BETHZATHA

(Beth·zaʹtha) [house of olives].

The Authorized Version renders this as “Bethesda” (house of mercy), but the oldest manuscripts give Bethzatha. The name occurs with reference to a pool bearing this name at which Jesus healed a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. (John 5:1-9) 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 three as found in the Authorized Version and the fourth verse of this chapter, attributing the disturbing of the waters to an angel, are not to be 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.

The location of the pool is indicated by the evident reference to the “sheepgate” (although in the original Greek the word “gate” must be supplied), which gate is generally held to have been in the north part of Jerusalem. Nehemiah 3:1 shows that this gate was built by the priests and hence it is assumed to have been an entrance near the temple area. Additionally, the name Bethzatha is associated with the section of ancient Jerusalem called Bezetha, located to the north of the temple area. In Jesus’ day this sector lay outside the city walls, but Herod Agrippa I (who died 44 C.E.) added a third northern wall to the city during the rule of Claudius (41-54 C.E.), and this placed Bezetha within the city walls, so that John could properly speak of the pool as being “in Jerusalem,” as he had known the city before its destruction in 70 C.E.

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 150 feet by 300 feet (45.7 meters by 91.4 meters). Evidence of five colonnades existed and a faded fresco portraying an angel moving the waters, although the painting may well have been a later addition. The location thus seems to fit the Biblical description very well.

Some, however, would place the pool of Bethzatha at what is known as the Virgin’s Fountain to the south of the temple area and somewhat above the pool of Siloam. This identification, nevertheless, relies mainly upon the supposition that the disturbing of the waters was due to a spring with an intermittent flow. Since this pool is presently the only one fed by such a spring, they hold it to be the likely location. It should be noted, however, that the Bible record gives no indication as to the cause of the disturbance of the waters. This southern pool does not give evidence of accommodating large numbers of people, nor have any remains of colonnades been found there. Thus the weight of evidence favors the pool to the north.