John 2:6

Ver. 6. “ Now there were there six water-pots of stone, according to the usual manner of purifying among the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece. ”

᾿Εκεῖ, there, denotes, according to Meyer, the banqueting room itself. Is it not more natural to imagine these urns placed in the court or in the vestibule at the entrance of the hall? The ninth verse proves that all this occurred out of the bridegroom's sight, who was himself in the room. These vases were designed for the purification either of persons or utensils, such as was usual among pious Jews, especially before or after meals (Matthew 15:2; Luke 11:38; particularly, Mark 7:1-4.) Κατά, not with a view to, but according to its natural sense, in conformity with. This preposition has reference to the complement τῶν᾿Ιουδαίων : conformably to the mode of purification customary among the Jews. John expresses himself thus because he is writing among Gentiles and as no longer belonging to the Jewish community. ᾿Ανά has evidently, considering the very precise number six, the distributive sense (singulae), not the approximative meaning (about). The measure which is spoken of was of considerable size; its capacity was 27 litres (Rilliet) or even 38 (Keil) or 39 (Arnaud). The entire contents might, therefore, reach even to about 500 litres. [The litre is a measure nearly corresponding with the English quart.]

This quantity has seemed too considerable, it has even scandalized certain critics (Strauss, Schweizer), who have found here an indication of the falsity of the account.Lucke replies that all the water was not necessarily changed into wine. This supposition is contrary to the natural meaning of the text; the exact indication of the capacity of the vessels certainly implies the contrary.

Let us rather say that when once Jesus yields to the desire of His mother, he yields with all His heart, as a son, a friend, a man, with an inward joy. It is His first miraculous sign; it must give high testimony of His wealth, of His munificence, of the happiness which He has in relieving, even in giving gladness; it must become the type of the fullness of grace, of joy and of strength which the only-begotten Son brings to the earth. There is, moreover, nothing in the text to lead us to suppose that all the wine must have been consumed at this feast. It was the rich wedding gift by which the Lord honored this house where He with his attendants had just been hospitably received.

Perhaps the number six was expressly called to mind, because it corresponded precisely with the number of persons who accompanied Jesus. This gift was thus, as it were, a testimony of the gratitude on the part of the disciples themselves to their host; it was, at all events, the enduring monument of the Master's benediction upon the youthful household formed under His auspices. How can criticism put itself in collision with everything that is most truly human in the Gospel? Moreover, what a feeling of lively pleasure is expressed in the following words! Jesus foresees the joyous surprise of His host: