John 4:46

46 He went again to Kanah in the Galil, where he had turned the water into wine. An officer in the royal service was there; his son was ill in K'far-Nachum.

John 4:46 Meaning and Commentary

John 4:46

So Jesus came again unto Cana of Galilee
Where he had been once before; see ( John 2:1 John 2:2 ) . The Syriac version here, as there, calls it "Kotne" of Galilee; and the Persic version, "Catneh" of Galilee:

where he made the water wine;
see ( John 2:9 John 2:11 ) ;

there was a certain nobleman;
the Vulgate Latin renders it, "a petty king"; the Arabic version, and Nonnus, call him, "a royal man"; and the Syriac version renders it, "a king's servant"; with which agrees the Ethiopic, calling him "a minister, a steward, the king's domestic". The Persic version makes it to be his name, reading it, "there was a great man, whose name was Abdolmelic", which signifies a king's servant: from the whole he seems to be one that belonged to the palace of Herod Antipas, and was one of his courtiers; who, though he was but tetrarch of Galilee, yet is sometimes called a king, ( Mark 6:14 ) ;

whose son was sick at Capernaum;
some versions, as the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic, read the phrase, "in Capernaum", with the former clause, "there was a nobleman in Capernaum": and others, as we do with this; and both may be true; for he might be an inhabitant of Capernaum, and his house be there where his son lay sick. Some think this nobleman was either Chuza, Herod's steward, ( Luke 8:3 ) , or Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod, ( Acts 13:1 ) .

John 4:46 In-Context

44 Now Yeshua himself said, "A prophet is not respected in his own country."
45 But when he arrived in the Galil, the people there welcomed him, because they had seen all he had done at the festival in Yerushalayim; since they had been there too.
46 He went again to Kanah in the Galil, where he had turned the water into wine. An officer in the royal service was there; his son was ill in K'far-Nachum.
47 This man, on hearing that Yeshua had come from Y'hudah to the Galil, went and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
48 Yeshua answered, "Unless you people see signs and miracles, you simply will not trust!"
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.