Pool of Bethesda

"For the various places named after the Pool of Bethesda, see Bethesda."

Bethesda was originally the name of a pool in Jerusalem, on the path of the Beth Zeta Valley, and is also known as the Sheep Pool. It is associated with healing.

History

The pool was first dug out during the 8th Century BC and was called the Upper Pool - 'בריכה העליונה'. Solomon

A second pool, known as the Washers' Pool, was dug during the third century BC by Simon the High Priest. These pools were used to wash the sheep prior to their sacrifice in the Temple. According to the Christian Bible, this use of the pools gave the water of the pools a halo of sanctity, and many invalids came to the pools to be healed and cleansed. ; ).

According to "Syriac-English Dictionary" by Louis Costaz and "A Compendious Syriac Dictionary" by J. Payne Smith, the word "hesdo" in Syriac (or "hesda" in older Aramaic) has two opposite meanings: 'grace' and 'disgrace'. Hence, Bethesda was both a house of disgrace, as many invalids gathered there, and a house of grace, as they were granted healing.

Eusebius the historian (A.D. 330) calls it "the sheep-pool". It is also called "Bethsaida" (not to be confused with Bethsaida, a town in Galilee) and "Beth-zatha" (John 5:2, RSV marg.). Under these "porches" or colonnades were usually a large number of infirm people waiting for the "troubling of the water".

Archaeology

Prior to archeological digs, the Pool of Bethesda was identified with the modern so-called Fountain of the Virgin, in the Kidron Valley, not far from the Pool of Siloam, and alternately with the Birket Israel, a pool near the mouth of the valley which runs into the Kidron south of St. Stephen's Gate.

In digs conducted in the 19th Century, Schick discovered a large tank situated about 100 feet north-west of St. Anne's Church, which he contended was the Pool of Bethesda. Many archaeologists 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.

External links

* [http://holyland-pictures.com/category/jerusalem/bet-hesda/ Pictures of the Bethesda]
* [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=990&letter=B&search=Pool%20of%20Bethesda Jewish Encyclopedia: Bethesda]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02536a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Bethsaida: II. THE POOL]