CHAPTER II. _The miracle at Cana in Galilee, where our Lord changed water_ _into wine_, 1-11. _He goes to Capernaum_, 12. _He purges the temple at the feast of the passover_, 13-17. _The Jews require a miracle, as a proof that he had authority to_ _do these things_, 18. _In answer he refers t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:2. _AND BOTH JESUS WAS CALLED, AND HIS DISCIPLES_] There are several remarkable circumstances here. 1. This was probably the _first_ Christian wedding that was ever in the world. 2. The great _Author_ of the Christian religion, with his disciples, (probably then only four or five in n... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:3. _THEY HAVE NO WINE._] Though the blessed virgin is supposed to have never seen her son work a miracle before this time, yet she seems to have expected him to do something extraordinary on this occasion; as, from her acquaintance with him, she must have formed some adequate idea of hi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:4. _WOMAN, WHAT HAVE I TO DO WITH THEE?_] τι εμοι και σοι γυναι: _O, woman, what is this to thee and me_? This is an abrupt denial, as if he had said: "WE are not employed to provide the necessaries for this feast: this matter belongs to others, who should have made a proper and suffic... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:5. _HIS MOTHER SAITH_, c.] The virgin seems to have understood our Lord as hinted above. It was not yet time to grant them a supply, because the want had not as yet been generally _felt_. But, silently receiving the respectful caution, she saw that the miracle should be wrought when it... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:6. _AFTER THE MANNER OF THE PURIFYING OF THE JEWS_] Or, _for_ _the purpose of the purifying of the Jews_. The preposition κατα, which I have translated, _for the purpose_, often denotes in the best Greek writers the _final cause_ of a thing. See several examples produced by _Raphelius_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:8. _GOVERNOR OF THE FEAST._] The original word, αρχιτρικλινος, signifies one who is _chief_ or _head over three_ _couches_, or _tables_. In the Asiatic countries, they take their meals sitting, or rather reclining, on small low couches. And when many people are present, so that they ca... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:10. _THE GOOD WINE UNTIL NOW._] That which our Lord now made being perfectly pure, and highly nutritive!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:11. _THIS BEGINNING OF MIRACLES_] It was probably the first he ever wrought:-at any rate, it was the first he wrought _after_ _his baptism_, and the first he wrought _publicly_. _HIS GLORY_] His supreme Divinity: John 1:14. _HIS DISCIPLES BELIEVED ON HIM._] Were more abundantly confir... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:13. _AND THE JEWS' PASSOVER WAS AT HAND_] This was the reason why he stayed but a _few days_ at Capernaum, John 2:12, as he wished to be present at the celebration of this feast at Jerusalem. This was the _first_ passover after Christ's baptism. The _second_ is mentioned, Luke 6:1. The... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:14. _FOUND IN THE TEMPLE THOSE THAT SOLD OXEN_, c.] This is a _similar_ fact to that mentioned Matthew 21:12 Mark 11:15; Luke 19:45. See it explained on Matthew 21:12. If it be the _same_ fact, then John anticipates _three_ years of time in relating it here; as _that_ cleansing of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:17. _THE ZEAL OF THINE HOUSE_] See Psalms 59:10. Zeal to promote thy glory, and to keep thy worship pure.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:18. _WHAT SIGN SHOWEST THOU_] See notes on Matthew 12:38; Matthew 16:1. When Moses came to deliver Israel, he gave signs, or miracles, that he acted under a Divine commission. What miracle dost thou work to show us that thou art vested with similar authority?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:19. _DESTROY THIS TEMPLE_] τον ναον τουτον, _This very_ _temple_; perhaps pointing to his body at the same time.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:20. _FORTY AND SIX YEARS WAS THIS TEMPLE IN BUILDING_] The temple of which the Jews spake was begun to be rebuilt by Herod the Great, in the 18th year of his reign: Jos. Ant. b. xv. c. 11, s. 1; and xx. c. 9, s. 5, 7. But though he finished the main work in _nine years and a half_, yet... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:21. _OF THE TEMPLE OF HIS BODY._] Rather, _the temple, his_ _body_: his body had no particular temple: but _it_ was the temple of his Divinity-the _place_ in which, as in the ancient temple, his Godhead dwelt; See how the Jews perverted these words, Matthew 26:60, and the notes there.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:22. _REMEMBERED THAT HE HAD SAID THIS UNTO THEM_] αυτοις, _to_ _them_, is wanting in AEHLMS, Matt. BV, upwards of _one hundred_ others; both the _Syriac; Persic, Arabic, Coptic, AEthiopic,_ _Armenian, Slavonic, Vulgate_, and _Itala_. _Griesbach_ has left it out of the text. _THEY BELI... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:23. _MANY BELIEVED IN HIS NAME_] They believed him to be the _promised Messiah_, but did not believe in him to the salvation of their souls: for we find, from the following verse, that their hearts were not at all _changed_, because our blessed Lord could not trust himself to them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 2:24. _HE KNEW ALL_ MEN] Instead of παντας _all men_, EGH, and about _thirty_ others, read παντα, _every_ man, or _all things_; and this I am inclined to believe is the true reading. Jesus knew _all things_; and why? Because he _made_ all things, John 1:3, and because he was the all-wise... [ Continue Reading ]