{"id":8906,"date":"2026-04-13T16:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advent-ug.org\/answers\/shcho-za-anhel-buv-v-kupalni-vifezda\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T01:03:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T23:03:32","slug":"khto-buv-anhel-shcho-zburiuvav-vodu-v-kupalni-vifezda-v-ivana-5","status":"publish","type":"answers","link":"https:\/\/advent-ug.org\/en\/answers\/khto-buv-anhel-shcho-zburiuvav-vodu-v-kupalni-vifezda-v-ivana-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Who was the angel who stirred the water in the pool of Bethesda? \u2014 John 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pool of Bethesda was a place of hope for those who had long been waiting for healing.<\/b> The Gospel of John describes that a great multitude of the sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed lay there (John 5:3). Among them was a man who had been unable to receive help for 38 years. And it is to him that Jesus comes.<\/i><\/p>\n

The question of John 5:4 \u2014 a textual issue<\/h2>\n

In older translations, you can find verse 5:4: an angel of the Lord would from time to time go down and stir up the water, and the first one who entered would be healed<\/i>. But this verse is not found in the oldest and most reliable Greek manuscripts<\/b>. Modern textual scholars believe that these words were added later as an explanation of the popular custom of waiting for the water to move.<\/p>\n

What really happened at Bethesda<\/h2>\n

\u201cJesus said to him, \u2018Rise, take up your bed and walk.\u2019 And immediately the man was healed.\u201d John 5:8\u20139<\/a><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The healing happened not through the water and not through an angel.<\/b> Jesus asked, \u201cDo you want to be made well?\u201d\u2014and by His word restored the man instantly. This highlights John\u2019s theological emphasis: Jesus is the source of healing, not the instrument of some external power.<\/i><\/p>\n

Popular belief or God\u2019s action?<\/h2>\n

Even if the water in the pool really did move from time to time, this could have been a natural phenomenon. God was not necessarily behind every movement of the water. But He was behind the healing that Jesus gave\u2014without any conditions and without waiting for the \u201cright moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Practical meaning<\/h2>\n

This account reminds us: people often wait for the \u201cright moment\u201d or the \u201cnecessary conditions\u201d to come to God.<\/b> But Jesus comes to the person Himself\u2014right where he is, after 38 years of waiting\u2014and says: \u201cRise\u201d<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The center of John 5 is not the angel and the water, but Christ, who has authority to heal by His word. Even if the verse about the angel is a later addition, it changes nothing: Jesus came to the helpless man and restored him completely.<\/b><\/p>","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"faq_question":"\u0425\u0442\u043e \u0431\u0443\u0432 \u0430\u043d\u0433\u0435\u043b, \u0449\u043e \u0437\u0431\u0443\u0440\u044e\u0432\u0430\u0432 \u0432\u043e\u0434\u0443 \u0432 \u043a\u0443\u043f\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0456 \u0412\u0456\u0444\u0435\u0437\u0434\u0430 \u0432 \u0406\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0430 5?","bible_refs":"John 5:1\u20139, John 5:4, John 5:5, John 5:7, John 5:8\u20139","answer_lang":"uk","source_question":"\u0429\u043e \u0437\u0430 \u0430\u043d\u0433\u0435\u043b \u0431\u0443\u0432 \u0432 \u043a\u0443\u043f\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0456 \u0412\u0456\u0444\u0435\u0437\u0434\u0430"},"answer_topic":[145],"class_list":["post-8906","answers","type-answers","status-publish","hentry","answer_topic-other"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advent-ug.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/answers\/8906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advent-ug.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/answers"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advent-ug.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/answers"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advent-ug.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"answer_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advent-ug.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/answer_topic?post=8906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}