John 2:1

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,

John 2:12

Cleansing the Temple

2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum ⁴  with his mother and brothers ⁵  and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days.

John 2:20

2:20 Then the Jewish leaders ⁶  said to him, “This temple has been under construction ⁷  for forty-six years, ⁸  and are you going to raise it up in three days?”

John 5:9

5:9 Immediately the man was healed, ⁹  and he picked up his mat ¹⁰  and started walking. (Now that day was a Sabbath.) ¹¹ 

John 6:44

6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, ¹²  and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 6:54

6:54 The one who eats ¹³  my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ¹⁴ 

John 9:4

9:4 We must perform the deeds ¹⁵  of the one who sent me ¹⁶  as long as ¹⁷  it is daytime. Night is coming when no one can work.

John 12:1

Jesus’ Anointing

12:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he ¹⁸  had raised from the dead.

John 14:20

14:20 You will know at that time ¹⁹  that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.

John 16:26

16:26 At that time ²⁰  you will ask in my name, and I do not say ²¹  that I will ask the Father on your behalf.

[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.”

[2:12]  ⁴ sn Verse 12 is merely a transitional note in the narrative (although Capernaum does not lie on the direct route to Jerusalem from Cana). Nothing is mentioned in John’s Gospel at this point about anything Jesus said or did there (although later his teaching is mentioned, see 6:59). From the synoptics it is clear that Capernaum was a center of Jesus’ Galilean ministry and might even be called “his own town” (Matt 9:1). The royal official whose son Jesus healed (John 4:46-54) was from Capernaum. He may have heard Jesus speak there, or picked up the story about the miracle at Cana from one of Jesus’ disciples.

[2:12]  ⁵ sn With respect to Jesus’ brothers, the so-called Helvidian view is to be preferred (named after Helvidius, a 4th-century theologian). This view holds that the most natural way to understand the phrase is as a reference to children of Joseph and Mary after the birth of Jesus. Other views are that of Epiphanius (they were children of Joseph by a former marriage) or Jerome (they were cousins). The tradition of Mary’s perpetual virginity appeared in the 2nd century and is difficult to explain (as J. H. Bernard, St. John [ICC], 1:85, points out) if some of her other children were prominent members of the early church (e.g., James of Jerusalem). But this is outweighed by the natural sense of the words.

[2:20]  ⁷ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.

[2:20]  ⁸ tn A close parallel to the aorist οἰκοδομήθη (oikodomhqh) can be found in Ezra 5:16 (LXX), where it is clear from the following verb that the construction had not yet been completed. Thus the phrase has been translated “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years.” Some, however, see the term ναός (naos) here as referring only to the sanctuary and the aorist verb as consummative, so that the meaning would be “this temple was built forty-six years ago” (so ExSyn 560-61). Ultimately in context the logic of the authorities’ reply appears to fit more naturally if it compares length of time for original construction with length of time to reconstruct it.

[2:20]  ⁹ sn According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great’s reign, which would have been ca. 19 b.c. (The reference in the Ant. is probably more accurate than the date given in J. W. 1.21.1 [1.401]). Forty-six years later would be around the Passover of a.d. 27/28.

[5:9]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “became well.”

[5:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” See the note on “mat” in the previous verse.

[5:9]  ¹² tn Grk “Now it was Sabbath on that day.”

[6:44]  ¹³ tn Or “attracts him,” or “pulls him.” The word is used of pulling or dragging, often by force. It is even used once of magnetic attraction (A. Oepke, TDNT 2:503).

[6:54]  ¹⁶ tn Or “who chews”; Grk ὁ τρώγων (Jo trwgwn). The alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) may simply reflect a preference for one form over the other on the author’s part, rather than an attempt to express a slightly more graphic meaning. If there is a difference, however, the word used here (τρώγω) is the more graphic and vivid of the two (“gnaw” or “chew”).

[6:54]  ¹⁷ sn Notice that here the result (has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day) is produced by eating (Jesus’) flesh and drinking his blood. Compare John 6:40 where the same result is produced by “looking on the Son and believing in him.” This suggests that the phrase here (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood by the phrase in 6:40 (looks on the Son and believes in him).

[9:4]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “We must work the works.”

[9:4]  ²⁰ tn Or “of him who sent me” (God).

[9:4]  ²¹ tn Or “while.”

[12:1]  ²² tn Grk “whom Jesus,” but a repetition of the proper name (Jesus) here would be redundant in the English clause structure, so the pronoun (“he”) is substituted in the translation.

[14:20]  ²⁵ tn Grk “will know in that day.”

[16:26]  ²⁸ tn Grk “In that day.”

[16:26]  ²⁹ tn Grk “I do not say to you.”