4:43 After the two days he departed from there to Galilee. 4:44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 10 4:45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem 11 at the feast 12 (for they themselves had gone to the feast). 13
4:46 Now he came again to Cana 14 in Galilee where he had made the water wine. 15 In 16 Capernaum 17 there was a certain royal official 18 whose son was sick. 4:47 When he heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and begged him 19 to come down and heal his son, who was about to die. 4:48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people 20 see signs and wonders you will never believe!” 21
1 tn This sentence in Greek involves an object-complement construction. The force can be either “Jesus did this as,” or possibly “Jesus made this to be.” The latter translation accents not only Jesus’ power but his sovereignty too. Cf. also 4:54 where the same construction occurs.
2 map For location see Map1-C3; Map2-D2; Map3-C5.
3 tn Grk “in Cana of Galilee, and he revealed.”
4 tn Or “his disciples trusted in him,” or “his disciples put their faith in him.”
5 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Or “during the night.”
7 sn The reference to signs (σημεῖα, shmeia) forms a link with John 2:23-25. Those people in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of the signs he had performed. Nicodemus had apparently seen them too. But for Nicodemus all the signs meant is that Jesus was a great teacher sent from God. His approach to Jesus was well-intentioned but theologically inadequate; he had failed to grasp the messianic implications of the miraculous signs.
8 tn Or “this.” The Greek pronoun can mean either “this one” or “this” (BDAG 740 s.v. οὗτος 1).
9 sn There is irony in the Samaritans’ declaration that Jesus was really the Savior of the world, an irony foreshadowed in the prologue to the Fourth Gospel (1:11): “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.” Yet the Samaritans welcomed Jesus and proclaimed him to be not the Jewish Messiah only, but the Savior of the world.
10 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
11 sn All the things he had done in Jerusalem probably refers to the signs mentioned in John 2:23.
12 sn See John 2:23-25.
13 sn John 4:44-45. The last part of v. 45 is a parenthetical note by the author. The major problem in these verses concerns the contradiction between the proverb stated by Jesus in v. 44 and the reception of the Galileans in v. 45. Origen solved the problem by referring his own country to Judea (which Jesus had just left) and not Galilee. But this runs counter to the thrust of John’s Gospel, which takes pains to identify Jesus with Galilee (cf. 1:46) and does not even mention his Judean birth. R. E. Brown typifies the contemporary approach: He regards v. 44 as an addition by a later redactor who wanted to emphasize Jesus’ unsatisfactory reception in Galilee. Neither expedient is necessary, though, if honor is understood in its sense of attributing true worth to someone. The Galileans did welcome him, but their welcome was to prove a superficial response based on what they had seen him do at the feast. There is no indication that the signs they saw brought them to place their faith in Jesus any more than Nicodemus did on the basis of the signs. But a superficial welcome based on enthusiasm for miracles is no real honor at all.
14 map For location see Map1-C3; Map2-D2; Map3-C5.
15 sn See John 2:1-11.
16 tn Grk “And in.”
17 sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.
18 tn Although βασιλικός (basiliko") has often been translated “nobleman” it is almost certainly refers here to a servant of Herod, tetrarch of Galilee (who in the NT is called a king, Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29). Capernaum was a border town, so doubtless there were many administrative officials in residence there.
19 tn The direct object of ἠρώτα (hrwta) is supplied from context. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
20 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate that the verb is second person plural (referring to more than the royal official alone).
21 tn Or “you never believe.” The verb πιστεύσητε (pisteushte) is aorist subjunctive and may have either nuance.
22 tn Grk “and I rejoice.”
23 sn So that you may believe. Why does Jesus make this statement? It seems necessary to understand the disciples’ belief here in a developmental sense, because there are numerous references to the disciples’ faith previous to this in John’s Gospel, notably 2:11. Their concept of who Jesus really was is continually being expanded and challenged; they are undergoing spiritual growth; the climax is reached in the confession of Thomas in John 20:28.
24 tn Grk “that you always hear me.”
25 tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.
26 tn Or “If I had not done.”
27 tn Grk “the works.”
28 tn Grk “they would not have sin” (an idiom).
29 tn The words “the deeds” are supplied to clarify from context what was seen. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.
30 tn Or “But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.” It is possible to understand both the “seeing” and the “hating” to refer to both Jesus and the Father, but this has the world “seeing” the Father, which seems alien to the Johannine Jesus. (Some point out John 14:9 as an example, but this is addressed to the disciples, not to the world.) It is more likely that the “seeing” refers to the miraculous deeds mentioned in the first half of the verse. Such an understanding of the first “both – and” construction is apparently supported by BDF §444.3.
31 tn Grk “all things.”
32 tn Grk “and have no need of anyone.”
33 tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
34 tn Or “By this.”