Lord’s Library editors offer a John 5:4 meaning with commentary on why the verse is missing from new Bible versions, for your edification.
When trying to understand the meaning of John 5:4 and see why it’s missing in modern versions, first see the verse: “For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.”
This verse provides the supernatural context for why a great multitude of sick people gathered at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. It explains the hope that drove them to wait there—the belief that an angel of the Lord stirred the waters, and that whoever entered first would be healed.
In the King James Bible, this verse is present in full; a part of the inspired record. But in nearly every modern Bible version—ESV, NIV, NASB, CSB—John 5:4 is completely removed, often without so much as a footnote or with a dismissive bracketed note saying that “some manuscripts do not include this verse.” In fact, not only is verse 4 removed, but part of verse 3 is also cut, stripping out the words, “waiting for the moving of the water.”
The result is a nonsensical passage: the reader is told in verse 3 that a multitude of impotent people are lying by the pool, but without verses 3b and 4, there is no explanation why. In verse 7, the impotent man complains that he has no one to help him into the water when it is “troubled”—but in the modern Bibles, the reader has no idea what he’s talking about.
John 5:4 Missing Meaning
The defense for this deletion is an appeal to what some refer to as the “oldest and best manuscripts,” meaning Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus—two fourth-century Alexandrian Manuscripts that form the foundation of the Nestle-Aland critical text, which nearly all modern versions follow. These two documents omit John 5:4, and because modern textual criticism puts its eggs in the basket of those two manuscripts above the thousands of consistent Byzantine manuscripts.
But the Byzantine tradition—the same manuscript stream that gave us the Textus Receptus and the King James Bible—includes the verse in the overwhelming majority of copies. It was read and preached by the early Church for centuries. And the belief in angelic intervention at the pool of Bethesda was real enough that Jesus did not rebuke it. He simply asked the man if he wanted to be made whole. So, the modern claim that this verse represents an “unverified tradition” that is not worthy of Scripture is seen by many as heretical.
Removing John 5:4 does more than create narrative confusion. It scrubs the supernatural and thus de-emphasizes angelic activity. It also erases a moment where God showed mercy and power even before the public ministry of Christ began. Ask a Christian today why the crippled man was waiting by the pool, and they’ll likely be confused—because their Bible has omitted the answer. And who benefits from that? Certainly not the Church.
John 5:4 is preserved in the King James because the KJV translators followed the received and believed text of the Church; trusting the God of preservation over the scholars of doubt.
We leave you with Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18-19:
- Deuteronomy 4:2: “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”
- Revelation 22:18-19: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
Lord's Library is a Christian resource hub. Our editors use a variety of internet research methods like search engines, audio and video, AI, consultations with ministry leaders in the field, and more. Lord's Library should never be a substitute for reading your Bible daily as the Scriptures are to be our final authority on all matters. Lord's Library participates in affiliate programs. We may make a small commission from products purchased through this resource.
- Acts 4:12 Meaning: Commentary on a Key Bible Verse - July 14, 2025
- Acts 2:38 Meaning: Commentary on a Key Bible Verse - July 14, 2025
- Acts 2:21 Meaning: Commentary on a Key Bible Verse - July 14, 2025
