John Calvin Commentary John 5:2

"Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep [gate] a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches." — John 5:2 (ASV)

There was in Jerusalem, at the sheep-market, a pool. The circumstance of the place is added, from which we learn that the miracle was not concealed or known to only a few persons; for the five porches show that the place was well-known for the great number of persons who resorted to it, and this was also implied by its proximity to the temple.

Besides, the Evangelist expressly says that many diseased persons lay there. Regarding the meaning of the name, scholars rightly reject the fanciful opinion of Jerome, who, instead of Bethesda, renders it as Betheder and interprets it to mean the house of the flock; for here, mention is made of a pool that was near the sheep-market. Those who read Bethesda as meaning a place of fishing also have no valid reason for their view.

There is greater probability in the opinion of those who explain it to be a place of pouring out. For the Hebrew word (אשך) (Eshed) signifies flowing out; but the Evangelist, as was the common way of speaking then, pronounced it Esda. I think that the water was conveyed into it by conduits so that the priests might draw from it, unless, perhaps, the place received its name from the circumstance that the water was poured into it by means of tubes.

In my opinion, it was called the sheep-market because the animals that were to be offered in sacrifice were taken there.