John 5:5-14

5:5 Now a man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. ¹  5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there and when he realized ²  that the man ³  had been disabled a long time already, he said to him, “Do you want to become well?” 5:7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, ⁴  I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water, ⁵  someone else ⁶  goes down there ⁷  before me.” 5:8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat ⁸  and walk.” 5:9 Immediately the man was healed, ⁹  and he picked up his mat ¹⁰  and started walking. (Now that day was a Sabbath.) ¹¹ 

5:10 So the Jewish leaders ¹²  said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to carry your mat.” ¹³  5:11 But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat ¹⁴  and walk.’” 5:12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat ¹⁵  and walk’?” ¹⁶  5:13 But the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped out, since there was a crowd in that place.

5:14 After this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, ¹⁷  lest anything worse happen to you.”

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¹ tn Grk “who had had thirty-eight years in his disability.”

² tn Or “knew.”

³ tn Grk “he.” The referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Or “Lord.” The Greek κύριος (kurios) means both “Sir” and “Lord.” In this passage the paralytic who was healed by Jesus never acknowledges Jesus as Lord – he rather reports Jesus to the authorities.

⁵ tn Grk “while I am going.”

⁶ tn Grk “another.”

⁷ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

⁸ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” Some of these items, however, are rather substantial (e.g., “mattress”) and would probably give the modern English reader a false impression.

⁹ tn Grk “became well.”

¹⁰ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” See the note on “mat” in the previous verse.

¹¹ tn Grk “Now it was Sabbath on that day.”

sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

¹² tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. Here the author refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders in Jerusalem. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9).

¹³ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” See the note on “mat” in v. 8.

¹⁴ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” See the note on “mat” in v. 8.

¹⁵ tc While a number of mss, especially the later ones (A^c C³ D Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt sy), include the words τον κραβ(β)ατ(τ)ον σου (ton krab(b)at(t)on sou, “your mat”) here, the earliest and best (Ì^66,75 א B C* L) do not. Nevertheless, in the translation, it is necessary to supply the words due to the demands of English style, which does not typically allow for understood or implied direct objects as Greek does.

¹⁶ tn Grk “Pick up and walk”; the object (the mat) is implied but not repeated.

¹⁷ tn Since this is a prohibition with a present imperative, the translation “stop sinning” is sometimes suggested. This is not likely, however, since the present tense is normally used in prohibitions involving a general condition (as here) while the aorist tense is normally used in specific instances. Only when used opposite the normal usage (the present tense in a specific instance, for example) would the meaning “stop doing what you are doing” be appropriate.