Chapter 5 is a great example of how John offers proof of the deity of Christ. But for some people, one of the most striking things about the chapter is the fact that verse 4 is missing from some translations. There are a great many reliable manuscripts that do not contain the verse – and the ESV does not contain it either. The controversial verse omitted says

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

It just does not seem consistent with the way the Lord chose miracles to be performed during the time of the Jesus’s ministry. But to complicate matters further, verse 7 is in all the manuscripts, and it reads:

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.

Once again, the good thing about these sorts of irregularities is 2) there are very very few of them and b) none of them matter as far as doctrine is concerned. Nobody’s salvation depends on verse 4.

/Bob’s boy

Bible Reading Schedule for this month
Click links below to read or listen to audio of one of this week’s chapters in Colossians and Luke

John 1, John 2, John 3, John 4, John 5

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All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.