John 2:1-11. The Testimony of the First Sign 1. _the third day_ From the calling of Philip (John 1:43), the last date given, making a week in all; the first week, perhaps in contrast to the last week (John 12:1). _Cana of Galilee_ To distinguish it from Cana of Asher (Joshua 19:28). This Cana is n... [ Continue Reading ]
_and his disciples_ Now five or six in number, Andrew, John, Peter, Philip, Nathanael, and probably James. For -both Jesus" read -Jesus also.... [ Continue Reading ]
_when they wanted wine_ Better, _when_ THE WINE FAILED. Perhaps the arrival of these six or seven guests caused the want; certainly it would make it more apparent. To Eastern hospitality such a mishap on such an occasion would seem a most disgraceful calamity. _They have no wine_ Much comment has h... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woman, what have I to do with thee?_ 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. C... [ Continue Reading ]
Between the lines of His refusal her faith reads a better answer to her appeal.... [ Continue Reading ]
_six waterpots of stone_ As an eyewitness S. John remembers their number, material, and size. The surroundings of the first miracle would not easily be forgotten. It is idle to seek for any special meaning in the number six. Vessels of stone were preferred as being less liable to impurity. _purifyi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Fill the waterpots_ It is difficult to see the meaning of this command, if (as some contend) only the water which was drawn out was turned into wine. The pitchers had been partially emptied by the ceremonial ablutions of the company, i.e. pouring water over their hands. Note that in His miracles Ch... [ Continue Reading ]
_ruler of the feast_ Perhaps _manager of the feast_would be better. 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 on... [ Continue Reading ]
_when men have well drunk_ Our translators have timidly shrunk from giving the full coarseness of the man's joke: it should be _when they have become drunken_, when they ARE _drunk_. In Matthew 24:49; Acts 2:15; 1Co 11:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:7; Revelation 17:2; Revelation 17:6, we have the same word... [ Continue Reading ]
_This beginning_, &c. Better, THIS, AS A BEGINNING OF HIS SIGNS, _did Jesus in Cana_; i.e. it is the first miracle of all, not merely the first at Cana. Thus S. John agrees with the Synoptists in representing the Messianic career as beginning in Galilee. This verse is conclusive against the miracles... [ Continue Reading ]
"Now follows a section of which WE can only say with M. Renan, that it constitutes a decisive triumph for our Gospel.… If it is at all an artificial composition, with a dogmatic object, why should the author carry his readers thus to Capernaum for nothing?" S. p. 52. If S. John wrote it, all is simp... [ Continue Reading ]
John 2:13 TO JOHN 11:57. The Work We here enter on the second portion of the first main division of the Gospel, thus subdivided: The Work (1) among _Jews_, (2) among _Samaritans_, (3) among _Galileans_, (4) among _mixed multitudes_.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 2:13 TO JOHN 3:36. The Work among Jews 13. _And the Jews" passover_ Or, _the Passover_ OF THE JEWS. An indication that this Gospel was written outside Palestine: one writing in the country would hardly have added -of the Jews." It is perhaps also an indication that this Gospel was written after... [ Continue Reading ]
The First Cleansing of the Temple 14. _in the temple_ i.e. within the sacred enclosure, in the Court of the Gentiles. The traffic would be very great at the approach of the Passover. The account is very graphic, as of an eyewitness. Note especially -the changers of money _sitting:_" the sellers of... [ Continue Reading ]
_when he had made a scourge_ Peculiar to this account; not in the similar narrative of the Synoptists. _and the sheep_, &c. Rather, BOTH _the sheep and the oxen_. -All" does not refer to the sellers and exchangers, but anticipates the sheep and the oxen. The men probably fled at once. The order is... [ Continue Reading ]
_said unto them that sold doves_ The doves could not be driven out. He calls to the owners to take the cages away. Comp. Luke 2:24. _my Father's house_ A distinct claim to Messiahship: it reminds us of -about My Father's business" (which may also mean -in My Father's house") spoken in the same plac... [ Continue Reading ]
_remembered_ Then and there. Who could know this but a disciple? Who would think of inventing it? See above on John 2:11. _was written_ Better, IS _written_; in the Greek it is the perf. part. pass. with the auxiliary, which S. John almost always uses in quotations, while the Synoptists commonly us... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Jews_ See on John 1:19. _What sign shewest thou_ We have a similar question Matthew 21:23, but the widely different answer shews that the occasion is not the same. Such demands would be made often.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Destroy this temple_ IT IS S. Matthew (Matthew 26:61) and S. Mark (Mark 14:58, see notes) who tell us that this saying was twisted into a charge against Christ, but they do not record the saying. S. John, who does record the saying, does not mention the charge. Such coincidence can scarcely be desi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Forty and six years_, &c. This was the third Temple. Solomon's Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Zerubbabel's was rebuilt by Herod the Great. The Greek implies that the building began 46 years ago, but not that it is now completed. "The building of the Temple, we are told by Josephus (_Ant._x... [ Continue Reading ]
_spake_ Or, WAS SPEAKING. Setting aside inspiration, 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 explanation not as his only, but as that of the disciples generally. Moreover... [ Continue Reading ]
_was risen_ Better, _was_ RAISED. Comp. John 21:14; Acts 3:15; Acts 4:10; Acts 5:30. _his disciples remembered_ They recollected it when the event that explained it took place; meanwhile what had not been understood had been forgotten. Would anyone but a disciple give us these details about the dis... [ Continue Reading ]
Belief without Devotion 23. _in Jerusalem at_, &c. More accurately, _in Jerusalem, at the Passover_, DURING _the Feast_. Note the exactness of detail. _when they saw the miracles_ None of these have been recorded. Comp. John 4:45; John 20:30. Faith growing out of such soil would be likely to cease... [ Continue Reading ]
_did not commit_ The same verb as -many _believed_" in John 2:23. -Many _trusted_in His name; but Jesus did not _trust_Himself unto them." The antithesis is probably intentional.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And needed not_ BETTER, _and_ BECAUSE HE HAD NO NEED. _for he knew_ Better, _for He_ OF HIMSELF _knew_. We have instances of this supernatural knowledge in the cases of Peter, John 1:42; Nathanael, John 1:47-48; Nicodemus, John 3:3; the woman at the well, John 4:29; the disciples, John 6:61; John 6... [ Continue Reading ]