46. A certain ruler whose son was sick at Capharnaum, on hearing that Jesus was in Cana, came and asked Him to come down and heal his son, who was on the point of death. Origen thinks this ruler may have belonged to the household of Cæsar, and been on duty in Palestine at this time. But Josephus uses the word (βασιλικός) to designate the courtiers or officers of the Herods (see B. J. vii. 5, 2; Antt. xv. 8, 4); so that this ruler of Capharnaum may have been an officer of Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Galilee. Doubtless the ruler had heard of the miracle at the marriage feast in Cana (ii. 7, 11); and perhaps he had witnessed the evidence of Christ's miraculous power at the feast of the Pasch (ii. 23).
| 48. Dixit ergo Iesus ad eum: Nisi signa et prodigia videritis, non creditis. | 48. Jesus therefore said to him: Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not. |
| 49. Dicit ad eum regulus: Domine, descende prius quam moriatur filius meus. | 49. The ruler saith to him: Lord, come down before that my son die. |
48. Christ upbraids the ruler for his imperfect faith. The ruler is blamed either because he was waiting to see a miracle before he would believe, or because he foolishly considered that it was necessary for Christ to go down to Capharnaum in order to heal his son.
| 50. Dicit ei Iesus: Vade, filius tuus vivit. Credidit homo sermoni quem dixit ei Iesus, et ibat. | 50. Jesus saith to him: Go thy way, thy son liveth. The man believed the word which Jesus said to him, and went his way. |
| 51. Iam autem eo descendente, servi occurrerunt ei, et nuntiaverunt dicentes, quia filius eius viveret. | 51. And as he was going down, his servants met him: and they brought word, saying that his son lived. |
50. Jesus said to him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. It is plain, from all the circumstances, that this miracle is quite distinct from that recorded in Matt. viii. 5 and foll.; Luke vii. 2 and foll., though some of the Rationalists have sought to identify the two. There it is the centurion's servant, here the ruler's son, who is ill; there the illness is paralysis, here fever; there, though asked not to go, Christ goes to the sick person; here, though asked to go, he goes not.
| 52. Interrogabat ergo horam ab eis in qua melius habuerit. Et dixerunt ei: Quia heri hora septima reliquit eum febris. | 52. He asked therefore of them the hour, wherein he grew better. And they said to him: Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. |
52. The seventh hour; i.e., about an hour after noon, 1 p.m., or 7 p.m. See [i. 39].
| 53. Cognovit ergo pater, quia illa hora erat, in qua dixit ei Iesus: Filius tuus vivit: et credidit ipse, et domus eius tota. | 53. The father therefore knew that it was at the same hour, that Jesus said to him, Thy son liveth; and himself believed and his whole house. |
| 54. Hoc iterum secundum signum fecit Iesus, cum venisset a Iudaea in Galilaeam. | 54. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judea into Galilee. |
54. It is not said that this was the second miracle He performed, but that it was the second He performed on coming out of Judea into Galilee. For the first, see ii. [6], [11], and compare [i. 43].