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Summary
- Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee after the wine ran out and his mother told him, “They have no wine” (John 2:3).
- John calls it the first of Jesus’ miracles, in which he “manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him” (John 2:11), and only John’s Gospel tells the story.
- Jesus called his mother “Woman” at Cana and again from the cross (John 19:26), and in John his “hour” is the hour of his death and glory.
- The six stone jars held “two or three firkins apiece” (John 2:6), about 470 to 710 litres in all, or roughly 125 to 190 US gallons.
- John’s word for what the servants carried out is oinos, the ordinary Greek word for wine. Ellen G. White held that it was unfermented grape juice, and nineteenth-century Methodists moved to grape juice for the Lord’s Supper.
- The 1662 Book of Common Prayer and the Orthodox marriage service both recall Cana, and Orthodox couples share a cup of wine in remembrance of the miracle.
- No one is sure where Cana was: pilgrims visit Kafr Kanna, while the excavators at Khirbet Qana argue it has the strongest claim.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- The Holy Bible, King James Version, via BibleGateway: John 2:1–11, 4:21, 4:46–54, 7:30, 12:23, 13:1, 19:26–27, 20:15, 20:31 and 21:2; Matthew 4:3–4; Mark 7:3; Isaiah 25:6 and 65:8; Amos 9:13; Romans 14:21; Ephesians 5:18; Revelation 19:9.
- Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractate 8 and Tractate 9, translated by John Gibb (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 7, 1888), New Advent.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1335 and paragraph 2618.
- Thayer’s Greek Lexicon and Strong’s Concordance on Bible Hub: oinos, 3631 (with Bible Hub’s topical lexicon), methuo, 3184, metretes, 3355 (citing Souter), semeion, 4592 and Kana, 2580.
- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr, “Firkin”.
- Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible, John 2.
- Church of England, The Book of Common Prayer (1662), The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony.
- Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, “Marriage”.
- Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, chapter 15, “At the Marriage Feast”; Ellen G. White Estate, “Ellen G. White: A Brief Biography”.
- United Methodist Church, “Methodist History: Communion and Welch’s Grape Juice”.
- Southern Baptist Convention, “On Alcohol Use In America” (resolution, June 2006).
- Biblical Archaeology Society, “Where Did Jesus Turn Water into Wine?”, on Tom McCollough’s excavations at Khirbet Qana.
- Custody of the Holy Land, “Cana”.
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