independentparticipialrelativecausecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
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The sign at Cana — water into wine 2:1–12
vv. 1–5 — the wine fails: mother and son
1
Καὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ γάμος ἐγένετο ἐν Κανὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας,independent — τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ closes ch. 1's chain of days — a resurrection overtone often heard
καὶ ἦν ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐκεῖ·independent — scene-setting imperfect — Mary, never named in John, already present
2
ἐκλήθη δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν γάμον.independent — aorist against her imperfect — she was there, they were invited
3
καὶ ὑστερήσαντος οἴνουparticipial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning; the crisis before the verb
λέγει ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πρὸς αὐτόν·independent — historic present λέγει — the first of six framing the Cana dialogue
Οἶνον οὐκ ἔχουσιν.content — the laconic report — Οἶνον fronted; a need stated, a petition implied
4
καὶ λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς·independent — historic present — the reply
Τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, γύναι;content — verbless Semitic idiom (Judg 11:12; cf. Mark 1:24) — distancing, not dismissal; γύναι respectful (19:26)
οὔπω ἥκει ἡ ὥρα μου.content — the first ὥρα-saying — the hour of glorification through death (7:30; 12:23; 13:1)
5
λέγει ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ τοῖς διακόνοις·independent — historic present — she answers his deflection by turning to the servants
Ὅ τι ἂν λέγῃ ὑμῖν,relative — indefinite relative (ἄν + subjunctive) — forward-leaning on ποιήσατε; unconditional expectancy
ποιήσατε.content — one aorist imperative — her whole speech; echoed of Joseph, Gen 41:55
vv. 6–8 — six jars filled to the brim
6
ἦσαν δὲ ἐκεῖ λίθιναι ὑδρίαι ἓξ κατὰ τὸν καθαρισμὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων κείμεναι,independent — narrator's background — stone because stone contracts no impurity (m. Kelim 10:1); six, one short of fullness
χωροῦσαι ἀνὰ μετρητὰς δύο ἢ τρεῖς.participial — distributive ἀνά — c. 39 L per metrêtês: some 450–680 litres in all, eschatological abundance (Amos 9:13)
7
λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς·independent — historic present — the first command
Γεμίσατε τὰς ὑδρίας ὕδατος.content — aorist imperative + genitive of content — water is all he asks for
καὶ ἐγέμισαν αὐτὰς ἕως ἄνω.independent — command answered verb for verb — ἕως ἄνω, no room left for addition
8
καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς·independent — historic present — the second command
Ἀντλήσατε νῦνcontent — νῦν — the unmarked moment of the miracle falls between filling and drawing
καὶ φέρετε τῷ ἀρχιτρικλίνῳ.content — the steward — not the host — will pronounce the verdict
οἱ δὲ ἤνεγκαν.independent — compliance in two words — the servants' silent obedience
vv. 9–10 — the steward's unwitting verdict
9
ὡς δὲ ἐγεύσατο ὁ ἀρχιτρίκλινος τὸ ὕδωρ οἶνον γεγενημένον,conditional — temporal ὡς (typed cnd; no temporal key) — leans on φωνεῖ; perfect γεγενημένον: the change stands complete; still called 'the water'
καὶ οὐκ ᾔδει πόθεν ἐστίν,conditional — coordinate with ἐγεύσατο inside the ὡς-frame — πόθεν, John's hidden-origin motif (3:8; 8:14)
οἱ δὲ διάκονοι ᾔδεισαν οἱ ἠντληκότες τὸ ὕδωρ,independent — narrator's parenthesis, suspended before the main verb — the judge of quality is the last to know: Johannine irony
φωνεῖ τὸν νυμφίον ὁ ἀρχιτρίκλινοςindependent — resumptive historic present — the sentence rights itself after the parenthesis
10
καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ·independent — historic present — the verdict-frame
Πᾶς ἄνθρωπος πρῶτον τὸν καλὸν οἶνον τίθησιν,content — gnomic present — the universal custom stated as foil
καὶ ὅταν μεθυσθῶσινconditional — indefinite temporal ὅταν + subjunctive (typed cnd) — leans forward on the elliptical apodosis
τότε τὸν ἐλάσσω·content — elliptical apodosis (sc. τίθησιν) — the cheaper wine once palates dull
σὺ τετήρηκας τὸν καλὸν οἶνον ἕως ἄρτι.content — emphatic σύ against πᾶς ἄνθρωπος; intensive perfect τετήρηκας — praise aimed at the wrong man
vv. 11–12 — the first sign sealed; down to Capernaum
11
Ταύτην ἐποίησεν ἀρχὴν τῶν σημείων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐν Κανὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίαςindependent — the narrator numbers it — ἀρχή τῶν σημείων, first of the series (cf. 4:54; 20:30)
καὶ ἐφανέρωσεν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ,independent — the prologue cashed out — ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ (1:14) now shown in act
καὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτὸν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ.independent — πιστεύω εἰς + accusative — John's committed-trust idiom; the sign's proper response
12
Μετὰ τοῦτο κατέβη εἰς Καφαρναοὺμ αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ,independent — μετὰ τοῦτο — the Johannine bridge-formula (3:22; 5:1); κατέβη, downhill from Cana to the lake
καὶ ἐκεῖ ἔμειναν οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας.independent — the brief stay — the Passover of v. 13 already pulling south
The temple cleansed — destroy this temple, and in three days 2:13–22
vv. 13–17 — the whip, the tables, and the psalm remembered
13
Καὶ ἐγγὺς ἦν τὸ πάσχα τῶν Ἰουδαίων,independent — the first of John's three Passovers (2:13; 6:4; 11:55) — the ministry's chronological spine
καὶ ἀνέβη εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ὁ Ἰησοῦς.independent — ἀνέβη — the pilgrimage idiom; John opens the ministry where the Synoptics close it
14
καὶ εὗρεν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τοὺς πωλοῦντας βόας καὶ πρόβατα καὶ περιστερὰς καὶ τοὺς κερματιστὰς καθημένους,independent — ἱερόν, the precinct — oxen to doves span rich to poor (Lev 12:8); καθημένους, commerce settled in
15
καὶ ποιήσας φραγέλλιον ἐκ σχοινίωνparticipial — preposed aorist participle — leans on ἐξέβαλεν; the whip is constructed: deliberate prophetic act, not eruption
πάντας ἐξέβαλεν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ,independent — ἐξέβαλεν — the expulsion verb; the first of three verbs of force
τά τε πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς βόας,phrase modifier — τε … καί apposition specifying πάντας — the animals herded out with their sellers
καὶ τῶν κολλυβιστῶν ἐξέχεεν τὰ κέρματαindependent — ἐξέχεεν — the second verb of force; κολλυβισταί, the same traders as v. 14's κερματισταί
καὶ τὰς τραπέζας ἀνέστρεψεν,independent — ἀνέστρεψεν — the third: the exchange-tables upended as enacted judgment
16
καὶ τοῖς τὰς περιστερὰς πωλοῦσιν εἶπεν·independent — the dove-sellers get words, not the whip — caged birds cannot be driven
Ἄρατε ταῦτα ἐντεῦθεν,content — aorist imperative — clear it out
μὴ ποιεῖτε τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός μου οἶκον ἐμπορίου.content — μή + present imperative: cease; τοῦ πατρός μου — the Gospel's first explicit filial claim; cf. Zech 14:21
17
Ἐμνήσθησαν δὲ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦindependent — the first ἐμνήσθησαν — remembering during the event; its twin (v. 22) waits for Easter
ὅτι γεγραμμένον ἐστίν·content — the periphrastic citation formula — γεγραμμένον ἐστίν
Ὁ ζῆλος τοῦ οἴκου σου καταφάγεταί με.content — Ps 69:9 — John's future καταφάγεταί for the LXX aorist: the zeal will devour him at the passion
vv. 18–22 — the riddle of the ναός and the narrator's two keys
18
Ἀπεκρίθησαν οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ·independent — the Semitic answered-and-said formula — the authorities demand credentials
Τί σημεῖον δεικνύεις ἡμῖν,content — σημεῖον — they demand a sign to authorize the sign-worker; the irony of v. 11's word
ὅτι ταῦτα ποιεῖς;cause — causal ὅτι — the grounds of the demand: such an act requires authorization
19
ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς·independent — the reply-frame for the chapter's central riddle
Λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον,content — conditional imperative — 'if you destroy'; ναός the sanctuary proper, not ἱερόν; the saying that resurfaces at the trial (Mark 14:58)
καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν.content — the apodosis — ἐγερῶ, the double-entendre verb of buildings and of the dead; the three-day interval (Hos 6:2)
20
εἶπαν οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι·independent — the misunderstanding — the Johannine pattern: riddle, literal reading, correction
Τεσσεράκοντα καὶ ἓξ ἔτεσιν οἰκοδομήθη ὁ ναὸς οὗτος,content — Herod's project begun c. 19 BCE — forty-six years lands c. 27/28 CE, dating the scene
καὶ σὺ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερεῖς αὐτόν;content — emphatic σύ — his own words (ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερ-) thrown back as a scoff
21
ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἔλεγεν περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ.independent — narrator's explanation — the riddle decoded for the reader: τοῦ σώματος, genitive of apposition; the body is the true ναός (1:14)
22
ὅτε οὖν ἠγέρθη ἐκ νεκρῶν,conditional — temporal ὅτε (typed cnd; no temporal key) — leans on ἐμνήσθησαν; ἠγέρθη, the divine passive answering ἐγερῶ
ἐμνήσθησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦindependent — narrator's aside continues — the second remembering, post-resurrection (cf. 12:16)
ὅτι τοῦτο ἔλεγεν,content — the content of the anamnesis — the temple-body saying
καὶ ἐπίστευσαν τῇ γραφῇ καὶ τῷ λόγῳindependent — γραφή (the psalm of v. 17) and λόγος (the saying of v. 19) believed together — dative, trust in what was said
ὃν εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς.relative — the relative closes the episode on Jesus' own word
Many believe — but Jesus does not entrust himself 2:23–25
23
Ὡς δὲ ἦν ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐν τῷ πάσχα ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ,conditional — temporal ὡς (typed cnd; no temporal key) — leans on ἐπίστευσαν; the triple ἐν piles up the setting
πολλοὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ,independent — πιστεύω εἰς τὸ ὄνομα — the formula of 1:12, about to be qualified
θεωροῦντες αὐτοῦ τὰ σημεῖαparticipial — causal participle — sign-generated faith, the kind 4:48 will diagnose
ἃ ἐποίει.relative — iterative imperfect — unnarrated signs plural through the feast
24
αὐτὸς δὲ Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἐπίστευεν αὑτὸν αὐτοῖς,independent — the αὐτὸς δὲ Ἰησοῦς contrast — the same verb turned: they believed, he did not entrust (reflexive αὑτόν); durative imperfect
διὰ τὸ αὐτὸν γινώσκειν πάντας,cause — διά + articular infinitive — the first ground: comprehensive knowledge of persons
25
καὶ ὅτι οὐ χρείαν εἶχενcause — coordinate ὅτι-ground beside the διά-phrase — no testimony required
ἵνα τις μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου·content — complementary ἵνα with χρείαν — μαρτυρέω, the Johannine witness-word, here declared unnecessary
αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐγίνωσκενcause — the γάρ-ground of the no-need — emphatic αὐτός; durative imperfect: he was always knowing
τί ἦν ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ.content — indirect question — the interior read without witnesses; Nicodemus (ch. 3) walks in on the next line
Analysis. John 2 is narrative in John's own key: the mainline runs down the left margin in purple aorists and imperfects, but the drumbeat inside the Cana story is the historic present λέγει — six times in ten verses (plus φωνεῖ in v. 9), each one a flush-left frame with blue speech hanging beneath it. The dialogue chain is the story: Mary's laconic Οἶνον οὐκ ἔχουσιν, Jesus' double deflection (the Semitic idiom τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί — distancing without disrespect, cf. Judg 11:12 — and the first sounding of the Johannine ὥρα, the hour of the cross), Mary's answer past his refusal to the servants (the forward-leaning indefinite relative Ὅ τι ἂν λέγῃ ὑμῖν before its imperative), the two command-and-compliance pairs at the jars, and the steward's unwitting verdict with its ὅταν-clause leaning on an elliptical apodosis (τότε τὸν ἐλάσσω, sc. τίθησιν). Verse 9 is the chapter's most tangled sentence and the layout leaves the tangle visible: three suspended lines — the ὡς-temporal clause, its coordinate ignorance clause, and the narrator's parenthesis that the servants knew — all lean forward on the resumptive φωνεῖ. The narrator then closes the sign in three flat aorists (v. 11): first of the signs, glory manifested (1:14 echoed), disciples believing — πιστεύω εἰς, John's committed-trust idiom. The temple action (vv. 13–22) stands at the START of the ministry, John's order against the Synoptics' passion week — the famous placement crux, here read as theological relocation, not a second incident. Its shape: the whip-making participle leans on ἐξέβαλεν; Ps 69:9 hangs two deep under ἐμνήσθησαν → γεγραμμένον, with John's future καταφάγεταί (LXX aorist κατέφαγεν) pointing the zeal forward to the passion; the destroy-this-temple riddle (ναός, the sanctuary proper, not ἱερόν the precinct; Λύσατε a conditional imperative) is met by the Judeans' forty-six-years misunderstanding, and then the narrator steps in twice — v. 21 decoding the ναός as τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ, v. 22 jumping to the post-resurrection remembering that believed γραφή and λόγος together. The Jerusalem summary (vv. 23–25) turns on one verb used twice: many ἐπίστευσαν εἰς his name, but Jesus οὐκ ἐπίστευεν αὑτόν to them — sign-faith is not yet faith he will trust; the αὐτὸς δὲ Ἰησοῦς contrast heads the clause, and the grounds chain (διὰ τό + infinitive, the coordinate ὅτι, the γάρ of his knowledge) hangs beneath it, opening straight into Nicodemus.