About the Pool of Bethesda:
The pools were originally reservoirs for water (possibly supplying the Temple or used by shepherds), dating back to earlier periods, but by Jesus’ time (around 30–70 AD), the site was associated with healing traditions. Some scholars suggest it may have functioned as a Jewish ritual bath (mikveh) or even a Greco-Roman healing shrine linked to Asclepius (god of medicine) under Roman influence, explaining the popular belief in intermittent healing waters, whereas it was believed the waters would occasionally be stirred (possibly by an angel, per some manuscripts), and the first person to enter afterward would be cured.
The Pool of Bethesda (also spelled Bethzatha) was surrounded by five covered colonnades (porticoes), a puzzling feature suggesting an unusual five-sided pool, which most scholars dismissed as an un=historical literary creation. Yet when this site was excavated, it revealed a rectangular pool with two basins separated by a wall; thus a five-sided pool, each side having a portico.where a multitude of sick people—blind, lame, and paralyzed—gathered hoping for healing.
The miracle performed by Jesus at the Pool of Bethesda:
Recorded in the Gospel of John (John 5:2–9):
Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’
Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
The name “Bethesda” means “house of mercy” or “house of grace” in Aramaic/Hebrew. Archaeologically, the site matches the biblical description remarkably well. Excavations in the 19th century (by Conrad Schick) and later in the 20th century revealed twin large rectangular pools divided by a central wall/dam, creating five porticoes around the edges—exactly as John describes.
Today, it’s a popular stop for pilgrims and tourists, offering a tangible connection to this Gospel event. The ruins are open to visitors (often accessed via the grounds of The Church of Saint Anne), providing a sense of the site’s ancient scale and historical layers. Ruins include exposed sections of the pools, steps, columns, and later Byzantine and Crusader structures built over the site to commemorate the miracle.
Traveling to the Pool of Bethesda:
The site is located within the grounds of the Crusader-era Church of Saint Anne in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, just inside the Lions’ Gate (also called Saint Stephen’s Gate), north of the Temple Mount.