John 2:1-2

Turning Water into Wine

2:1 Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana ¹  in Galilee. ²  Jesus’ mother ³  was there, 2:2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. ⁴ 

John 2:11

2:11 Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs, ⁵  in Cana ⁶  of Galilee. In this way he revealed ⁷  his glory, and his disciples believed in him. ⁸ 

[2:1]  ¹ map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[2:1]  ² sn Cana in Galilee was not a very well-known place. It is mentioned only here, in 4:46, and 21:2, and nowhere else in the NT. Josephus (Life 16 [86]) says he once had his quarters there. The probable location is present day Khirbet Cana, 8 mi (14 km) north of Nazareth, or Khirbet Kenna, 4 mi (7 km) northeast of Nazareth.

[2:1]  ³ tn Grk “in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother.”

[2:2]  ⁴ sn There is no clue to the identity of the bride and groom, but in all probability either relatives or friends of Jesus’ family were involved, since Jesus’ mother and both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the celebration. The attitude of Mary in approaching Jesus and asking him to do something when the wine ran out also suggests that familial obligations were involved.

[2:11]  ⁵ 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.

[2:11]  ⁶ map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “in Cana of Galilee, and he revealed.”

[2:11]  ⁸ tn Or “his disciples trusted in him,” or “his disciples put their faith in him.”