Bible Strands
John 5:3
On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text describes the area surrounding the pool near Jerusalem’s Sheep Gate, where five covered colonnades frame the water and Jesus has just arrived.
The words — katekeito (were lying) and plēthos (multitude) describe the static, crowded posture of those gathered at the site.
The thread — This concentration of physical affliction at a designated location parallels Matthew 15:30 and Luke 7:22, where crowds bring or report the lame, blind, and sick to Jesus.
Why it lands — It establishes a concrete geographic and social baseline, requiring the reader to recognize the specific conditions before any divine intervention is recorded.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
Cross-references
- Mark 3:1 Once again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there.
- Matthew 15:30 Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them.
- Luke 7:22 So He replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
- Zechariah 11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
- Lamentations 3:26 It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
- James 5:7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.
- 1 Kings 13:4 Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back.
- Proverbs 8:34 Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at the posts of my doorway.
- Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.