Verse 4 An angel went down and troubled the water, &c.; that is, so they supposed. The meaning is, that such was the popular opinion; for that God would really thus miraculously interpose, to throw down, from time to time, a single boon among a company of cripples, to be seized by the most forward, selfish, and eager, leaving those most discouraged, helpless, and miserable, to be overwhelmed again and again with bitter disappointment, is a supposition not admissible. The periodical agitations observed in the water were produced, perhaps, by a bubbling up, at intervals, from the fountain, as is not unusual with springs to which medical virtues are attributed; and the popular belief respecting them is stated, apparently, in order to explain the reply of the sick man to Jesus in John 5:7.