John 4:46-49

Healing the Royal Official’s Son

4:46 Now he came again to Cana ¹  in Galilee where he had made the water wine. ²  In ³  Capernaum ⁴  there was a certain royal official ⁵  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 ⁶  to come down and heal his son, who was about to die. 4:48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people ⁷  see signs and wonders you will never believe!” ⁸  4:49 “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my child dies.”

[4:46]  ¹ map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[4:46]  ² sn See John 2:1-11.

[4:46]  ³ tn Grk “And in.”

[4:46]  ⁴ 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.

[4:46]  ⁵ 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.

[4:47]  ⁶ tn The direct object of ἠρώτα (hrwta) is supplied from context. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[4:48]  ⁷ 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).

[4:48]  ⁸ tn Or “you never believe.” The verb πιστεύσητε (pisteushte) is aorist subjunctive and may have either nuance.