ISB ~ John 5 v5

thirty-eight years:The man’s protracted suffering is evident to Jesus (5:6).

• The duration of the man’s illness, due to some unspecified sin (5:14), recalls the duration of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness after rebelling against Yahweh at Kadesh (Num 13:25-14:11). The grueling journey from Kadesh to the threshold of Canaan lasted 38 years (Deut 2:14).