至今在耶路撒冷羊門旁有個池子，希伯來語叫作畢士大 (Bethesda)，有五個屋頂廊柱。在此躺了殘疾群眾 ㄧ 瞎子、瘸子還有癱子。[1] 有一個人在此殘疾已經三十八年。
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.[1] One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
談到判定福音書的歷史可靠性程度，這故事是以癱瘓的人的治癒作為結束、在約翰福音中是最引人入勝的原文單元之一。直到在靠近羊門五個屋頂廊柱水池的發現，以前許多人並不認為約翰福音有歷史可靠性。福音書被認為是寓言（真實的意義上類似於啟示文學）或根本是不準確的（寫的人不是來自猶大，並且全然不熟悉耶路撒冷的地理環境）。
然而，感謝考古學家努力不懈的研究，兩個在約翰福音中所提到的池子皆被證實了 ㄧ 約翰福音五章二節的畢士大池（圖片由 courtesy of Carta Jerusalem 所提供）和約翰福音九章七節的西羅亞 (Siloam) 池。此章所提到的池子變成五個廊柱（如福音書所描述的），但不是五邊形的構造。有四個廊柱由另一個廊柱從中間所隔開；因而形成五個廊柱。
When it comes to determining the level of the gospel’s historical reliability, the story that will end in the healing of a paralyzed man is one of the most fascinating textual units in the Gospel of John. Until the discovery of the pool with five-roofed colonnades near the Sheep Gate, many did not consider the Gospel of John to be historically reliable. The gospel was thought to be either allegorical (truthful only in the sense similar to apocalyptic literature) or simply inaccurate (written by someone who was not from Judea and wholly unfamiliar with Jerusalem’s geography). However, thanks to the tireless research of archeologists, both pools mentioned in the Gospel of John were identified – the Pool of Bethesda in John 5.2 (Image courtesy of Carta Jerusalem) and the Pool of Siloam in John 9.7. The pool mentioned in this chapter turned out to have five colonnades (as described in the Gospel), but it was not structured as a pentagon. There were four colonnades separated in the middle by another one; thus forming the five colonnades.
這些池子可能是宗教儀式中以水潔淨的設施 ㄧ 潔禮池 (mikvaot)，與耶路撒冷聖殿有關；或僅僅是給一般公民消費的蓄水池（至少有時他們這樣用）。但也有其他的解釋方式。
It is possible that that these pools were religious ceremonial water cleansing facilities – mikvaot, associated with the Jerusalem Temple; or simply water reservoirs for general civic consumption (at least in some periods of their use). But there are other interpretive options as well.
一些考古學家為此工作多年，在池子裡找到並挖掘出幾個蛇像；表明該地區也許已經在耶路撒冷設有阿斯克勒庇俄斯 (Asclepius) 異教的分支。儘管我們必須小心不要假定我們確實知道這些事情（例如：在現場被找到器物並無可被追溯到一世紀與阿斯克勒庇俄斯有所關聯），但一些有趣的想法還是值得考慮的。所以給一些免責的空間吧，誰是阿斯克勒庇俄斯？
Some archaeologists who worked with this discovery for many years, found and excavated several snake figures at that pool; indicating that the area may have housed a Jerusalem branch of Asclepius cult. While we must be careful not to asume that we can know these things with certainty (for example, none of the artfacts connected to Asclepeus that were found at the site were dated to the first century), some interesting ideas are still worth considering. So having given some space to disclaimers, who was Asclepius?
在古希臘宗教，阿斯克勒庇俄斯是醫療與治癒之神。此神明的神話女兒包括女神許革亞 (Hygeia) 和帕那刻亞 (Panacea)。我們可以從她們的希臘名字「許革亞」與「帕那刻亞」聽出我們的現代用語 ㄧ 與醫療保健的關鍵概念有關。蛇固然是醫療保健的阿斯克勒庇俄斯異教關鍵屬性（見阿斯克勒庇俄斯圖片上所圈起的地方）。直到今日，現代醫學的關鍵符號之一仍是蛇圍繞在杖上。
Asclepius was the god of medicine and healing in ancient Greek religion. The god’s mythical daughters included the goddesses Hygeia and Panacea. We can hear in their Greek names our modern words for “hygiene” and “panacea” – key concepts associated today with medicine and health. Snakes of course were a key attribute of Asclepius’s cult of health and healing (see circled area on the image of Aclepeus). Up until today one of the key symbols of modern medicine is a stick with a snake around it.
現在停下來並且思考一會兒。假如這是正確的，這會改變我們對這裡所描述的整個故事的看法。你看到的瞎子、瘸子還有癱子可能並不是在等待以色列的神醫治他們；而是等待阿斯克勒庇俄斯的憐憫醫治作為。在這種情況下，畢士大池（以色列的憐憫之家）根本不必然是猶太人的地點，而寧可說是希臘醫神殿的附屬設施。這固然會符合耶穌時期是徹底希臘化的耶路撒冷與猶大。我們從許多歷史與考古的研究中已經知曉這種情況。
Now stop and think for a moment. Because, if this is correct, it may change our perception of the entire story described here. You see it is possible that the blind, lame, and paralyzed were not waiting for Israel’s god to heal them; but rather for the merciful healing act of Asclepius. In that case, the pool of Bethesda (house of mercy in Hebrew) does not have to be a Jewish site at all, but rather a Greek Asclepion-affiliated facility. This of course would be consistent with a thoroughly Hellenized Jerusalem and Judea in the time of Jesus. We already know that this is the case from many historical and archeological studies.
這是非常重要的發現，在此特殊的醫治中耶穌並非是命令他在池子裡（畢士大池）洗而治好，當談到瞎眼人的醫治，他是頒佈一個直接命令要人去在西羅亞池裡洗（約翰福音九章六到七節）。因此顯示畢士大池是一個異教之地，西羅亞則不是。當然在耶穌的時候，耶路撒冷是猶太人宗教的中心，但在羅馬嚴格管控之下，猶大的希臘化思想總部也設在安東尼亞堡 (Antonia Fortress) ，支配聖殿山的西北端。
It is very important to notice that in this particular healing Jesus does not command the one he healed to wash himself in the pool (pool of Bethhesda), while he does issue a direct command to go and wash at the pool of Siloam when it comes to the healing of the blind man (John 9.6-7). It therefore appears that while the pool of Bethehesda was a pagan place, the pool of Siloam was not. Of course, Jerusalem was the center for religious Jews in Jesus’ days, but it was also a headquarters for Hellenized ideals in Judea that was under strict Roman control with the Antonia Fortress dominating the northwestern end of the Temple Mount.
因此，作為福音書的作者是不斷展現耶穌體現分別為聖的道 (divine Logos) / 以色列神的話語 (Memra of Israel's God)，我們看到真正的故事張力：是誰有醫治的能力，是希臘神明阿斯克勒庇俄斯，或是猶大的神、透過他的皇家之子耶穌呢？[2]
Therefore, as the author of the Gospel continues to show Jesus as the incarnated divine Logos/Memra ofIsrael’s God, we see the real tension of the story: Who has the power to heal, the Greek god Asclepius, or the Judean god, through his royal son Jesus?[2]
我們將會看到更多的有趣的論證隨著我們繼續我們引人入勝的研究。
We will see more of this interesting polemic as we continue our fascinating study.
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[1] 有些抄本插入這段的全部或是其中一部分，「正在等著水動起來；主的使者在某些季節下到池子裡，並攪動池水：誰在攪動池水後第一步踩到的，他無論甚麼疾病都會被治好。」
[1] Some manuscripts insert, wholly or in part, “waiting for the moving of the water; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.”
[2] 這非常類似於一種古代跨宗教的論證，描述於乃縵的治癒（列王記下五章）。在古人的心目中，河流被設想為直接來自國家特定神明的賜福管道。以色列的河流優於亞蘭的河流嗎？（列王記下五章十二節）以色列的神勝過亞蘭的神嗎？
[2] This is very similar to the kind of ancient cross-religious polemics described in the healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5). In the minds of the ancients, rivers were conceived of as channels of blessings that came directly from the country’s particular gods. Will the rivers of Israel be better than the rivers of Aram? (2 Kings 5.12) Will the God of Israel win the god of Aram?
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