John 4:46-47

“ He came, therefore, again to Cana of Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. And there was at Capernaum a king's officer, whose son was sick. 47. He, having heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, went unto him and besought him that he would come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. ”

Therefore connects with John 4:3 and John 4:45. Jesus directed His course towards Cana, not, as Weiss thinks, because His family had settled there (comp. John 2:12 with Matthew 4:13), but undoubtedly because it was there that He could hope to find the soil best prepared, by reason of His previous visit. This is perhaps what St. John means to intimate by the reflection, “ where he had changed the water into wine. ” His coming made a sensation, and the news promptly spread as far as Capernaum, situated seven or eight leagues eastward of Cana. The term βασιλικός, in Josephus, denotes a public functionary, either civil or military, sometimes also an employe8 of the royal house. This last meaning is here the most natural one. Herod Antipas, who reigned in Galilee, had officially only the title of tetrarch. But in the popular language that of King, which his father had borne, was given him. It is not impossible that this nobleman of the king's household may have been either Chuza, “Herod's steward” (Luke 8:3), or Manaen, his “foster-brother” (Acts 3:1). By its position at the end of the clause, the defining expression at Capernaum (which refers, not to was sick, but to there was) strongly emphasizes the notoriety which the return of Jesus had speedily acquired in Galilee.