John 5:2
Context5:2 Now there is 1 in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate 2 a pool called Bethzatha 3 in Aramaic, 4 which has five covered walkways. 5
John 1:44
Context1:44 (Now Philip was from Bethsaida, 6 the town of 7 Andrew and Peter.)
John 7:42
Context7:42 Don’t the scriptures say that the Christ is a descendant 8 of David 9 and comes from Bethlehem, 10 the village where David lived?” 11
John 12:21
Context12:21 So these approached Philip, 12 who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested, 13 “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”


[5:2] 1 tn Regarding the use of the present tense ἐστιν (estin) and its implications for the dating of the Gospel of John, see the article by D. B. Wallace, “John 5,2 and the Date of the Fourth Gospel,” Bib 71 (1990): 177-205.
[5:2] 2 tn The site of the miracle is also something of a problem: προβατικῇ (probatikh) is usually taken as a reference to the Sheep Gate near the temple. Some (R. E. Brown and others) would place the word κολυμβήθρα (kolumbhqra) with προβατικῇ to read “in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Pool, there is (another pool) with the Hebrew name.” This would imply that there is reference to two pools in the context rather than only one. This does not seem necessary (although it is a grammatical possibility). The gender of the words does not help since both are feminine (as is the participle ἐπιλεγομένη [epilegomenh]). Note however that Brown’s suggestion would require a feminine word to be supplied (for the participle ἐπιλεγομένη to modify). The traditional understanding of the phrase as a reference to the Sheep Gate near the temple appears more probably correct.
[5:2] 3 tc Some
[5:2] 5 tn Or “porticoes,” or “colonnades”; Grk “stoas.”
[1:44] 6 sn Although the author thought of the town as in Galilee (12:21), Bethsaida technically was in Gaulanitis (Philip the Tetrarch’s territory) across from Herod’s Galilee. There may have been two places called Bethsaida, or this may merely reflect popular imprecision – locally it was considered part of Galilee, even though it was just east of the Jordan river. This territory was heavily Gentile (which may explain why Andrew and Philip both have Gentile names).
[1:44] 7 tn Probably ἀπό (apo) indicates “originally from” in the sense of birthplace rather than current residence; Mark 1:21, 29 seems to locate the home of Andrew and Peter at Capernaum. The entire remark (v. 44) amounts to a parenthetical comment by the author.
[7:42] 11 tn Grk “is from the seed” (an idiom for human descent).
[7:42] 12 sn An allusion to Ps 89:4.
[7:42] 13 sn An allusion to Mic 5:2.
[7:42] 14 tn Grk “the village where David was.”
[12:21] 16 sn These Greeks approached Philip, although it is not clear why they did so. Perhaps they identified with his Greek name (although a number of Jews from border areas had Hellenistic names at this period). By see it is clear they meant “speak with,” since anyone could “see” Jesus moving through the crowd. The author does not mention what they wanted to speak with Jesus about.
[12:21] 17 tn Grk “and were asking him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.