lame

The Greek that is translated as “lame” in English is translated in various ways:

complete verse (John 5:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 5:3:

  • Uma: “There were many sick people there. There were blind people, crippled people, lame people, continually lying in the patios, [[waiting for the stirring-up of the pool water.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Here in these huts were many sick people lying. There were blind ones and lame ones and half paralyzed ones. (They were waiting for the water in the pool to be caused-to-bubble.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There were many sick people who stayed there in the sheltering places. There were blind, there were lame, and there were paralyzed. They were waiting there for the stirring of the water.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “where-sick-people -took-shelter. There were blind, there were lame, and there were also cripples. There were many who were lying there [waiting for the moving/rippling of the water.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Gathered there was a crowd of sick-folk, blind ones, lame ones, and those with paralysis (lit. with a dead part of their body). They were waiting for the water to ripple.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “At the porches were many sick people. There were blind people, those who were lame and those who were paralyzed. They were waiting for the water to be disturbed.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 5:3 - 4

In Greek this verse begins with the pronominal phrase “in these,” which Good News Translation makes explicit as on the porches and New English Bible as “in these colonnades.”

Good News Translation takes sick people as a generic term, qualified by the specific terms the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. The same exegesis is apparently followed by New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, and Phillips. It is possible to follow Revised Standard Version and others and take sick people as a specific category (“a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed”). However, in Greek this term is very general (literally “those who were weak”), and it is better taken as a generic term followed by the specific types of illness.

A large crowd of sick people may be rendered “many, many sick people.”

Some languages may require an indication of the precise relation between the generic expression sick people and a more specific description of them as blind, lame, and paralyzed. One may say, for example, “These sick people included those who were blind, lame, and paralyzed.” Terms for these conditions may be rendered as negatives, for example, “they could not see, they could not walk, and they could not move.”

In Good News Translation the last half of verse 3 and all of verse 4 are included in a footnote, indicating that these verses do not appear in the earliest and best Greek manuscripts. It seems likely that this part of the text was added by some ancient scribe as a kind of marginal note, explaining why the sick people gathered about the pool and how they reacted when the water was stirred up (perhaps by an underground stream that flowed in from time to time). This explanation probably represents a popular belief held by the people of that day, that is, that the stirring up of the water was caused by an angel of the Lord, and that whoever should be the first sick person to go down into the pool after the water was stirred up was healed from whatever disease he had.

In addition to the fact that they are omitted from the best Greek manuscripts, verses 3b-4 offer serious textual problems.

In selecting a term for “moved” it is important to avoid the impression that the entire body of water moved. One may say, “part of the water moved.” In some languages the term employed suggests “some water flowed in.” In others the meaning is essentially equivalent to “some water.”

The temporal expression every now and then is indefinite in meaning, and in the receptor language an expression should be selected which is also indefinite. To do so is difficult in some languages, which demand a choice among expressions meaning “every few hours,” “every few days,” or “every few months.” If a choice is necessary, a translation suggesting “every few days” would probably be the most appropriate.

It may be difficult to say in some languages was healed from whatever disease he had. An equivalent may be “would get well, no matter what disease he had” or “got well, even if he had any kind of disease.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .