The Pool of Bethesda is referenced by Mr. Brocklehurst in Chapter VII of Jane Eyre. During a surprise visit to Lowood one afternoon, Mr. Brocklehurst describes to the teachers and pupils why Mrs. Reed has sent Jane to the school. “[S]he has sent her here to be healed, even as the Jews of old sent their diseased to the troubled pool of Bethesda; and, teachers, superintendent, I beg of you not to allow the waters to stagnate round her” (Bronte 67). The Pool of Bethesda holds a biblical connotation, as it is referenced in the Book of John (Masterman 88). John 5:2, 3 states, “Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a multitude of them that were sick, blind, halt, withered” (Masterman 88). It was believed that the Pool of Bethesda was a dwelling located at St. Anne’s Church in Jerusalem to which the poor and sick would flock seeking reprieve from their misfortunes in the twenty years between 90-110 AD (Masterman 88, 89). In terms of Brocklehurst referencing the Pool as “troubled,” it is in reference to “the sudden ‘troubling’ of water,” being the natural rise and flow of springs (Masterman 92). 

Mr. Brocklehurst’s reference to the pool deepens our understanding of the text in multiple ways. First, Lowood is a religious school for Orphan girls, so having a religious supervisor makes sense (Bronte). Second, the girls read scripture, like that in the book of John, and are expected to be raised with humility, so they can be likened to the “’sufferings of the primitive Christians’” like those who flocked to the pool (Bronte). Third, Mr. Brocklehurst is eluding that Jane is "sick," pleading with the teachers to not let her tarnish the other pupils, via his use of a religious metaphor (Bronte).

 Masterman, E. W. G. “The Pool of Bethesda.” The Biblical World, vol. 25, no. 2, 1905, pp. 88–102. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3141150. Accessed 6 Jun. 2022.