Pool of Bethesda
The Pool of Bethesda is located north of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The name Bethesda means "house of mercy". Apostle John records how Jesus healed a man who was lame for thirty-eight years at the Pool of Bethesda. The water source was a nearby spring and there was a tradition that at certain times an angel would come down and stir up the water. Then the first person to get into the pool after the water was stirred, would be healed of whatever disease or infirmity the person had.
Painting of Healing at the Pool of Bethesda by Carl Heinrich Bloch
Apostle John provides the detail that the pool had five colonnaded porches. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. For a long time people cites this as an example of John being inaccurate, because no such place had been found. But more recently the Pool of Bethesda has been excavated – it lies maybe forty feet below ground – and sure enough, there were five colonnaded porches exactly as John had described.
Reconstruction of the Pool of Bethesda
Apostle John provides the detail that the pool had five colonnaded porches. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. For a long time people cites this as an example of John being inaccurate, because no such place had been found. But more recently the Pool of Bethesda has been excavated – it lies maybe forty feet below ground – and sure enough, there were five colonnaded porches exactly as John had described.
Pool of Bethesda
Lachish Relief
