called in the Greek ἡλικοῦσα πηγή, probatika, was the Hebrew name for a pool or public bath, which had five porticos, piazzas, or covered walks, around it. This bath, on account of its singular usefulness, was called Bethesda; ἑθεδα, or Beth-Chesda, or the "House of Mercy," probably because the erection of baths was an act of great kindness to the common people, the preservation of whose health, in hot countries, required frequent bathing. Some, however, will have the word Bethesda to be ἑθεδα, Beth-asda, the "sink-house," or "drain," because the waters which came from the temple, and the place where the victims were washed, flowed thither. From the Greek word ἑθεδα being used by Josephus to denote the baths at Jericho, Dr Macknight, in his Harmony of the Gospels, concludes against the opinion of those who affirm that this pool served for washing the sheep designed for sacrifice before they were driven into the temple, and for cleansing the entrails of the beasts sacrificed there; and, besides, he thinks it inconsistent with the situation of Bethesda, near the sheep-gate or market in the south-east wall of the city. With regard to the precise nature of the miracle performed here, there has been considerable diversity of opinion. Dr Mill contends that the text of the evangelist has been interpolated, and proposes to omit a verse not to be found in the Cambridge manuscript, which originally belonged to Beza. Dr Macknight strenuously opposes this unceremonious method of interpretation; and while he maintains the integrity of the text, shows that Dr Mill's expedient leaves the difficulty which had staggered him exactly where it was. Grotius thinks that the angel is said to have descended, not because he was ever seen to do so, but because the Jews were persuaded that God brought such things to pass by the ministration of angels. And Dr Hammond supposes that the waters became medicinal by being impregnated with a healing warmth from the blood and entrails of the beasts offered in sacrifice that were washed there; and that the ἑθεδα, "angel," or "messenger," mentioned in the text, is not to be understood of those celestial beings who are usually distinguished by that name, but only of a common messenger or servant of the priest, who at a proper season was sent by him to trouble the pool.