John 2:6

Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, ¹  each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ² 

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each.

Six stone waterpots were standing there; they were used for Jewish ceremonial purposes and held twenty to thirty gallons each.

Six stoneware water pots were there, used by the Jews for ritual washings. Each held twenty to thirty gallons.

Now six pots of stone, every one taking two or three firkins of water, were placed there for the purpose of washing, as is the way of the Jews.

Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.

Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, ¹  each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ² 

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.