702
α Rarely
/ , ” » µείζω τούτων ὄψει. b Gen
Θεοῦ, σὺ ef ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ισραήλ.” εἶπεν αὐτῷ, “Orr εἶπόν σοι, Εἶδόν σε ὑποκάτω τῆς συκῆς, πιστεύεις ; 54. Καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ, “Api ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν,
σι. ᾽Απεκρίθη ᾿Ιησοῦς καὶ
xaviii, τα. ἀπ᾿ ἄρτι ] ὄψεσθε τὸν οὐρανὸν " ἀνεωγότα, καὶ "τοὺς ἀγγέλους τοῦ
a Josh. xix. 28.
b Esth. v.
τα. 1Cor. LT. {. Me τμ. Γαλιλαίας: καὶ ἦν ἡ µήτηρ τοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ ἐκεῖ.
3. 2
A , A Θεοῦ ἀναβαίνοντας καὶ καταβαίνοντας ἐπὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.”
ΚΑΙ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ γάμος ἐγένετο ἐν "Κανῷ τῆς
2. ' ἐκλήθη δὲ καὶ 6
‘ aw αρτι rejected by Tr.T.W.H.R. on authority of NBL vet. Lat. vulg., ete.
faith will find more to feed upon: µείζω τούτων ὄψῃ.--Ψετ. 52. What these things are is described in the words ὄψεσθε . . . ἀνθρώπον, introduced by the emphatic ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ἡμῖν, used in this double form twenty-five times in this Gospel (always single in Synop.) and well rendered “verily, verily”. Christ as the Faithful and True Witness is Himself called the Amen in Rev. iii. 14. The words am’ ἄρτι are omitted by recent editors. The announcement describes the result of the incarnation of Christ as a_ bringing together of heaven and earth, a true mediation between God and man, an opening of what is most divine for the satisfaction of human need. _It is made in terms of Jacob’s dream (Gen. xxviii. το ff.). In his dream Jacob saw a ladder fixed on earth with its top in heaven, ot ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνέβαινον καὶ κατέβαινον ἐπ᾽ αὐτῃ. What Jacob had dreamt was in Christ realised. The Son of Man, the Messiah or actual repre- sentative of God on earth, brings God to man and makes earth a Bethel, and the gate of heaven. What Nathanael under his fig tree had been longing for and un- consciously preparing, an open com- munication with heaven, a ladder reach- ing from the deepest abyss of an earth submerged in sin to the highest heaven of purity, Jesus tells him is actually accomplished in His person. ‘The Son of Man” is the designation by which Jesus commonly indicates that He is the Messiah, while at the same time He suggests that His kingdom is not founded by earthly power or force, but by what is especially human, sympathy, reason, self-sacrifice.
CHAPTER II.—Vv. 1-11. The marriage at Cana. The first manifestation of Christ’s glory to His disciples.—Ver. 1. As usual John specifies time and place and circumstance. The time was τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ. The Greeks reckoned
σήμερον, αὔριον, τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ. So
Lk. xiii. 32, Ἰάσεις επιτελῶ σήμερον καὶ αὔριον, καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ τελειοῦμαι. The “third day”? was therefore what we call ‘the day after to-morrow’. From what point is this third day calculated ? From i. 41 or i. 44? Probably the latter. Naturally one refers this exact specifica- tion of time to the circumstance that the writer was present. The place was éy Kava τῆς Γαλιλαίας, “of Galilee” to distinguish it from another Cana, as in all countries the same name is borne by more than one place (Newcastle; Tarbet ; Cleveland, Ohio, and Cleveland, N.Y.; Freiburg). This other Cana, however, was not the Cana of Josh. xix. 28 in the tribe of Asher (Weiss, Holtzmann) ; but more probably Cana in Judaea (cf. Henderson’s Palestine, p. 152 ; Josephus, Antiq., xiii., 15, 1; and Lightfoot’s Disq. Chorog. Fohan. praemissa). Opinion is now in favour of identifying ‘“‘ Cana” with Kefr Kenna, five miles north-east of Nazareth on the road to the Sea of Galilee. Robinson (Researches, iii., 108 and ii., 346) identified it with Khurbet Kana, three hours north of Nazareth, because ruins there were pointed out to him as-bearing the name Kana el Jelil, Cana of Galilee. Dr. Zeller, however, who resided at Nazareth, declares that Khurbet Kana is not known to the natives as Kana el Πεμ]. Major Conder (Tent Work, i., 153), although not decided in favour of Kefr Kenna, shows that the alteration in the form of the name can be accounted for, and that its position is in its favour (Henderson’s Palestine, 151-3).—yapos. ἐγένετο, a marriage took place. Jewish marriage customs are fully described in Trumbull’s Studies in Oriental Social Life.—xai ἦν ἡ µήτηρ τοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ ἐκεῖ,. This is noticed to account for the invitation given to Jesus and His disciples. Joseph is not mentioned, probably because already dead. Certainly he was dead before the crucifixion.—Ver. 2. ἐκλήθη δὲ καὶ 6 "Ingots καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν