John 5:5
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And a certain man was there, who had been thirty and eight years in his infirmity.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
Webster's Revision
And a certain man was there, who had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
World English Bible
A certain man was there, who had been sick for thirty-eight years.
English Revised Version (ERV)
And a certain man was there, which had been thirty and eight years in his infirmity.
Clarke's John 5:5 Bible Commentary
Had an infirmity thirty and eight years - St. Chrysostom conjectured that blindness was the infirmity of this person: what it was, the inspired writer does not say - probably it was a palsy: his case was deplorable - he was not able to go into the pool himself, and he had no one to help him; so that poverty and disease were here connected. The length of the time he had been afflicted makes the miracle of his cure the greater. There could have been no collusion in this case: as his affliction had lasted thirty-eight years, it must have been known to multitudes; therefore he could not be a person prepared for the occasion. All Christ's miracles have been wrought in such a way, and on such persons and occasions, as absolutely to preclude all possibility of the suspicion of imposture.
Barnes's John 5:5 Bible Commentary
An infirmity - A weakness. We know not what his disease was. We know only that it disabled him from walking, and that it was of very long standing. It was doubtless regarded as incurable.