Healing the paralytic at Bethesda

The Gospel then explains that this healing took place on the Sabbath, and the local Jews told the cured man that the Law forbade him to carry his mat on this day.

[2][3] (The inclusion of verse 3b as part of the interpolation does create a difficulty, in that the troubling of the waters is also mentioned in John 5:7.)

Some scholars have suggested that the narrative is actually cast as part of a deliberate polemic against the Asclepius cult, an antagonism possibly partly brought on by the fact that Asclepius was worshipped as Saviour (Greek: Soter), in reference to his healing attributes.

[4] The narrative uses the Greek phrase ὑγιὴς γενέσθαι, hygies genesthai,[5] ("become healthy" or "be made whole"), which is not used anywhere in the Synoptic Gospels, but appears frequently in ancient testimonies to the healing powers of Asclepius.

[2] The interpolations may reflect attempts to mediate between pagan and Jewish or Christian interpretations of how healing at the pool might have been brought about.