John 5 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The healing at Bethesda 5:1–9a

vv. 1–3 — the scene: the feast, the pool, the multitude

After these things there was a feast of the Jews,independent — the bridge from Galilee (ch. 4) — the unnamed feast exists to put Jesus in Jerusalem for a Sabbath

and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.independent — ἀνέβη — the pilgrim's technical 'going up' to the holy city

Now there is in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, a pool,independent — descriptive present Ἔστιν — the pool perhaps still standing as John writes; προβατική sc. πύλη (Neh 3:1)

called in Aramaic Bethesda,participial — attributive participle — the name a crux: Βηθζαθά (ℵ), Βηθεσδά ('house of mercy'), Βηθσαΐδά (P66)

having five colonnades.participial — second attributive — the five porticoes archaeologically confirmed at the twin pool north of the temple

In these lay a multitude of the sick — blind, lame, withered.independent — descriptive imperfect — the catalogue of helplessness; the critical text of v. 3 ends here

v. 4 — the angel-gloss, double-bracketed

[[For an angel of the Lord would come down at times into the poolcause — vv. 3b–4 a late gloss absent from P66 P75 ℵ B — bracketed per NA28; added to explain the 'stirring' of v. 7

and stir the water;cause — coordinate iterative imperfect inside the gloss — ταράσσω, the verb the man will echo (v. 7)

so the first one to step in after the stirring of the water was made well,cause — the pool's cruel economics — one healing per stirring; the competition behind the man's complaint

with whatever disease he was held.]]relative — incorporated relative closing the gloss — νόσημα, found nowhere else in John

vv. 5–9a — thirty-eight years answered by three imperatives

Now there was a certain man there, thirty-eight years in his illness.independent — the camera narrows to one unnamed man — thirty-eight years, Israel's wilderness span (Deut 2:14)

Jesus, seeing this man lying there,participial — preposed circumstantial — leans on λέγει; the knowing gaze (1:47–48; 2:25)

and knowingparticipial — second preposed participle — unprompted, Johannine knowledge

that he had already been there a long time,content — indirect discourse retaining the present ἔχει — the duration is the point

he says to him:independent — historic present speech-frame — John's narrative default

'Do you want to become well?'content — the question presses the will — θέλω returns at v. 40 (οὐ θέλετε ἐλθεῖν)

The sick man answered him:independent — ὁ ἀσθενῶν — named only by his condition

'Sir, I have no onecontent — not a yes — the complaint of total dependence; Κύριε still merely 'sir'

to put me into the pool whenever the water is stirred;purpose — ἵνα of the missing helper's task — ταραχθῇ, the peg on which the v. 4 gloss was hung

and while I am on my way,conditional — temporal ἐν ᾧ (typed cnd; no temporal key) — leans forward on the defeat below

another goes down before me.'content — vivid present — the recurring loss; thirty-eight years of arriving second

Jesus says to him:independent — the answer ignores the pool entirely

'Rise, take up your mat, and walk.'content — three bare imperatives — no ritual, no water; Ἔγειρε anticipates the raising-language of vv. 21, 28

And immediately the man became well,independent — εὐθέως — instantaneous; ὑγιής, the pericope's keyword (vv. 6, 11, 14, 15)

and he took up his matindependent — obedience answering the command word for word

and began to walk.independent — inceptive imperfect — first steps in thirty-eight years

The Sabbath controversy — the mat, and the Father who is still working 5:9b–18

v. 9b — the hinge: it was Sabbath

Now it was a Sabbath on that day.independent — the narrator's withheld sting — the healing becomes a case

vv. 10–13 — the healed man interrogated

So the Jews were saying to the man who had been healed:independent — iterative imperfect — the authorities press; perfect τεθεραπευμένῳ, the settled cure

'It is the Sabbath,content — the legal premise

and it is not lawful for you to take up your mat.'content — carrying as forbidden work — Jer 17:21; m. Šabb. 7:2

But he answered them:independent — the man deflects to his healer's authority

'The one who made me well — that one said to me:content — casus pendens resumed by ἐκεῖνος — whoever can heal can command

"Take up your mat and walk."'content — the command of v. 8 quoted verbatim — his warrant

They asked him:independent — the interrogation narrows to identity

'Who is the man who said to you,content — ὁ ἄνθρωπος — dismissive; they ask after the commander, not the cure

"Take up and walk"?'content — the command requoted, clipped — the mat itself their whole case

But the healed man did not know who it was,independent — healed before he knew the healer — grace outran knowledge; indirect question kept internal

for Jesus had slipped away,cause — ἐξένευσεν — NT hapax; the withdrawal from acclaim (cf. 6:15)

there being a crowd in the place.participial — genitive absolute — the crowd his cover

vv. 14–16 — found in the temple; the report; the persecution

After these things Jesus finds him in the templeindependent — historic present εὑρίσκει — Jesus seeks him out a second time

and said to him:independent — speech-frame

'See, you have become well;content — perfect γέγονας — the abiding new state

sin no longer,content — the warning — whatever sin's link to this illness, judgment is the real peril

lest something worse happen to you.'purpose — the 'worse thing' — the resurrection of judgment ahead (v. 29)

The man went awayindependent — asyndeton — straight from the temple

and announced to the Jewsindependent — ἀνήγγειλεν — report or betrayal, readers divide; he names what he now knows

that it was Jesus who had made him well.content — he identifies Jesus by the healing, not the mat-command

And for this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus,independent — iterative imperfect — a settled campaign; the shorter text, without 'and sought to kill him' (imported from v. 18)

because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.cause — customary ἐποίει — Sabbath healing as pattern, not lapse

vv. 17–18 — the Father who is still working, and the capital charge

But Jesus answered them:independent — rare middle ἀπεκρίνατο (again v. 19) — the formal, almost forensic reply

'My Father is working until now,content — God's providence never kept Sabbath — a point the rabbis themselves conceded

and I too am working.'content — κἀγώ — the Son on the Father's shift; the whole discourse in three words

For this reason, then, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him,independent — μᾶλλον — persecution escalates to a death-plot (7:1; 8:59)

because he was not only breaking the Sabbath,cause — ἔλυεν — 'loosing' the Sabbath, their verdict on v. 17

but was also calling God his own Father,cause — πατέρα ἴδιον — a sonship beyond Israel's shared one

making himself equal with God.participial — ἴσον τῷ θεῷ — the charge as the narrator states it; the discourse will own the equality while denying the 'himself'

The discourse on the Son's authority 5:19–47

vv. 19–23 — the Son does what the Father does: life given, judgment given

So Jesus answered and was saying to them:independent — the single frame — twenty-nine verses hang coordinate on ἔλεγεν; the middle ἀπεκρίνατο again, a formal apologia

'Truly, truly, I say to you,content — first of three double amens in the discourse (vv. 19, 24, 25)

the Son can do nothing of himself,content — the answer to 'making himself' equal (v. 18) — nothing ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ; relation, not weakness

unless he sees the Father doing it;conditional — backward exceptive ἐὰν μή — anchored, unlike a fronted protasis; the apprentice son watching the craftsman

for whatever he does, these things the Son also does likewise.content — the positive counterpart — fronted ἃ resumed by ταῦτα; ὁμοίως, the same works the same way

For the Father loves the Soncontent — φιλεῖ — affection grounds the showing; the catena stays coordinate under the frame

and shows him all thingscontent — δείκνυσιν — continuous disclosure, the seeing of v. 19 supplied

that he himself is doing,relative — the Father's present works, all of them shown

and greater works than these will he show him,content — μείζονα ἔργα — the raisings and the judgment about to be named

so that you may marvel.purpose — ὑμεῖς — the hearers pulled in; astonishment short of faith

For just as the Father raises the dead and makes alive,comparative — fronted comparison — leans on οὕτως below; ζωοποιεῖν, God's own prerogative (Deut 32:39; 1 Sam 2:6)

so also the Son makes alive whom he wills.content — οὓς θέλει — sovereign will inside the Father's work; the first 'greater work'

For the Father judges no one,content — the second prerogative — judgment, wholly handed over

but has given all judgment to the Son,content — perfect δέδωκεν — the standing grant; κρίσις, the discourse's keyword (vv. 22, 24, 27, 29, 30)

so that all may honor the Sonpurpose — the grant's purpose — the Son's honor intended, not incidental

just as they honor the Father.comparative — καθώς — equal honor; the ἴσον of v. 18 owned on Jesus' own terms

The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.content — the negative corollary — πέμψας, the sending formula that runs through the chapter

vv. 24–25 — the first resurrection: hearing now, living now

Truly, truly, I say to you,content — second amen — realized eschatology at its sharpest

that the one who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life,content — hearing and believing, present participles — ἔχει: life possessed now

and does not come into judgment,content — the believer's case never comes to court

but has passed from death into life.content — perfect μεταβέβηκεν — the crossing already made (cf. 1 John 3:14)

Truly, truly, I say to you,content — third amen — the hour named

that an hour is coming — and now is —content — the Johannine ὥρα doubled into the present (cf. 4:23)

when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,relative — on ὥρα — the spiritually dead now; Lazarus (ch. 11) will stage the literal sign of it

and those who hear will live.relative — coordinate inside the ὅτε-clause — hearing is the instrument of resurrection

vv. 26–30 — the second resurrection: the Son of Man and the two destinies

For just as the Father has life in himself,comparative — fronted comparison again — leans on οὕτως; aseity, life underived

so also he granted the Son to have life in himself.content — ἔδωκεν — granted, yet what is granted is self-possessed life: the discourse's deepest paradox

And he gave him authority to execute judgment,content — the judicial commission alongside the vital one

because he is the Son of Man.cause — anarthrous υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου — the Danielic judge (Dan 7:13–14) as ground of the authority

Do not marvel at this,content — the prohibition — something greater than realized life is coming

for an hour is comingcause — this ὥρα without 'and now is' — the future, bodily hour

in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voicerelative — ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις — literal graves now; πάντες, none exempt

and will come out — those who have done good, to a resurrection of life,relative — Dan 12:2 behind the double exodus from the tombs

and those who have practiced evil, to a resurrection of judgment.relative — verb elided — the grim half; deeds as the verdict's evidence (cf. 3:20–21)

I can do nothing of my own accord;content — inclusio with v. 19 — the Son's formula now in the first person: ἐγώ

just as I hear,comparative — fronted comparison — leans on κρίνω below; judgment by audition

I judge,content — nothing self-originated, even in judging

and my judgment is just,content — the just Judge — just because derived

because I do not seek my own will but the will of him who sent me.cause — a will wholly aligned — the sending formula grounds the justice

vv. 31–35 — the witness of another; John the lamp

If I bear witness about myself,conditional — protasis — conceding the legal rule against self-testimony (cf. Deut 19:15; contrast 8:14)

my testimony is not true.content — ἀληθής here = legally valid; the fourfold witness-list now opens

There is another who bears witness about me,content — ἄλλος — the Father (v. 37), not John

and I knowcontent — the Son's certainty against their demand for proof

that the testimony is truecontent — valid where self-witness was not

which he bears about me.relative — cognate μαρτυρεῖ μαρτυρίαν — the chapter's keyword drummed (vv. 31–39)

You have sent to John,content — the embassy of 1:19 — perfect: it stands on record

and he has borne witness to the truth.content — witness no. 1: John — also on record

But I do not receive the testimony from man;content — the qualification — the Son needs no human attestation

but I say these thingscontent — the citation of John has a purpose

so that you may be saved.purpose — John is cited for their rescue — the discourse's pastoral aside

He was the lamp, burning and shining,content — λύχνος, not φῶς — lit, not self-luminous (1:8); ἦν, his hour already past

and you were willing to exult for an hour in his light.content — πρὸς ὥραν — a season's enthusiasm, no repentance; aorist ἠθελήσατε, over and done

vv. 36–38 — the greater witness: the works, and the Father himself

But I have the testimony greater than John's;content — μείζω — the witnesses ranked

for the works that the Father has given me to accomplish —phrase modifier — suspended nominative, resumed by αὐτὰ τὰ ἔργα below — τελειώσω, echoed at 17:4 and in τετέλεσται (19:30)

the very works that I am doing bear witness about mecontent — witness no. 2: the works — the healing of vv. 1–9 among them

that the Father has sent me.content — what the works attest — the sending

And the Father who sent me — he himself has borne witness about me.content — witness no. 3: the Father — resumptive ἐκεῖνος; perfect again, on record

You have never heard his voicecontent — the turn to indictment — Sinai's privileges, theirs no longer (Deut 4:12)

nor seen his form,content — εἶδος — only the Son has seen (1:18; 6:46)

and you do not have his word abiding in you,content — the third negation — μένειν, the abiding they lack

because the one whom he sent — him you do not believe.cause — the diagnosis: unbelief in the Sent One proves the word never lodged

vv. 39–40 — the Scriptures' witness, and the refusal

You search the Scriptures,content — ἐραυνᾶτε read as indicative — a statement of their practice, not a command; witness no. 4

because you think that in them you have eternal life;cause — life sought in the text rather than in its subject

and it is they that bear witness about me;content — the Scriptures' whole office — περὶ ἐμοῦ (v. 46: Moses wrote of me)

and you are not willing to come to mecontent — οὐ θέλετε — the tragedy is volitional; the θέλεις of v. 6 answered in the negative

so that you may have life.purpose — the life the Scriptures pointed to — one step away, refused

vv. 41–44 — glory from men, not from the only God

Glory from men I do not receive,content — δόξα fronted — the closing theme: whose approval is currency

but I have known you,content — perfect ἔγνωκα — settled knowledge of what is in man (2:25)

that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.content — the genitive left open — love for God (most likely) or God's love in them; either way absent

I have come in my Father's name,content — perfect ἐλήλυθα — the standing mission, no name of his own sought

and you do not receive me;content — 1:11 restated inside the discourse

if another comes in his own name,conditional — protasis — the self-authorized claimant; messianic pretenders in view

that one you will receive.content — the bitter symmetry — fronted ἐκεῖνον: him you will receive

How can you believe,content — the rhetorical diagnosis — faith made impossible by rival glory

receiving glory from one another,participial — causal participle — mutual honor, the closed economy of unbelief

and do not seek the glory that is from the only God?content — τοῦ μόνου θεοῦ — the Shema's God; the question completes the indictment

vv. 45–47 — the Moses close: the accuser in whom they hoped

Do not supposecontent — the closing prohibition

that I will accuse you before the Father;content — κατηγορεῖν — courtroom language to the last; the Son declines the prosecutor's role

there is one who accuses you: Moses,content — the reversal — their advocate turned accuser

in whom you have set your hope.relative — perfect ἠλπίκατε — a settled, misplaced confidence

For if you believed Moses,conditional — second-class protasis — imperfects: contrary to fact; but you do not

you would believe me;content — the apodosis with ἄν — Moses and Jesus stand or fall together

for it was about me that he wrote.cause — Moses' witness — Deut 18:15 and the whole Torah's aim

But if you do not believe his writings,conditional — first-class protasis — the condition assumed as the case

how will you believe my words?content — γράμματα against ῥήματα — the discourse ends on an open question, and no reply is recorded

Analysis. John 5 divides at a delayed narrator's aside. The sign (vv. 1–9a) reads almost like Mark: flush-left purple main clauses — a feast, a pool, a multitude, one man thirty-eight years down — with Jesus' knowing participles (ἰδών, γνούς) leaning forward on λέγει, and every speech hanging blue beneath its verb of saying: the θέλεις ὑγιὴς γενέσθαι question, the man's helpless non-answer with its ἵνα of the missing helper, and the three bare imperatives Ἔγειρε, ἆρον, περιπάτει answered clause for clause by ἐγένετο, ἦρεν, περιεπάτει. Verse 4 stands double-bracketed exactly as printed: the angel-gloss (with v. 3b's ἐκδεχομένων) is a late scribal addition absent from P66, P75, Sinaiticus, and Vaticanus, added to explain the 'stirring' of v. 7; the layout hangs it as an explanatory cau intrusion under κατέκειτο and flags its status rather than hiding it. The hinge is the withheld Ἦν δὲ σάββατον (v. 9b), which opens the controversy section: the mat-carrying exchanges (the command of v. 8 quoted verbatim, twice), Jesus' five-word defense Ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται, κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι, and the narrator's double charge — Sabbath-breaking, and πατέρα ἴδιον, ἴσον ἑαυτὸν ποιῶν τῷ θεῷ. From v. 19 the page goes the way of Mark 13: one frame (Ἀπεκρίνατο οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς) and twenty-nine verses of coordinate blue cnt lines at constant depth under ἔλεγεν, the movements labeled — the Son does what the Father does (vv. 19–23), the two resurrections (the realized hour of vv. 24–25, ὥρα καὶ νῦν ἐστιν, and the bodily hour of vv. 28–29, tombs and two destinies), the fourfold witness of John, the works, the Father, and the Scriptures (vv. 31–40), the glory-indictment (vv. 41–44), and the Moses close with its contrary-to-fact conditional (vv. 45–47). Cruxes taken openly: ἐραυνᾶτε (v. 39) is read as indicative, not imperative; Βηθεσδά (v. 2) is kept with its rivals named (Βηθζαθά ℵ, Βηθσαΐδά P66); v. 16 follows the shorter text without 'and sought to kill him'; and the ἐὰν μή of v. 19 is anchored backward as an exceptive, unlike the fronted anchor-less protases of vv. 31, 43, 46, 47.