The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 221

rising ground four milos n.nd a half north- -either from this cause, or from the poverty Ol\st of Nn.znreth, ontl the remnins of o of the hosts, whose willingness and welcomfl Grook churoli n.re still to bo seen there. were lrLrger than their means, or by reits<m 'J'ho site is not inooneietent with the con- of an advanced stage in the festival-the ditions. We m!Ly suppose it to be called mother of J'eaua Be.ith to him, They have no " of Gnlllce" to distioguieh it from B Ce.na wine.• The simple presence of the Lord in I'erma mentionerl by Josephus (' Vitn.,' and of his mother, of such guests as thellf', xvi. 1); but more probably from the Kanah at B wedding-feast, is e. Divine rebuke of a.II in the tribo of Asher, mentioned in Josh. that morbid asceticism which crept from xix. 28. The eitu1Ltion of this town in Eeeenism and Orientaliem into the Christian Phamicio may he.ve been eo far from Gali- Church, of all that false pietism and fancied lee proper oe to hn.ve rendered the expres- purity which mode mnrriag<l a contamina- sion dosirn.ble. Dr. Robinson believed that tion, and exalted virginity to :in unnatural he llFld hit more certBinly upon the site by elevation. The tenner-hearted interest folt finding !L email ville.ge bearing the name by the blessed mother of the Lord in the Cana el Djelil, or Khurbet KBnn., which lies oondition of the hosts, and her tone of au- some seven miles north-east from Nazareth thority towards the 1!1<11<01101, arc eminently beyond Bepphoris. The Bdjunct, el Djelil, natural; her tacit request for help, though suggested the preservation of the old desig- she does not specify the wn.y in which the nation drawn from this very narrative. This help should be given, implies on her part identification wn.s n.ccepted by Ritter and something of presnmption in indicating to Meyer; Stanley ooneidered it very donbtful, our Lord the course he should adopt. A 1Lnd eo do Westcott (' Comm.,' ,in lee.) and question of great interest n.risee--What did Dr. Sel!Lh Merrill, in 'Pict. Palestine,' ii. pp. she mean by her appeal? Bengel suggested 59-63, The more recent investign.tions of that Mary simply intended: "Let us depart the Palest. Exp!. Society hn.ve led once more before the poverty of onr hosts reveals itself." to the recognition of the traditional site, Thie makes Christ's reply an e.oceptance of independently mn.intn.ined by Hengstenberg, her hint; but olong other lines the rabbis Godet, Moulton, and others. Its site is pic- were e.ocnstomed to say that wine and life turesque, and resembles the position of many were in the month or a rabbi (see Geikie's Italian towns perched on the elope of a low • Life of Christ,' i. 475; Wiinsche, in we.). hill at the head of valleys forming road- We are expressly told that this is the begin- wn.ys to the ooe.st n.nd to the lake. Its ning of signs, e.nd therefore we ha\"e no Greek name, On.on., men.ning " a reed,'' was right to conclude that, previous to this, in probably derived from the reeds which grow the home at Nazareth, Jesus had been ac- in the marshy pie.in below it (compareCe.nnm, customed to oonquer fate and master poverty Canosso, Cannes. So Hugh Me.omilln.n). and compel cironmstances by miraculous Ver. 2.-And bothJ'eSUB was oe.lled (bc71.f,9fi, powers for his own or for hie mother'~ o.orist, not pluperfect, and contrasted with support. We know that it was a temptation the~" of ver.1)-after his return from Beth- of the devil thn.t he should perform some any-and his disoiplea to the marriage. such miracle for hie own snsten!Lnce, Bild that Jesus hod no disciples before the events he had sternly suppressed the suggestiou of recorded in the previous chapter. These men the evil one. The mother must have known mrLy have been friends of each other and of hie powers, and mnst have known his mind the bridal party, and received such an invi- on this very matter. What did she suggest? tation before their visit to the banks of the Was she thinking mainly of the need of Jordan; but it is far more probable the.t these wine, or firstly and chiefly of the honour and individue.ls alren.dy mentioned, or thn.t some glory of her Son? She supposed that a of them, and that most certainly John his moment had arrived when he should by some near relative (see Introduction), were in- royal a.et assert his imperial rights, and give, vited, because they were in the society of n.n order which would be obeyed as that of Jesus. Sovereign Prince. Precisely the same spirit Ver. 3.-A large accession of guests in prevailed always in his home and among hi, such a humble home might easily be sup- disciples-au eager desire that he should posed to make a famine in the provisions, manifest himself to the world ( cf. oh. vii. and so we read, And when the wine failed 1 4-6). The disciples did not lose it on the night of the Passion, or the eve of the Ascen- 1 K• and Vet. Lat. hero add 0111011 ou,c sion (oh. xiv. 22; .Acts i. 6). If this w:a .rxov lln tfUIIE'TE71.<tr9Ti t, o1vos 'TOU '}'4,"0U, ET'Ta, the reul. meaning of the remo.rk, "They ban• " They had no wine, because the wine of the marriage was consumed." W estoott and discourse on "They hn.ve no Wine,~ in his Hort ho.ve pl11ood the gloss in the margiu, work entitled, • The True Vine.' 1 Tischendorf (8th edit.), with toe• an.cl and Tisohendorf (8th edit.) has introduced it into his text. B~ B~gh )taomillaQ's littl11 other ~uthority, reads, oTvos oil,c ltTT1, JOQN, ll  THE GOSPEL ACCORDING 'l'O S'l'. JLlllN. [ OH, 11. 1-26,