2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, 1 each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 2
11:38 Jesus, intensely moved 5 again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.) 6
1 tn Grk “for the purification of the Jews.”
2 tn Grk “holding two or three metretes” (about 75 to 115 liters). Each of the pots held 2 or 3 μετρηταί (metrhtai). A μετρητῆς (metrhths) was about 9 gallons (40 liters); thus each jar held 18-27 gallons (80-120 liters) and the total volume of liquid involved was 108-162 gallons (480-720 liters).
sn Significantly, these jars held water for Jewish ceremonial washing (purification rituals). The water of Jewish ritual purification has become the wine of the new messianic age. The wine may also be, after the fashion of Johannine double meanings, a reference to the wine of the Lord’s Supper. A number have suggested this, but there does not seem to be anything in the immediate context which compels this; it seems more related to how frequently a given interpreter sees references to the sacraments in John’s Gospel as a whole.
3 sn An allusion to Lev 20:10 and Deut 22:22-24.
4 sn The accusers themselves subtly misrepresented the law. The Mosaic law stated that in the case of adultery, both the man and woman must be put to death (Lev 20:10, Deut 22:22), but they mentioned only such women.
5 tn Or (perhaps) “Jesus was deeply indignant.”
6 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.