8. Et dicit eis Iesus: Haurite nunc, et ferte architriclino. Et tulerunt.8. And Jesus saith to them: Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast. And they carried it.

8. Chief steward (Gr. ἀρχός, chief, or ruler, and τρίκλινος, a dining-room, with three couches, and more generally, a dining-room). The president of the feast, according to some, was one of the guests selected by the host, or by the unanimous consent of the guests; according to others, he was not a guest, but the chief servant. In the first view he corresponds with the συμποσιάρχης of the Greeks, and the “magister convivii,” or “arbiter bibendi,” of the Romans; and this we take to be correct, for his familiarity with the bridegroom (v. 10) bespeaks the friend rather than the servant.

9. Ut autem gustavit architriclinus aquam vinum factam, et non sciebat unde esset, ministri autem sciebant qui hauserant aquam, vocat sponsum architriclinus.9. And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water; the chief steward calleth the bridegroom.

9. St. John mentions that the president of the feast knew not whence the wine was, nor how it had been produced, in order to show that his testimony in its favour was not the result of previous collusion with Jesus. Who had drawn the water. ἠντληκότες is the form for the pluperfect, as well as for the perfect participle, and is rightly rendered “had drawn.” We consider it more likely that the reference is to their drawing the water from the well in order to fill the water-pots. But if the reference be to drawing the wine from the pots (in v. 8 the same Greek verb is used in reference to that action), then the wine is called water because it had been water so recently, just as the serpent is called a rod in Exod. vii. 12. because it had been a rod immediately before. It is most likely that the conversion took place in the water-pots, and not on the way from them to the table.

10. Et dicit ei: Omnis homo primum bonum vinum ponit: et cum inebriati fuerint, tunc id, quod deterius est: Tu autem servasti bonum vinum usque adhuc.10. And saith to him: Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drank, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now.

10. Most probably the Greek word (μεθυσθῶσιν) rendered in the Vulgate “inebriati fuerint” does not here imply [pg 054] drunkenness, but only drinking freely. “In classical use it generally, but not always, implies intoxication. In the Hellenistic writers, however, as Josephus, Philo, and the LXX., it very often denotes drinking freely, and the hilarity consequent, which is probably the sense here” (Bloomf.). In any case, whatever meaning we give the word here, the president of the feast merely speaks of what was the common practice, without saying that the guests at this particular feast had indulged to the same extent.

11. Hoc fecit initium signorum Iesus in Cana Galilaeae: et manifestavit gloriam suam, et crediderunt in eum discipuli eius.11. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee: and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

11. This was Christ's first miracle, or better perhaps, it was His first public miracle, the first sign, or proof given in public of His Divine power. It is worthy of note that our Lord honoured marriage on this occasion not only by His presence, but also by His first public miracle. The effect of the miracle is carefully noted by our Evangelist whose main object, as we saw, is to prove Christ's Divinity. And He manifested His glory, δόξα (see [i. 14]); and the faith of the disciples was confirmed. The fact that they were disciples, shows that they had some faith already.

12. Post hoc descendit Capharnaum, ipse, et mater eius, et fratres eius; et discipuli eius: et ibi manserunt non multis diebus.12. After this he went down to Capharnaum, he and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they remained there not many days.

12. Capharnaum, the largest town of Galilee, was situated, on the western shore of the sea of Galilee (Matt. iv. 13, John vi. 24), and the journey to it from Cana is rightly described as a descent. During His public life our Lord seems to have dwelt chiefly in this town, which is therefore sometimes spoken of as His own city (see Matt. ix. 1, and compare with Mark ii. 1). It was long thought to be impossible to identify the site of Capharnaum, but it seems now to be practically certain that the site is that of [pg 055] the modern Tell Hûm, about two and a half miles south-west of the point where the Jordan enters the sea of Galilee. Capharnaum means the village (נפר) of Nahum. Tell is the Arabic for a hillock covered with ruins, and it is reasonably conjectured that Hûm is a contraction for Nahum, the first syllable, as sometimes happens in such cases, being dropped. Thus Tell Hûm would mean the ruin-clad hillock of Nahum. A summary of the various reasons for identifying the two places is given by Pére Didon, in his able work: Jesus Christ, vol. ii., Appendix F. The brethren of the Lord here referred to were His cousins, but according to the Scriptural usage any near relations are called brethren. Thus Abraham and Lot are “brethren” (Gen. xiii. 8), though Abraham was in reality Lot's uncle (Gen. xi. 27). See also remarks on [vii. 3].