as a shelter for the sick, who are specially described as τυφλῶν, etc., and those afflicted with diseases of the nerves and muscles. On ξηρῶν, “persons with withered and emaciated limbs,” comp. Matt. 12:10; Mark 3:1; Luke 6:6, 8. Whether the sick man of ver. 5 was one of them or of the χωλοῖς is not stated. Ver. 5. Τριάκοντα, κ.τ.λ.] i.e. “having passed thirty-eight years in his sickness,” so that ἔχων belongs to τρ. κ. ὀκτὼ ἔτη (8:57, 11:17; Josephus, Arch. vii. 11. 1; Krebs, p. 150),