Pool of Bethesda as an Asclepius-Pagan Temple in a Hellenistic Jerusalem: How Would this Understanding Contribute to the Interpretation of John 5 as a Unit

Seminary Room N135

The Pool of Bethesda, and consequently John 5, has been reinterpreted in Jewish circles as an Asclepius-Pagan Temple due to a heavily Hellenistic influence in Jerusalem in the first century. This paper seeks to explore this possibility. Further, how this information can elucidate our interpretation of the following discourse of the chapter where Jesus dialogues with the Pharisees. A narrative analysis approach is employed in order to seek repeating snippets of the language John selects to make this whole chapter a unit. At the end, internal data seems to support this theory of it being an Asclepius temple pool at the time Jesus approaches the lame. The subsequent verses accentuate Jesus’ claim that only in him they can find life and by going to wrong places they will never find it. In one more chapter the author presents integration of a particular story-event with intricate dialogues in order to enrich his gospel portrayal. Jesus depicted in a combination of showing and telling. This connection is significant.