John 4:46

THE MESSAGE

Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king's court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: "Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum.

King James Version (1611)
So Iesus came againe into Cana of Galilee, where hee made the water wine. And there was a certaine noble man, whose sonne was sicke at Capernaum.

King James Version
So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

English Standard Version
So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee, where He had made the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum.

New Century Version
Jesus went again to visit Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. One of the king's important officers lived in the city of Capernaum, and his son was sick.

Amplified Bible
So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son was sick in Capernaum.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum.

Berean Standard Bible
So once again He came to Cana in Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.

Contemporary English Version
While Jesus was in Galilee, he returned to the village of Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was an official in Capernaum whose son was sick.

Complete Jewish Bible
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.

Darby Translation
He came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain courtier in Capernaum whose son was sick.

Easy-to-Read Version
Jesus went to visit Cana in Galilee again. Cana is where he had changed the water into wine. One of the king's important officials lived in the city of Capernaum. This man's son was sick.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Iesus came againe into Cana a towne of Galile, where he had made of water, wine. And there was a certaine ruler, whose sonne was sicke at Capernaum.

George Lamsa Translation
Then Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And there was at Capernaum a servant of a king, whose son was sick.

Good News Translation
Then Jesus went back to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. A government official was there whose son was sick in Capernaum.

Lexham English Bible
Now he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And there was at Capernaum a certain royal official whose son was sick.

Literal Translation
Then Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick in Capernaum.

American Standard Version
He came therefore again unto Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

Bible in Basic English
So he came to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And there was a certain man of high position whose son was ill at Capernaum.

Hebrew Names Version
Yeshua came therefore again to Kanah of the Galil, where he made the water into wine. There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Kafar-Nachum.

International Standard Version
So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. Meanwhile, in Capernaum there was a government official whose son was ill.John 2:1,11;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
So Jeshu came again into Kotna of Galila, where he had made the waters wine. And there was at Kapher-nachum the servant of a certain king, whose son was ill.

Murdock Translation
And Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was at Capernaum a king's servant, whose son was sick.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
So Iesus came agayne into Cana of Galilee, where he turned the water into wyne. And there was a certayne ruler, whose sonne was sicke at Capernaum.

English Revised Version
He came therefore again unto Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

World English Bible
He came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine. There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
So he came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

Weymouth's New Testament
So He came once more to Cana in Galilee, where He had made the water into wine. Now there was a certain officer of the King's court whose son was ill at Capernaum.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor he cam eftsoone in to the Cane of Galile, where he made the watir wiyn. And `a litil kyng was, whos sone was sijk at Cafarnaum.

Update Bible Version
He came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

Webster's Bible Translation
So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

New English Translation
Now he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had made the water wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick.

New King James Version
So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

New Living Translation
As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick.

New Life Bible
Jesus came again to the town of Cana of Galilee where He had made water into wine. A man who worked with the king had a son who was sick in the city of Capernaum.

New Revised Standard
Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So he came again into Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water, wine. And there was a certain courtier, whose son was sick, in Capernaum.

Douay-Rheims Bible
He came again therefore into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain ruler, whose son was sick at Capharnaum.

Revised Standard Version
So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Caper'na-um there was an official whose son was ill.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And Iesus came agayne into Cana of Galile wher he turned water into wyne. And ther was a certayne ruler whose sonne was sicke at Capernaum.

Young's Literal Translation
Jesus came, therefore, again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine, and there was a certain courtier, whose son was ailing in Capernaum,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Iesus came agayne vnto Cana in Galile, where he turned the water vnto wyne. And there was a certayne ruler, whose sonne laye sicke at Capernaum.

Mace New Testament (1729)
Jesus went therefore a second time to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. now a certain nobleman was there, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

Simplified Cowboy Version
He rode through Cana where he'd first turned water into wine.

Contextual Overview

⁴³After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to. ⁴⁶Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king's court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: "Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe." ⁴⁹ But the court official wouldn't be put off. "Come down! It's life or death for my son." ⁵⁰Jesus simply replied, "Go home. Your son lives." The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home. On his way back, his servants intercepted him and announced, "Your son lives!" ⁵²He asked them what time he began to get better. They said, "The fever broke yesterday afternoon at one o'clock." The father knew that that was the very moment Jesus had said, "Your son lives." That clinched it. Not only he but his entire household believed. This was now the second sign Jesus gave after having come from Judea into Galilee. ⁵⁴The Woman at the Well Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee. To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon. A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.) The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.) Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water." The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water'? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?" Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life." The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!" He said, "Go call your husband and then come back." "I have no husband," she said. "That's nicely put: ‘I have no husband.' You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough." "Oh, so you're a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?" "Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. "It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration." The woman said, "I don't know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we'll get the whole story." "I am he," said Jesus. "You don't have to wait any longer or look any further." Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn't believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it. The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, "Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?" And they went out to see for themselves. In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, "Rabbi, eat. Aren't you going to eat?" He told them, "I have food to eat you know nothing about." The disciples were puzzled. "Who could have brought him food?" Jesus said, "The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn't you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I'm telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what's right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It's harvest time! "The Harvester isn't waiting. He's taking his pay, gathering in this grain that's ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. That's the truth of the saying, ‘This one sows, that one harvests.' I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others." Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman's witness: "He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!" They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, "We're no longer taking this on your say-so. We've heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He's the Savior of the world!" After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to. Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king's court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: "Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe." But the court official wouldn't be put off. "Come down! It's life or death for my son." Jesus simply replied, "Go home. Your son lives." The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home. On his way back, his servants intercepted him and announced, "Your son lives!" He asked them what time he began to get better. They said, "The fever broke yesterday afternoon at one o'clock." The father knew that that was the very moment Jesus had said, "Your son lives." That clinched it. Not only he but his entire household believed. This was now the second sign Jesus gave after having come from Judea into Galilee.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cana: "It is worthy of remark," says Dr. E. D. Clarke, who visited Cana a few years ago, "that, walking among the ruins of a church, we saw large massy pots, answering the description given of the ancient vessels of the country; not preserved, but lying about, disregarded by the present inhabitants, as antiquities with whose original use they were unacquainted. From their appearance, and the number of them, it was quite evident that a practice of keeping water in large pots, each holding from eighteen to twenty-seven gallons, was once common in the country." - Compare the account of the water pots, John 2:6. John 2:1-11, John 21:2, Joshua 19:28

nobleman: or, courtier, or, ruler

whose: Psalms 50:15, Psalms 78:34, Hosea 5:15, Matthew 9:18, Matthew 15:22, Matthew 17:14, Matthew 17:15, Luke 7:2, Luke 8:42

Reciprocal: Matthew 4:13 - Capernaum Matthew 11:23 - Capernaum Mark 5:23 - besought Luke 8:3 - Herod's Luke 8:41 - and besought John 2:9 - the water that John 2:11 - did John 4:43 - and John 6:17 - and went 1 Corinthians 1:26 - not many mighty

Gill's Notes on the Bible

So Jesus came again unto Cana of Galilee,.... Where he had been once before; see John 2:1. 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;

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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A certain nobleman - One who was of the royal family, connected by birth with Herod Antipas; or one of the officers of the court, whether by birth allied to him or not. It seems that his ordinary residence was at Capernaum. Capernaum was about a day’s journey from Cana, where Jesus then was.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 46. Where he made the water wine. — John 2:1, c. Cana was on the road from Nazareth to Capernaum and the Sea of Tiberias.

A certain nobleman — An officer of the king's court: for this is the meaning of the original word, βασιλικος, which the Vulgate translates regulus, a little king. This officer belonged to Herod Antipas, who was then tetrarch of Galilee. Jerome calls him Palatinus, and says he was an officer of the king's palace. Others think it was Chuza, mentioned Luke 8:3 and others think it was Manaen, spoken of Acts 13:1. One of these opinions may be true, but all solid proof is wanting. This officer, whoever he was, appears to have had his ordinary abode at Capernaum, and hearing that Christ was at Cana, he came express from Capernaum thither, to entreat him to heal his child.