of fact ("you search the scriptures"), and translators have to pick one; the King James takes it as a command, most modern versions as a statement. "The scriptures" means the Hebrew Scriptures, what Christians later called the Old Testament, since nothing of the New Testament had been written.

40and still you refuse to come to me so that you may have life.

40And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

41I do not look for praise from people.

41I receive not honour from men.

Note"Honour" here translates a word that also means glory, reputation, the good opinion of others. It is the same word used twice in verse 44, so the point about praise from people and praise from God runs on a single term.

42But I know you, and I know that you do not have the love of God in you.

42But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

43I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

43I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

44How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another but do not look for the praise that comes from the only God?

44How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

NoteThe closing phrase is genuinely ambiguous in Greek and can be read either as "the glory that comes from the only God" or as "the glory that comes from God alone". Some manuscripts omit the word for God altogether, which would give "from the only one".

45Do not think that I will be the one to accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, the very one you have put your hope in.

45Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

Note"Accuse" is courtroom language, to bring a charge against someone before a judge. "Moses" here stands for the writings of Moses, the first five books of the Bible; "in whom ye trust" carries the sense of where they have placed their hope, expecting those writings to speak in their favor.

46For if you had believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.

46For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.

NoteIn the first century the first five books of the Bible were commonly spoken of as written by Moses, so "he wrote of me" means those books are being claimed as testimony.

47But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?"

47But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

NoteThe contrast is between two different words: "writings" (literally the letters, what stands written and fixed) and "words" (spoken utterances, heard and gone). The argument runs from the harder case to the easier: if the permanent written testimony is not believed, a spoken claim has less chance still.