John 2:1-11. THE TESTIMONY OF THE FIRST SIGN Jesus is passing from the retirement in which He has lived so long into the publicity of His ministry. The scene which follows lies halfway between—in the family circle, where privacy and publicity meet. It is the same when He returns from temporary reti... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΗ͂Ι ΤΡΊΤΗΙ. From the calling of Philip (John 1:43), the last date mentioned, making a week in all; the first week, possibly in contrast to the last (John 12:1). ΚΑΝΑ͂Ι Τ. ΓΑΛ. To distinguish it from Cana of Asher (Joshua 19:28); an instance of the Evangelist’s knowledge of Palestine. This Cana is... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΚΛΉΘΗ. Singular, as if the including of the disciples were an afterthought. There were now five or six; Andrew, John, Peter, Philip, Nathanael, and probably James. ΔῈ ΚΑῚ Ὁ Ἰ. _And Jesus_ ALSO (John 3:23; John 18:2; John 18:5; John 19:39).... [ Continue Reading ]
ὙΣΤ. ΟἼΝ. WHEN WINE FAILED. The arrival of these six or seven guests might cause the want, and certainly would make it more apparent. To Eastern hospitality such a failure on such an occasion would seem a disgraceful calamity. Whether the feast had already lasted several days (Genesis 29:27; Judges... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΊ ἘΜΟῚ Κ. ΣΟΊ, ΓΎΝΑΙ; S. John alone of all the Evangelists never gives the Virgin’s name. Here, as so often, he assumes that his readers know the main points in the Gospel narrative: or it may be part of the reserve which he exhibits with regard to all that nearly concerns himself. Christ’s Mother... [ Continue Reading ]
5. Between the lines of His refusal her faith reads a better answer to her appeal, and she is content to leave all to Him.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΛΙΘ. ὙΔΡ. ἛΞ. As an eyewitness S. John remembers their material, number, and size. The surroundings of the first miracle would not easily be forgotten. Vessels of stone were less liable to impurity: it is idle to seek for special meaning in the number six. ΚΑΘΑΡΙΣΜΌΝ. Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:3 (see no... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΕΜΊΣΑΤΕ. What is the meaning of this command, if (as some contend) only the water drawn out was turned into wine? And why such care to state the large size of the vessels? These had been partly emptied by the ceremonial ablutions of the company. Note that in His miracles Christ _never creates;_ He... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΡΧΙΤΡ. MANAGER _of the feast_ (_triclinium_) rather than _ruler_: but it is doubtful whether the head-waiter, who managed the feast and tasted the meat and drink, is meant, or the _rex convivii, arbiter bibendi_, the guest elected by the other guests to preside. The bad taste of his remark inclines... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸ ὙΔ. ΟἾΝ. ΓΕΓ. _The water now become wine_. This seems to imply that _all_ had become wine: there is nothing to distinguish what was now wine from what still remained water. It is idle to ask at what precise moment or in what precise way the water became wine: an instantaneous change seems to be i... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΕΘΥΣΘΩ͂ΣΙΝ. _Have become drunk_, ARE DRUNK. The A.V. does not give the full coarseness of the man’s joke, although in Matthew 24:49; Acts 2:15; 1 Corinthians 11:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:7; Revelation 17:2; Revelation 17:6, the same word is rightly translated. The Vulgate has _inebriati fuerint_; Tynda... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΑΎΤΗΝ ἘΠ. ἈΡΧ. Τ. Σ. THIS AS A BEGINNING OF HIS SIGNS DID JESUS: it is the first miracle of all, not merely the first in Cana. This is quite conclusive against the miracles of Christ’s childhood recorded in the Apocryphal Gospels and is evidence of the truthfulness of the writer. If he were inventi... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΦΑΡΝΑΟΎΜ (preferred by the best editors to Καπερναούμ). 12. This verse alone is almost enough to disprove the theory that the Gospel is a fiction written with a dogmatic object: “why should the author carry his readers thus to Capernaum—for nothing?” If S. John wrote it, all is natural. He record... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸ ΠΆΣΧΑ Τ. Ἰ. _The passover_ OF THE JEWS. Perhaps an indication that this Gospel was written after a Passover _of the Christians_ had come into recognition. Passovers were active times in Christ’s ministry; and this is the first of them. It was possibly the nearness of the Passover which caused thi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΤΩ͂Ι ἹΕΡΩ͂Ι. In the sacred enclosure, viz. the Court of the Gentiles, sometimes called ‘the mountain of the house;’ whereas ἐν τῷ ναῷ (see on John 2:19) would mean in the sanctuary, in the Temple proper: the traffic would be great on the eve of the Passover. The account is very graphic, as of an... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIRST CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΟΙΉΣΑΣ ΦΡ. Peculiar to this account: there is no such incident in the cleansing recorded by the Synoptists. The scourge was probably not used; to raise it would be enough. ΣΧΟΙΝΊΩΝ are literally _twisted rushes_. ΤΆ ΤΕ ΠΡΌΒ. Κ.Τ.Β. BOTH _the sheep and the oxen_, explanatory of πάντας, which does n... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἾΠΕΝ. The doves could not be driven out, and to let them fly might have caused unseemly and prolonged commotion: He calls to the owners to take the cages away. Throughout He guides His indignation, not it Him. ‘The wrath of the Lamb’ is mercy here and justice hereafter, never indiscriminating passi... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΤΑΦΆΓΕΤΑΊ (אABP) has been altered to κατέφαγε in order to bring the quotation into harmony with the LXX. 17. ἘΜΝΉΣΘ. Then and there; contrast John 2:22. Who could know this but a disciple who was present? Who would think of inventing it? See on John 2:11. ΓΕΓΡΑΜΜ. ἘΣΤΊΝ In quotations S. John almo... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟἹ ἸΟΥΔΑΙ͂ΟΙ. See on John 1:19. On ἀπεκρίθησαν see on John 10:32. ΤΊ ΣΗΜΕΙ͂ΟΝ. We have a similar question Matthew 21:23, but the widely different answer shews that the occasion is different. Such demands, thoroughly characteristic of the Pharisaic spirit (1 Corinthians 1:22), would be often made. T... [ Continue Reading ]
ΛΎΣΑΤΕ Τ. ΝΑῸΝ Τ. The reply is “sudden as a flash of lightning;” (comp. [John 8:7]) and it leaves a lasting impression on all (Matthew 26:61; Matthew 27:40): but what it revealed was not comprehended until a fuller and more lasting light revealed it again. It is S. Matthew (Matthew 26:61) and S. Mar... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΕΣΣΕΡΆΚΟΝΤΑ. This Ionic form of τεσσαράκοντα has good MS. authority here, Revelation 11:2; Revelation 13:5; Revelation 14:1; Revelation 21:17. Winer, p. 46. 20. ΤΕΣΣ. Κ. ἛΞ ἝΤΕΣΙΝ. For the dative comp. John 14:9. This was the third Temple. Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Zerubbabe... [ Continue Reading ]
ἜΛΕΓΕΝ. WAS SPEAKING. Even if inspiration be set aside, S. John’s explanation must be admitted as the true one. What better interpreter of the mind of Jesus can be found than ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’? And he gives the interpretation not as his only, but as that of the disciples generally. Mor... [ Continue Reading ]
22. TRUSTING BELIEF ἨΓΈΡΘΗ. _Was_ RAISED. Comp. John 21:14; Acts 3:15; Acts 4:10; Acts 5:30. They recollected it when the event which explained it took place; meanwhile what had not been understood had been forgotten. Would any but a disciple give these details about the disciples’ thoughts? See on... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΤΟΙ͂Σ ἹΕΡΟΣΟΛΎΜΟΙΣ for ἐν Ἱερ. S. John alone gives Ἱεροσόλυμα the article, here, John 5:2; John 10:22; John 11:18; contrast John 1:19; John 4:20-21; John 2:13; John 5:1; John 11:55; John 12:12. 23. Note the different force of ἐν and the exactness of [ Continue Reading ]
BELIEF WITHOUT TRUST... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΠΊΣΤΕΥΕΝ. Antithesis to ἐπιστ. εἰς τ. ὄν αὐτ.—’Many _trusted_ in His name, but Jesus did not _trust_ Himself to them.’ ΔΙᾺ ΤῸ ΑΥ̓Τ. ΓΙΝ. FOR THAT HE OF HIMSELF _knew_. Observe the difference between διὰ τὸ (_for that_), ὅτι (_because_), and γάρ (_for_).... [ Continue Reading ]
ἽΝΑ ΤΙΣ ΜΑΡΤ. See on John 1:7-8 : _that any should_ BEAR WITNESS CONCERNING _man;_ comp. John 16:30. The article with ἀνθρώπου is generic. ΑΥ̓ΤῸΣ ΓᾺΡ ἘΓ. _For He_ OF HIMSELF _knew_: note the repetition of αὐτός in John 2:23-24. We have instances of this supernatural knowledge in the cases of Peter ... [ Continue Reading ]