than fuch Baths in those warm Climates; Jofephus (d) mentions fome by this very name of ouμchbeg at Jericho, as us'd for the Exercife and Pleasure of Swimming; and it may be reasonably prefum'd, that This at Jerufalem, and perhaps fome others there, was built for the fame purpose.

IT has (I confefs) been commonly fuppos'd by Commentators, that this Bath or Pool (as our Tranflation has it) ferv'd either for washing of the Sheep before they were led into the Temple, or for wafhing the Entrails of Beafts facrific'd in the Temple, or for receiving the Blood from the Trench round the Altar, which was thought to be convey'd hither by fome fubterraneous Channel; But thofe, who led the way in these Opinions, feem to have been (e) deceiv'd by joining, both in the Greek and the Latin, two words together in Conftruction, which have no relation to one another; befides, the proper fenfe of the word noxuμ60eg is inconfiftent with every one of these Opinions; and (which is more) thefe Opinions are not eafily reconcileable with the Situation of the Sheep-gate, near which this Pool ftood; for the Sheep-gate was on the South-East Wall of Jerufalem, and therefore a great part of the City lay between That and the Temple, as the accurate Dr. Lightfoot has fhew'd in his Harmony of the Evangelifts, p. 666. On all thefe Accounts therefore I believe, that what is commonly called a Pool, was a Bath, built and us'd only for the Sport and Exercife of Swimming; for which it could never have been fit, if it had ferv'd for any purpose relating to the Sacrifices of the Temple.

AROUND this Bath were built (as St. John fays) (f) five Porches, or rather Portico's, soa: of which fort Herod built feveral at Tyre and Berytus; and the Defign of them all was for the Common People to walk in them under Covert in the Heat of the Day, if they had no mind to Bathe; and for such as had,

(α) Ταϊς κολυμβήθραις όπις άνες, αἱ μεγάλαι περὶ * αὐλί ἐτύγχανον, ανέψυχον τὸ θερμώτατον ε μεσημβρίας. Antig. Jud. L. 15. C. 3.

(e) The Generality of the old Greek and Latin Commentators took norveg and piscina or natatoria to be us'd here, the one in the Dative Cafe, the others in the Ablative Cafe, and join'd them in Conftruction with regaTix and probatica; in confequence of which Miftake, they thought that this Pool ferv'd for the Purpose of Sacrifices in fome one of the Ways before-mention'd.

(f) If the Bath or Pool was an oblong fquare (as That is, which modern Travellers now generally call the Pool of Bethesda), it is probable, that three fides of it had only a Single Portico, and the fourth a Double one; which was the Cafe of the Outer court of the Temple, or Court of the Gentiles. That, which Mr. Maundrell faw (p. 108 of his Journey from Aleppo to Jerufalem), had only three Portico's, but there might anciently have been five.

they

they were of ufe for them to drefs and undress themselves in the Shade: The Bath and the Portico's therefore, ferving for this purpose, might well have gain'd the name of Bethesda, i. e. the House of Mercy or Kindness, because the building them was a great Act of Kindness to the Common People, for whose fake they were erected, and whofe Indifpofitions in hot Countries requir'd frequent Bathing. To fuppofe, that they took this Name from any miraculous Cures wrought there, is to fuppofe without Authority or Occafion, and I fubmit to the Reader whether Mine is not a more natural Account of the Matter.

AT this Bath about the Time of the Feast, ver. 1. (most probably the Feast of the Paffover,) a great multitude of impotent Folk, of Blind, Halt and Wither'd lay in the Portico's, waiting for the moving of the Water; for (as St. John fays) an Angel went down naev (g) at the feafon (i. e. of the Paffover) and troubled the Water, and whosoever then first, after the troubling of the Water stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever Difeafe he had. This is St. John's Account, and from This it does not appear, that the Waters of this Pool or Bath had ever receiv'd this miraculously healing Virtue before or after the time of This Feaft: The expreffion at the feafon, does (as the Note below fhews) more Naturally confine it to this Paffover, than fuppofe it to have been a Standing and an Annual Miracle:

(g) At the feafon: this is the Literal Translation of the Words nata napov; and not at a certain feafon, as we commonly render it, for then it fould have been καλὰ καιρόν τινα. The words κατὰ nousov are us'd but in one other Place of the New Teftament, viz. in Rom. v. 6. where we read, When we were without ftrength, Chrift nala naupov dy'd for the Ungodly, i. e. not in due time, but at the time of our being without ftrength. It is very often that we meet with naupos thus us'd, when the word which should mark what that time or feafon is, is understood, and not exprefs'd: thus weỳ nap is us'd in Matt. viii. 29. and xxiv. 45. and I Cor. iv. 5. and ev xaip in Luke xii. 42. and xx. 10. and xxi. 8. and 1 Pet. v. 6. As fome Word then may be here understood after xala naipov, fo particularly the Feaft of the Paffover may; for we find many Instances in the LXX, where the time of the Paffover is called napos, as in Exod. xxiii. 15, 17. and xxxiv. 18. Numb. ix. 3. and particularly ver. 7. προσενές και τὸ δῶρον Κυρίῳ κατὰ καιρὸν αυτό, to bring a Gift unto the Lord at the feafon of it, i. e. of the Palover, mention'd in the foregoing verfe. From all which I conclude, that the Phrase nara naipov here must be tranflated at the feafon, and that by it may be understood, the time of the Paffever or Feaft, which the Evangelift had spoken of at the beginning of the Chapter. I have but one thing more to add upon this head, which is, that these two words are not exprefs'd at all in the above-mention'd Three Latin MSS. of Calmet, and Dr. Wilkins fays that they are wanting in the Coptick, and many other Verfions.

the

the least that can be faid, is, that there is full as much Liberty from the Scripture ftory to make My Suppofition as any other; and Mine has feveral other Circumftances in its favour, which are a weight upon the contrary Opinion: for whatever is Objected from the Silence of the Jewish Writers about this Miracle, is an Argument on my fide as far as it is any Argument: But the Silence of the Jews on this head, in their Dif courfe with Jefus, has much more weight in it against a suppos'd Annual Miracle of a long ftanding, it being not very Easy to conceive, why, when They fo often infift upon having God for their Father, they don't urge this ftanding Miracle at Bethesda, as a Proof of it; and why they so often mention the Miracles of Mofes and the Prophets, without ever once mentioning fo remarkable a thing, as a Miraculous Cure wrought at this Pool, in their own days, for many years together, about the time of the Feast: Whereas upon my Suppofition, nothing of this kind can be any Objection; the greater the Silence, the ftronger the Proof. But on this head I fhall have occafion to

fay more by and by.

IT is well known that the Feast of the Paffover lafted eight days, including the Days of unleaven'd Bread: and poffibly this miraculous Quality of the Bath might have begun on the first day of it, or fome few days before it: How the difcovery of this its healing Virtue came to be made, we are not told I should rather think, that it was owing to Accident than to any divine Revelation; it might be, that fome Few of an infirm or otherwife Difeas'd Conftitution, bathing one day in this Pool for Pleasure and Recreation, might find himself cur'd all on a fudden, upon fome violent Motion of the Water, which troubled it, and which he could not account for, there being no Wind ftirring that was ftrong enough for that purpose. If he was thus cur'd, we may fuppofe, that upon hearing it others who were Diseased came there the fame, or the next day,, waiting for the troubling of the Water, and hoping for the fame Extraordinary Relief; and what they thus hoped for, they are faid to have found, whatever their Disease was, tho' only One, and he the First that ftepped in, was cured upon each Motion of the Water: the Report of thefe Cures (we may suppose) drew every day greater Numbers together, the Pool being found to have this effect every day, and (for what we know) several times in a day.

FROM hence it is no wonder, if at length a great Multitude of Impotent Folk, Blind, Halt, &c. was got together at the Pool, when our Saviour paffed by, which was on the Sabbathday, or Third day after the Paffover, and might be fome days after the Miracle was begun.

THIS Motion of the Water is faid by the Evangelift, to have been caus'd by the Defcent of an Angel into the Bath; who might F

therein

therein follow a known Jewish way of speaking, not affirming that an Angel did vifibly defcend there, but only that there was fuch a Divine Effect, which (b) in the Language of the Scriptures, and in the Eaftern way of Expreffion, is faid to be wrought by Angels, who are Miniftring Spirits, and perform the Will of God on fuch occafions.

THIS is the Account of the Story which I offer to the Reader, as every way Confiftent with St. John's Narration, and in fome parts neceffarily following from it, and confirm'd by other Good Authorities: and my Account has this peculiar Advantage, that it is clear of all the Difficulties which Mr. W. would faften upon the Story; For

HIS firft Queftion is this, What was the true occafion of the Angel's defcent? Was it to wash and bathe himself, or to impart a healing Quality to the Water? p. 40, 41. And the first part of this Question he founds upon a peculiar Reading of the Alex. and fome other MSS. which have instead of xaricaιvev the word () xTo which This great Critick in the Greek Tongue thinks muft neceffarily fignify, that the Angel washed or bathed himself; and therefore muft fuppofe (as he fays) fome bodily Defilement or Heat contracted in the Celestial Regions, that wanted Refrigeration or Purgation in thefe Waters. But a little more Knowledge of the Greek Tongue, might have taught him, that aid in the most approv'd Authors fignifies fome

(b) Grotius's Note here is, Non quòd videretur Angelus, fed quòd perfuafum effet Judæis talia à Deo, nonnifi per Angelos, agi; ita ex motu Aqua præfentia Angeli intelligebatur, ut ex Terra motu. Mat. xxviii. 2. And thus when the Hoff of Sennacherib was destroy'd in one night (probably by a Peftilential Hot Wind), it is faid, 2 Kings xix. 35. that an Angel of the Lord went out and fmote in the Camp of the Affyrians, &c. where the Angelical Prefence was only Vifible. in its Effects.

(i) The Alex. Med. & Cypr. Greek MSS. and the Ethiop Verfion, agree in reading λ870: but all the other Greek MSS read xartCarvey, as the other Verfions feem to have done. The Phrafe καταβαίνειν ἐν κολυμβήθρα is the fame as καταβαίνειν εις κολυμβήθραν ; Verbs of motion in the Greek Language having ἐν with a Dative Cafe after them, as well as s with an Accufa tive Cafe. So in Luke vii. 27. we read av 8 λoyos dulos ev oλn Ty Isdaía, went forth into all Judea: See alfo Mark i. 16. and Luke viii. 7, 15. Frequent Inftances of the fame are found likewise in the pureft Greek Authors. Perhaps, if lo was the original Reading, St. Luke's Sense of that word not being commonly known, the word xaTiCare was put in the Margin of the Antient MSS. as one of the fame fenfe, and more intelligible; and from the Margin it might creep into the Text of the lefs Accurate Copies of St. John's Gofpel. But I offer this as Conjecture only.

times

times no more than xarabaive to plunge, or defcend into, without having the Idea of washing or bathing annex'd to it, tho' it be the fame Action, which thofe ufe, who go into the Water with the defign of washing or bathing: It is probable, that this was all which Elisha meant, when he bid Naaman the Syrian xe wash himself feven times in the River Jordan, 2 Kings v. 10. But what does Mr. W. think, that Homer means, when fpeaking of a Star's rifing, he describes it as Açλúmer Queavoro, i: e. having fet or defcended into the Ocean? Iliad. έ. ver. 6. Or what does he think, that Virgil understood by that part of Homer's fine Defcription of a high-mettled Horse broken loofe, Iliad. '. ver. 508,

Εἰωθὼς λιέας ευῤῥειός ποταμοῖο.

when he imitates it thus in a Parallel Similitude,

Affuetus aquæ perfundi flumine noto?

Æneid. XI. 495.

NO doubt but the Latin Poet thought, that he exprefs'd all which the Greek one did; and it is certain, that the Sense of both Poets is no more than This, that the Horfe us'd to plunge into the Water for the fake of Swimming.

IF the Angel then did not defcend to Cool or Cleanse himfelf, and if he did not defcend Visibly at all, we may fee how Mr. W. is more difpofed to be Merry than Wife, when he asks, whether the Angel defcended with his Head or his Heels foremoft &c. p. 41.

BUT ftill he wants an Answer to the laft part of his Queftion, Whether the Angel defcended to impart a healing Quality to the Water? If he did (fays he p. 41.) why did only One difeafed perfon at a time reap the benefit? To which I have nothing to answer but that it pleas'd God to direct it thus: But if he means (as he feems to do) to expect an Account, why all who stepp'd into the Pool or Bath were not alike heal'd as well as the First, it may be answer'd, that in this case the Miracle of the Story would have been doubted, or deny'd, and by None (it is likely) more than by Himfelf: "A Fine Mi

racle!" he would cry; " don't many Medicinal Baths cure " various kinds of Diseases, and multitudes of fuch as Labour "under each Disease, provided their Cafe be a Curable one?" It is probable that his Language then would have been of this Sort: Had only One been cur'd, the First that bathed every "Morning, or the First that could get in after fome invisible "Motion of the Water, then there would have been a Great "and Real Miracle? but now the Numbers make the Fact fufpicious: it feems to have been a Natural Quality in the "Waters, because it is fo Univerfal; to make it appear a

F 2

"Miracle,