John 2

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana, a town in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there,

1And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

Note"The third day" is counted from the last of the days marked off one by one in the previous chapter. Cana was a small village in Galilee, the northern farming region where Jesus grew up; its exact site is no longer certain.

2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

2And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

NoteIn the King James, "was called" means was invited.

3When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no wine."

3And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

NoteIn the King James, "when they wanted wine" means when they lacked wine, not when they wished for it. A village wedding was a public celebration that could run for several days, and providing food and drink for all the guests was the host family's responsibility. Running out partway through was a lasting social humiliation, not a small inconvenience.

4Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you bringing me into this? My hour has not come yet."

4Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

Note"Woman" was the ordinary polite way to address a woman in Greek and carries no rudeness, though it is an unusual way for a son to address his mother. "What have I to do with thee" translates an idiom found in Hebrew and Greek, literally "what to me and to you," which distances the speaker from the matter: roughly "what does this have to do with the two of us." "Mine hour" is a phrase John's Gospel uses repeatedly for the appointed moment toward which Jesus is moving.

5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

5His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

6Six stone water jars were standing there, the kind used for the Jewish washing customs. Each one held about twenty to thirty gallons.

6And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

NoteObservant Jews washed hands and vessels at set times, a matter of ritual purity rather than cleanliness. Stone jars were used for this because stone was held not to take on ritual impurity the way pottery did, so a stone vessel never had to be broken and replaced. A "firkin" is the King James translators' word for the Greek metretes, a liquid measure of roughly nine or ten gallons, so "two or three firkins apiece" is about twenty to thirty gallons per jar.

7Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them right up to the top.

7Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

8Then he said to them, "Now dip some out and take it to the man in charge of the feast." So they took it to him.

8And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

Note"Governor of the feast" and "ruler of the feast" in verse 9 translate a single Greek word for the person who ran the banquet, sampling the wine and directing the serving. Whether this was normally a senior servant or a guest given the job for the evening is not certain.

9The man in charge tasted the water that had become wine. He did not know where it came from, though the servants who had dipped out the water knew. So he called the bridegroom over

9When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

10and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first. Then, after the guests have drunk plenty, he brings out the cheaper wine. But you have saved the good wine until now."

10And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

Note"When men have well drunk" means once the guests have drunk freely and are no longer judging the wine carefully. The host's trick being described is to spend the money on the first round only.

11This was the first of the miraculous signs Jesus did, and he did it in Cana of Galilee. In it he showed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

11This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

NoteJohn's Gospel does not use the ordinary Greek word for a wonder or miracle. It calls these acts "signs," deeds that point beyond themselves to something about the one performing them. "Miracles" here and in verse 23 translates that word.

12After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they stayed there only a few days.

12After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.

NoteCapernaum was a fishing town on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. "Went down" is plain geography: Cana lies in the hills, while Capernaum sits on a lakeshore about six hundred feet below sea level. "Brethren" simply means brothers; whether they were full brothers, half brothers or cousins has been argued since the early centuries.

13The Jewish Passover festival was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

13And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

NotePassover was the yearly festival recalling Israel's escape from slavery in Egypt. Jewish men came to Jerusalem to keep it where they could, and the city's population swelled enormously for the week. "Went up" is the standard expression because Jerusalem stands high in the hill country; one goes up to it from any direction, including from the north.

14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers sitting at their tables.

14And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

NoteThe buying and selling took place in the temple's outer courts, a vast paved area open to anyone, not in the sanctuary itself. The animals were sold for sacrifice, a convenience for pilgrims who could not drive livestock hundreds of miles. The money changers exchanged the everyday Roman and Greek coins, which carried portraits of emperors and images of pagan gods, for the coinage accepted for the annual temple tax.

15So he made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple courts, along with the sheep and the cattle. He poured out the money changers' coins and turned their tables over.

15And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

NoteA "scourge of small cords" is a whip braided from lengths of cord or rush, the sort of material lying around where animals were penned.

16To the men selling doves he said, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a place of business."

16And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

17His disciples remembered that this is written: "My deep love for your house will consume me."

17And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

NoteThe disciples are recalling Psalm 69:9. "Zeal" here means fierce protective devotion, and "hath eaten me up" uses the older sense of consume: burn up, devour, wear away.

18Then the Jews said to him, "What sign can you show us to prove you have the right to do these things?"

18Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

NoteIn John's Gospel "the Jews" usually means the ruling authorities in Jerusalem rather than Jewish people in general; Jesus and his disciples were themselves Jews. A "sign" in this demand means a credential, some public demonstration proving a person has the right to act as he has.

19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again."

19Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

20The Jews said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it up in three days?"

20Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

NoteHerod the Great began rebuilding the temple on an enormous scale around 20 or 19 BC, and work on the complex continued for decades, finishing only a few years before the Romans destroyed it in AD 70. Forty-six years of building places this conversation around AD 27 or 28. The Greek can also be read as "this temple was built forty-six years ago," and translators differ.

21But the temple he was talking about was his own body.

21But he spake of the temple of his body.

22So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this. Then they believed the scripture and the words Jesus had spoken.

22When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

23While he was in Jerusalem for the Passover festival, many people believed in his name when they saw the miraculous signs he was doing.

23Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

Note"Believed in his name" is a Hebrew way of speaking in which a person's name stands for the person himself, his identity and standing. To believe in the name is to put confidence in the one who bears it.

24But Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all people.

24But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,

NoteThe King James "did not commit himself" means did not entrust himself. The Greek makes a deliberate play on words that English cannot easily carry: the same verb is used of the people believing, or trusting, in him in verse 23 and of Jesus not trusting himself to them here.

25He did not need anyone to tell him about a person, because he himself knew what was inside a person.

25And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.