two days. And many more believed, because of his own word; 41 and said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy 42 saying for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. Now, after two days he departed thence, and went into Gali- 43 lee. For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honor in 44 his own country. Then when he was come into Galilee, the 45 Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast for they also went unto the feast. : So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the 46 water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of 47 Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and won- 48 ders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, 49 Were come unto him. Had arrived derstood the record of Luke iv. 15where he was, at the well. 23 to be well known. 41-43. Because of his own word. Or, doctrine. A second class of believers consisted of those, who had themselves seen and heard Jesus. The Samaritans did not participate in the same sanguine hopes, as the Jews, of an earthly king. Their minds were less preoccupied with prejudices. Hence they more cordially welcomed Jesus in his true character of a spiritual Messiah, and Saviour of the world; though the latter phrase was probably not understood in its most liberal sense, but as applicable rather to the chosen people. Two days. See ver. 10. His hospitable reception and favorable opportunity of doing good, combined to detain him thus long from his journey.- Went into Galilee. Some introduce the clause here, but not to Nazareth, as explanatory of what follows. Though he went into Galilee, yet he did not go to Nazareth; for he testified that a prophet, &c. See Mat. xiii. 57, and note. John evidently writes as if he un 45. Having seen all the things, &c. i. e. his miracles. Chap. ii. 23. No evangelist insists more earnestly than the spiritual John, upon the vital efficacy of miracles, as credentials of a power delegated from Heaven. 46. Cana. See chap. ii. 1–11, and comments.-A certain nobleman. Probably an officer in the household, or a courtier of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee. Chuza, his steward, has been conjectured by some to be the person. Luke viii. 3. 47. When he heard, &c. The report of the miracle at Cana had been sounded through the country, and the father of the sick child had anxiously awaited the return of Jesus from the great festival at Jerusalem. 50 come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had 51 spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now go ing down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son 52 liveth. Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour 53 the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and him54 self believed, and his whole house. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judea into Galilee. of chiding the people for their backwardness in appreciating the moral excellence of their Messiah, independently of his miracles, or, as stating the simple necessity of his confirming his claim to be a Teacher sent from God, by this sort of evidence, cannot now be known. Jesus may allude, in these words, to the greater readiness of the Samaritans, than of the Jews, to receive his doctrine. 49, 50. Though Capernaum was at the distance of about twenty miles from Cana, where Jesus then was, he exerts his miraculous power upon the dying youth with the same ease and efficacy as if he had been present. The nobleman, too, like the centurion in Mat. viii. 9, 10, reposed unlimited faith in the power of Jesus, though exerted so far from its object. Indeed, the two miracles present many points in common. Liveth, i. e. is cured, or, recovered. 51, 52. Servants met him. Through joy, they hastened to convey the glad intelligence to the father.- Liveth. Is restored. Seventh hour, i. e. at one o'clock, P. M. 53. That it was at the same hour. This identifying of the time was the main point, as it showed the cure to have been instantaneously effected.Himself believed, and his whole house. Or, household. The inference is, that they were convinced by the miracle, which had come so near to their hearts. 54. This is again the second miracle. Several judicious critics connect again with the verb come out, not with the clause in which it stands in our version. Thus Wakefield translates it, "this second miracle Jesus did on his return from Judea into Galilee." Symonds renders again "moreover." This was the second miracle performed in Galilee; that at Cana being the first;- but our Lord had, in the mean time, exerted his superhuman power at Jerusalem. Chap. ii. 23. "The cure of this young man is an illustrious proof of the miraculous power possessed by Christ: it was performed, at several miles' distance, upon a person whom he had never seen, and where, therefore, there was no shadow of a pretence for saying, that there was collusion or imposture. It satisfied the father of the child, who left him at the point of death. It satisfied those who remained at home, and saw how instantaneously he recovered; and it ought to satisfy us, who live in this distant age and quarter of the world, that Christ acted by divine power, although we have not been witnesses to its effects."-Kenrick. Our Lord's conversation with the CHAPTER V. Cure of the Infirm Man at Jerusalem, and Discourse of Jesus. AFTER this there was a feast of the Jews: and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem, by the sheep-market, 2 a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of 3 blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For 4 an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water woman of Samaria; his declaration that he was the Christ; his assertion of the spiritual and paternal character of God; the nature and intended universality of true worship; and the inward power of his religion, likened to a never-failing spring, and illustrated by his own superiority to the bodily appetites, render this one of the most interesting and practical chapters in the New Testament. While also the ready faith of the despised Samaritans in the doctrine of Jesus, and the trust of the nobleman in his power, betoken the presence of good tendencies in human nature, though it is unfavorably situated, the benevolent affections and miraculous gifts of the Messiah, at the same time testify how truly and profoundly he could minister to its "high and infinite desires." CHAPTER V. 1. A feast of the Jews. This was, probably, the feast of Pentecost, which was held in May. The feast of Tabernacles was observed in September, John vii. 2, and that of the Dedication in December, John x. 22.- Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He is supposed to have attended all the great festivals which occurred during his ministry. 2. Sheep-market. More properly, sheep-gate. Neh. iii. 1, 32, xii. 39. Pool. Literally, a swimming-place, or, bath.-Bethesda. This word signifies, "house of mercy or grace." No mention is made of this place in ancient history, except here. Though its location is pointed out, in modern times, with great exactness, to travellers, yet Robinson considers its site very uncertain; indeed, he seems inclined to identify Bethesda with the present Fountain of the Virgin, the 66 King's Pool of Nehemiah," and the "Solomon's Pool of Josephus," but expresses no decided opinion. He mentions, however, the remarkable fact, that the Fountain of the Virgin has, even at the present day, an irreg ular flow, which he witnessed, and from which the Jewish notion of an angel descending to trouble the water, may have arisen. Having five porches. The pool was probably a pentagon, or of a five-sided form, and had these porches around it, as places of shelter for those, who resorted thither to bathe or to be cured. 3, 4. Great. This word, according to the best critics, is of doubtful authority. Impotent folk. Or, infirm people. Waiting. The clause commencing here, and extending to the end of verse 4, is deemed spurious by Griesbach and other editors of the sacred text, since it is not found in some of the best ancient authorities. -For an angel went down. Remarkable natural phenomena were attributed, among the Jews, to the in 5 stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight 6 years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made 7 whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I 8 am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto 9 him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked and on the terposition of angels. As the moving of the waters is spoken of in ver. 7, it has been conjectured, with good reason, that some early transcriber introduced the popular and legendary explanation of the intermitting flow of the fountain, as a note in the margin, and that it afterwards crept into the text of some manuscripts and versions. 5. An infirmity. It is supposed to have been catalepsy. Thirty and eight years. Not that he had remained in the porches of Bethesda thus long, but that such was the duration of his disorder. He appears to have been an object of public charity. -- 7. I have no man. He was friendless as well as decrepit, and presented, therefore, a strong claim on the compassion of our Lord. When the water is troubled. The interpolation, mentioned above, was apparently inserted to explain this clause. But "the pool spoken of in the passage, appears to have been fed by an intermitting medicinal spring." Robinson inquires, "Does not the 'troubling' of the water look like the irregular flow of the fountain just described?" referring to the variable gushing forth of the Fountain of the Virgin. Various hypotheses have been employed to elucidate this difficult subject; as that an angel, visible or invisible, did actually descend, and, troubling the pool, communicate to its waters a healing efficacy; or that the blood and entrails of the sacrificial victims gave it this virtue; but the more probable one is suggested above, that "at certain periods there was a strong commotion in the waters, which probably bubbled up, from some chemical cause, connected with their medicinal effects. Popular belief, or rather, perhaps, popular language, attributed this agitation of the surface to the descent of an angel."- Another steppeth down before me. It is hence usually inferred that only the first individuals who entered the water after its agitation, could be cured, either on account of the situation of the medicinal spring, or the quickness with which its healing properties were exhausted. But the language is in some degree indefinite. 8. Thy bed. Or, pallet. This" denotes a mean kind of mattress, thin, and of small dimensions. It appears, sometimes, to have consisted of no more than a thick cotton quilt doubled.”—“It was frequently the custom of Jesus, when he had worked a miracle, to command something to be done, as it were to bear witness to it. Thus, when he had fed five thousand with five loaves, he commanded the fragments to be taken up, whereby the miracle was the more apparent. Thus he commanded the lepers he cleansed to go and show themselves to the priest, that it might appear beyond dispute that they were really The Jews therefore said unto 10 same day was the Sabbath. him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day; it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me 11 whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. Then 12 asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not who it 13 was for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said 14 unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the 15 Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, cleansed. And, for like reason, he commanded this man to take up his bed, and go home; that it might appear that his whole frame, which had been so greatly relaxed for many years, that he was quite impotent, was now so restored, that he was able to carry a burden on his back.". GOADBY. 10. The Jews. Some suppose, that the Sanhedrim investigated the affair in an official public manner. - It is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. The excessive punctiliousness of the scribes and Pharisees, touching external rites and ceremonies, occasioned this censure. They construed Jer. xvii. 21, 22, and other passages, too literally. "He that carrieth any thing on the Sabbath, in his right hand or left, &c., he is guilty." Such was the language of the Talmuds. 11. He that made me whole, the same said, &c. He justified his conduct by the high authority of him, who had cured his disease, than which none, certainly, could be better. 13. Wist. Knew. - Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude, &c. Casaubon remarks, that this verb contains a metaphor, derived from swimming, implying the ease and quietness with which he glided from among them. Our Lord uniformly And 16 avoided every tumultuous assemblage. 14. Findeth-said. These verbs would be more properly translated in the same tense, either past or present. Behold, thou art made whole. Thou hast been delivered from a great evil; listen to a word of admonition from thy benefactor. - Sin no more, lest a worse thing, &c. Intimating, as some understand it, that his chronic disorder had been occasioned by his vices; while others suppose, that Jesus speaks according to the popular notion of the Jews, that all disease or calamity was the effect of sin. But the advice is worthy of being heeded by every man, who has reformed from any evil habit, and been restored from its effects. Sin no more, my brother, lest a worse thing befall thee, and thy last state be worse than thy first. If intemperate, if impure, passionate, profane, dishonest, or guilty of any other sin whatever, break off from it at once, wholly, and forever. This is thy only safe course. 15, 16. Told the Jews that it was Jestis. He did not know, at the time, who cured him.-Sought to slay him. Griesbach, and other critics, regard this clause as spurious. The Jews were in no point more bigoted and |