John 5:32

5:32 There is another ¹  who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true.

John 5:1

Healing a Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda

5:1 After this ²  there was a Jewish feast, ³  and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ⁴ 

John 5:9

5:9 Immediately the man was healed, ⁵  and he picked up his mat ⁶  and started walking. (Now that day was a Sabbath.) ⁷ 

John 5:11-12

5:11 But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat ⁸  and walk.’” 5:12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat ⁹  and walk’?” ¹⁰ 

[5:32]  ¹ sn To whom does another refer? To John the Baptist or to the Father? In the nearer context, v. 33, it would seem to be John the Baptist. But v. 34 seems to indicate that Jesus does not receive testimony from men. Probably it is better to view v. 32 as identical to v. 37, with the comments about the Baptist as a parenthetical digression.

[5:1]  ² sn The temporal indicator After this is not specific, so it is uncertain how long after the incidents at Cana this occurred.

[5:1]  ³ tc The textual variants ἑορτή or ἡ ἑορτή (Jeorth or Jh Jeorth, “a feast” or “the feast”) may not appear significant at first, but to read ἑορτή with the article would almost certainly demand a reference to the Jewish Passover. The article is found in א C L Δ Ψ Ë¹ 33 892 1424 pm, but is lacking in {Ì^66,75 A B D T W^s Θ Ë¹³ 565 579 700 1241 pm}. Overall, the shorter reading has somewhat better support. Internally, the known proclivity of scribes to make the text more explicit argues compellingly for the shorter reading. Thus, the verse refers to a feast other than the Passover. The incidental note in 5:3, that the sick were lying outside in the porticoes of the pool, makes Passover an unlikely time because it fell toward the end of winter and the weather would not have been warm. L. Morris (John [NICNT], 299, n. 6) thinks it impossible to identify the feast with certainty.

[5:1]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:9]  ⁵ tn Grk “became well.”

[5:9]  ⁶ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” See the note on “mat” in the previous verse.

[5:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “Now it was Sabbath on that day.”

[5:11]  ⁸ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” See the note on “mat” in v. 8.

[5:12]  ⁹ tc While a number of mss, especially the later ones (A^c C³ D Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt sy), include the words τον κραβ(β)ατ(τ)ον σου (ton krab(b)at(t)on sou, “your mat”) here, the earliest and best (Ì^66,75 א B C* L) do not. Nevertheless, in the translation, it is necessary to supply the words due to the demands of English style, which does not typically allow for understood or implied direct objects as Greek does.

[5:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Pick up and walk”; the object (the mat) is implied but not repeated.