Horu
1. What is the time frame for each of Asclepius' daughters? When did Asclepius get his 6th daughter? Was it after 135 CE? Most info says he had 5 daughters but some others say 6. Which was most popular 5 or 6?
2. And, after the destruction of Judea in 135 CE, the Roman Emperor Hadrian built a temple to Asclepius/Serapis on the same site where the pool at Bethesda had been. His new construction at that time consisted of 5 porches for each of Asclepius' 5 daughters.
In the Gospel of John 5:2 it mentions these "five porticoes" (RSV) or "five porches" (KJV). If this is accurate then, it appears that John, or at least that part of John was written after 135 CE. As per Dr. James Charlesworth's "Reinterpreting John" from the Bible Review of Feb. 1993:
"For example, in John 5:2 the author [supposedly the apostle John] describes a monumental pool with "five porticoes" inside the Sheep Gate of Jerusalem where the sick came to be healed: the pool, we are told, is called Bethesda. No other ancient writer - no author or editor of the Old Testament, the Pseudepigrapha, not even Josephus - mentions such a significant pool in Jerusalem. Moreover, no known ancient building was a pentagon, which was apparently what John was describing with five porticoes. It seemed that the author of John could not have been a Jew who knew Jerusalem. Archaeologists, however, decided to dig precisely where the author of John claimed a pool was set aside for healing. Their excavations revealed an ancient pool with porticoes (open areas with large columns) and with shrines dedicated to the Greek god of healing, Asclepius ... The author of John knew more about Jerusalem than we thought."
2. And, after the destruction of Judea in 135 CE, the Roman Emperor Hadrian built a temple to Asclepius/Serapis on the same site where the pool at Bethesda had been. His new construction at that time consisted of 5 porches for each of Asclepius' 5 daughters.
In the Gospel of John 5:2 it mentions these "five porticoes" (RSV) or "five porches" (KJV). If this is accurate then, it appears that John, or at least that part of John was written after 135 CE. As per Dr. James Charlesworth's "Reinterpreting John" from the Bible Review of Feb. 1993:
"For example, in John 5:2 the author [supposedly the apostle John] describes a monumental pool with "five porticoes" inside the Sheep Gate of Jerusalem where the sick came to be healed: the pool, we are told, is called Bethesda. No other ancient writer - no author or editor of the Old Testament, the Pseudepigrapha, not even Josephus - mentions such a significant pool in Jerusalem. Moreover, no known ancient building was a pentagon, which was apparently what John was describing with five porticoes. It seemed that the author of John could not have been a Jew who knew Jerusalem. Archaeologists, however, decided to dig precisely where the author of John claimed a pool was set aside for healing. Their excavations revealed an ancient pool with porticoes (open areas with large columns) and with shrines dedicated to the Greek god of healing, Asclepius ... The author of John knew more about Jerusalem than we thought."
