4:46 Now he came again to Cana 5 in Galilee where he had made the water wine. 6 In 7 Capernaum 8 there was a certain royal official 9 whose son was sick.
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 map For location see Map1-C3; Map2-D2; Map3-C5.
6 sn See John 2:1-11.
7 tn Grk “And in.”
8 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.
map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.
9 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.
10 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).
sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
11 tn An initial negative reply (“No”) is suggested by the causal or explanatory γάρ (gar) which begins the clause.
12 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “does he?”).
13 tn Grk “and Thomas.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements of a series.
14 sn Didymus means “the twin” in Greek.
15 tn Grk “and Nathanael.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements of a series.
16 map For location see Map1-C3; Map2-D2; Map3-C5.
17 tn Grk “and the sons.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements of a series.
18 sn The sons of Zebedee were James and John.
19 sn The two other disciples who are not named may have been Andrew and Philip, who are mentioned together in John 6:7-8 and 12:22.