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John Chapter 2

1. AND on the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of jesus was there.

2. And both jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage.

3. And when the wine failed, the mother of jesus says to him, They have no wine.

4. jesus says to her, What [is it] to me and to you, woman? Mine hour is not yet come.

5. His mother says to the servants, Whatsoever he shall say to you, do.

6. And there were set there six water-pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

7. jesus says to them, Fill the water-pots with water. And they filled them up to the top.

8. And he says to them, Draw out now, and bear to the governor of the feast, and they bare [it.]

9. But when the governor of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast calls the bridegroom,

10. And says to him, Every man first sets forth good wine, and when they are drunken, then that which is worse, but you have kept the good wine until now.

11. This beginning of miracles [signs] did jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed on him.

12. After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples; and they remained there not many days.

13. And the passover of the Jews was near, and jesus went up to Jerusalem;

14. And found in the temple those who sold oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the changers of money, sitting.

15. And having made a scourge of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the money of the money-merchants, and overthrew the tables.

16. And to them who sold doves he said, Take these things hence; make not my father's house a house of merchandize.

17. And his disciples remembered, that it was written, The zeal of your house has eaten me up.

18. Then answered the Jews and said to him, What sign show you, that you do these things?

19. jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

20. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and will you raise it up in three days?

21. But he spoke of the temple of his body.

22. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which jesus had said.

23. But when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast, many believed in his name, seeing his miracles [signs] which he did.

24. But jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all [men.]

25. And needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man.

Verses 1 to 12. And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, &c. It is to be noted that all the miracles worked by the lord, as well as all the. miracles treated of in the Old Testament, which were worked by him, signified such things as relate to heaven and the church, that is, that they contained such things within, and that hence his miracles were divine, see the Arcana Coelestia, AC 7337, 8364, 9031. The case was the same with this miracle in Cana of Galilee, and by the marriage there is signified the church, as in other passages in the Word throughout; in Cana of Galilee denotes amongst the Gentiles; and by water is signified the truth of the external church, such as was the truth of the Jewish church, from the sense of the letter of the Word, and by wine is signified the truth of the internal church, such as is the truth of the Christian church; hence by the lord making water wine is signified that he made the truths of the external church truths of the internal church, by opening the internal things which lay concealed in them; by six water-pots of stone set according to the cleansing of the Jews, are signified all those things in the Word, and thence in the Jewish church and its worship, which were representative and significative of divine things in the lord and from the lord, which contained internal things; wherefore also they were six of stone set for the cleansing of the Jews; the number six signifies all, and is predicated of truths; stone signifies truth, and the cleansing of the Jews signifies purification from sins, thus all things of the Jewish church, for the church regards purification from sins as all that belongs to it, since in proportion as any one is purified from sins, in the same proportion he is a church; by the ruler of the feast are meant those who are in the knowledges of truth: by his saying to the bridegroom, every man at first sets forth good wine, and when they have had enough, then that which is worse, you have reserved the good wine until now, is signified that every church commences from truths derived from good, but closes in truths not of good, and that even now in the end of the church, truth derived from good or genuine truth is given, namely from the lord. AE 376.

As to what concerns miracles and signs, it is to be noted that they were performed amongst such, as were in external worship, and were not willing to be acquainted with internal; they also who were in such worship, were to be driven by external means; hence it was, that miracles were performed amongst the Israelitish and Jewish people, for they were solely in external worship, and in no internal; and also external worship was what they ought to be in, when they were not willing to be in internal worship, to the intent that in externals they might represent holy things, and thereby communication might be given with heaven, as by somewhat of a church, for correspondences, representatives and significatives conjoin the natural world to the spiritual; hence now it was, that so many miracles were performed amongst that nation: but amongst those, who are in internal worship, that is in charity and faith, miracles are not performed, for they are hurtful to them, inasmuch as miracles compel to believe, and what is of compulsion does not remain, but is dissipated; the internal things of worship, which are faith and charity, are to be implanted in a free principle, for in such case they are appropriated, and the things which are so appropriated remain; but the things which are implanted in a state of compulsion, remain out of the internal man in the external; for into the internal man nothing enters except by intellectual ideas, which are reasons [rationes] for the ground which there receives, is the rational principle illustrated; hence it is, that no miracles are worked at this day: that they are also hurtful, may hence be manifest: for they compel [men] to believe, and fix ideas in the external man that it is so; if the internal man afterwards denies what miracles have confirmed, in such case an opposition and collision of the internal and external man takes place, and at length, when the ideas derived from miracles are dissipated, there is effected a conjunction of what is false and what is true, thus profanation; hence it is evident how hurtful miracles are at this day in the church, because the internals of worship are now discovered; these things are also signified by the lord's words to Thomas, "Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed, blessed are they who do not see, and believe," John 20:29; so also they are blessed who do not believe by miracles. But miracles are not hurtful to those who are in external worship without internal, for with such no opposition can exist between the internal and external man, thus no collision, consequently no profanation. That miracles do not contribute any thing to faith, may be sufficiently manifest from the miracles worked amongst the people of Israel in Egypt, and in the wilderness, in that they had no effect at all upon them; for that people, although they so lately had seen so many miracles in Egypt, afterwards the Red Sea [mare suph] divided, and the Egyptians overwhelmed therein, the pillar of the cloud going before them by day, and the pillar of fire by night, the manna daily showered down from heaven, and although they saw Mount Sinai in smoke, and heard jehovah thence speaking, with other miracles of a like kind, nevertheless in the midst of such things, they declined from all faith, and from the worship of jehovah to the worship of a calf, Exodus 32:1 to the end; hence it is evident what is the effect of miracles; still less would be their effect at this day, when it is not acknowledged, that there is anything [or influence] from the spiritual world, and when every thing of the sort is denied, and is attributed to nature; for a principle of denial universally reigns against the divine influx and government on earth; wherefore at this day the man of the church, if he was to see the veriest divine miracles, would first bring them down into nature, and there defile them, and afterwards would reject them as phantasms, and lastly would laugh at all who attributed them to the Divine [Being or principle] and not to nature; that miracles are of no effect, is also evident from the lord's words in Luke, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead," Luke 16:31. AC 7290.

Verse 4. Jesus says to her, What [is it] to me and to you, woman? &c. It is to be noted that the lord successively and continually, even to the last of life, when he was glorified, separated from himself and put off that which was merely human, namely what he derived from the mother, until at length he was no longer her son, but the Son of god, as well in regard to nativity, as in regard to conception, and thus one with the father, and himself jehovah. That he separated from himself and put off all the Human [principle] from the mother, so that he was no longer her son, is clearly evident from the lord's words in John, "When wine was wanted, the mother of jesus said to him, They have no wine; jesus says to her, What [is it] to me and to you, woman?" From which words it is evident, that the lord did not call her mother, but woman, and that he transferred the name of mother to those who were signified by the disciple who stood near at his crucifixion, to whom he said, Behold your mother, John 19:26, 27. As to what further concerns the separation and putting off of the maternal Human [principle] it is not comprehended by those who have merely corporeal ideas concerning the Human [principle of the lord, and think of it as of the Human [principle] of another man; they do not know that such as the life is such is the man, and that the lord had from conception the divine esse of life or jehovah, and that a similar esse of life existed in his Human [principle] by union. AC 2649.

Verse 10. You have kept the good wine until now. By wine is signified the divine truth derived from the divine good of the lord ; and hence may appear what is signified by these words of the lord, men do not put new wine into old bottles, but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved, Matt 9:17; where new wine denotes the divine truth of the New Testament, thus of the new church, and old wine denotes the divine truth of the Old Testament, thus of the old church. The like is signified by these words of the ruler at the marriage in Cana of Galilee, "Every man at first sets on good wine, and when they are drunken, then that which is worse; you have kept the good wine until now." AR 316.

Respecting marriage see the work entitled "Conjugial Love," from beginning to end.

Verses 14, 15, 16, 17. And found in the temple those that sold oxen, &c. What is here signified by temple, may be seen by consulting the extract from the AE at verse 19 below.

By those who sold and bought are signified those who make gain to themselves of things holy; by the tables of the money changers are signified from holy truths, and by the seats of them who sold doves, are signified those who do so from holy goods; wherefore it is afterwards said, that they made the temple into a den of thieves, for thieves are those who plunder the truths and goods of the church, and hence make to themselves gain. AE 840.

Verse 18. Then answered the Jews and said to him, What sign show you to us? &c. By a sign is understood that which declares, testifies, and persuades concerning a thing inquired after; but by a miracle is understood that which excites, strikes, and induces astonishment, thus a sign moves the understanding and faith, and a miracle the will and its affection, for the will and its affection is what is excited, is stricken, and amazed, and the understanding and its faith is what is persuaded, what a declaration is made to, and which admits of testification. That in the above words by showing a sign is signified to testify by somewhat stupendous, or by a voice from heaven, is evident, but whereas such a testification would have damned, rather than have saved them, therefore jesus gave answer concerning the temple, by which he understood his body, that this would be dissolved, that is, would die, and would rise again glorified on the third day. AE 706.

Verse 19. Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. That temple in the Word signifies the Divine Human [principle] of the lord, and in a respective sense heaven and the church, consequently also the divine truth, may appear from the following passages, "The Jews said to Jesus, What sign show you to us that you do this? jesus answered and said to them, Dissolve this temple, and I will raise it.up again in three days; but he spoke of the temple of his body." That temple signifies the Divine Human [principle] of the lord, is here expressly said; for by the dissolution of the temple, and its being raised up again after three days, is understood his death, burial, and resurrection; and in Malachi, "Behold I send mine angel, who shall prepare the way before me, and suddenly shall come to his temple the lord, and the angel of the covenant whom you seek," 3:1; in this passage also by temple is meant the Divine Human [principle] of the lord ; for the subject there treated of is concerning the lord's advent, wherefore by coming to his temple is signified to his Human [principle;] and in the Apocalypse, "I saw not a temple in the New Jerusalem, for the lord god Omnipotent is its temple, and the Lamb," Rev 21:22; the subject here treated of is concerning the new heaven and the new earth, when they shall be in internals and not in externals; hence it is said that there shall not be a temple, but the Lord God Omnipotent and the Lamb; the Lord God Omnipotent is the essential Divine [principle] of the lord, and the Lamb is his Divine Human [principle;] whence also it is evident that his Divine Human [principle] in the heavens is understood by temple. And in Isaiah, "I saw the lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up, and the borders of his garments filling the temple," Is 6:1; where by a throne high and lifted up, on which the lord was seen to sit, is signified the lord as to divine truth in the superior heavens; but by the borders of his garments is signified his divine truth in the church; that the borders of the garments, when predicated of the lord, signify his divine truth in ultimates, may be seen, AC 9917 in the Arcana Coelestia. "That the veil of the temple was rent into two parts from the top to the bottom after the lord had suffered," Matt 27:51, signified the union of the Divine Human [principle] of the lord with his Divine [principle] itself may be seen, AC 9671 of the same work. By temple is signified the Divine Human [principle] of the lord, and at the same time heaven and the church, in the following passages, "I will bow myself towards the temple of your holiness, and will confess to your name," Psalm 138:2; and in Jonah, "I said, I am expelled from before your eyes, but yet I will again look back to the temple of your holiness. And my prayer came to you to the temple of your holiness," Jonah 2:5, 8; and in Habakkuk, "jehovah is in the temple of his holiness," Hab 2:20; and in Matthew, "Woe to you blind guides, who say, whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, is guilty; you fools and blind, for whether is greater, the gold or the temple which sanctifies the gold?" Matt 23:16, 17; and in John, "jesus said to them who sold in the temple, Take those things hence, make not the house of my father a house of merchandize," John 2:16, 17. AE 220; see also AC 6426, 9714, 10528.

Verse 19. And in three days I will raise it up. By the third day and three days is signified what is complete and the beginning of sanctification; for day in the Word signifies state, which is also signified by year, in general by all times, as an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, an age, also by morning, mid-day, evening, night; likewise by spring, summer, autumn, winter; to which terms, when third is added, they signify the end of that state, and at the same time the beginning of a following state; the reason of the signification is, because the lord, when he had fulfilled all things, rose again on the third day, for the things which were done by the lord, whilst he lived in the world, were as it were done in the representatives of the church, as likewise in the internal sense of the Word, for in god to be done and to be is the same thing, yea all eternity is present to him; hence the number three was representative, not only in the ancient church and in the Jewish, but also amongst various nations; see what was said concerning this number, AC 720, 901, 1825. AC 2788.

Verse 21. But he spoke of the temple of his body. By the lord's body is signified the divine love, and by the temple of the body is signified the divine truth from the divine good; that temple denotes the lord as to divine truth may be seen, AC 3720: and whereas body in the supreme sense denotes the divine good of the divine love of the lord, hence all who are in heaven are said to be in the body of the lord. That the body of the lord denotes divine good, is manifest also from these words in Daniel, "I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, behold one man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz, and his body as tarshish," Dan 10:6, where by gold of Uphaz, with which the loins were girded, is signified the good of love; and by tarshish, as the rest of the body appeared, namely, the body in the midst between the head and the loins, is signified the good of charity and of faith, for tarshish is a precious stone glittering. AC 6135.

Verse 23. Many believed in his name, &c. By the name of the lord is understood every thing of faith and of love, by which the lord is to be worshiped, see extract above, chap. i. verse 12. They who were of the ancient church by name, did not understand name, but all the quality of a thing, see AC 144, 145; thus by the name of god they understood every thing in one complex whereby god is worshiped, consequently every thing belonging to love and faith: but when the internal principle of worship perished, and the external one remained, then by the name of god they began to understand nothing else but name, insomuch that they worshiped the very name itself, without any concern about the principle of love and of faith from which they worshiped: in consequence hereof nations began to distinguish themselves by the names of gods, and the Jews and Israelites preferred themselves before other nations on account of worshiping jehovah, placing the essential of worship in mentioning and invoking a name, when yet the worship of a name only is no worship, being practicable with the worst of people, who thereby do but more profane the name. Inasmuch as by the name of god is signified the all of worship, that is, the all of love and of faith whereby he is worshiped, it is evident hence what is meant by these words in the lord's prayer, "Hallowed be your name," Matt 6:9; and by these words of the lord, " You shall be hated of all for my name's sake," Matt 10:22; "If two shall agree in my name on earth, concerning any thing whatever they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my father, who is in the heavens: where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them," Matt 18:20. When the man of the church, as was observed, from internal became external, and began to make worship consist in a name only, then they no longer acknowledged one god, but several gods; for it was customary with the ancients to add somewhat to the name of jehovah, thereby to record some kindness or attribute of his, as in the present case, "He called on the name of the god of eternity;" and in the following chapter, "Abraham called the name of that place, jehovah-jireh, that is, he will see," verse 14; again, "Moses built an altar, and called the name thereof jehovah-nissi, that is, my standard," Exodus 17:15; again, "Gideon built an altar to jehovah, and called it jehovah-shalom, that is, of peace," Judges 6:24; besides other places; hence it came to pass, that they who made worship to consist in a name only, worshiped as many gods as there were names; and that amongst the gentiles, especially in Greece and at Rome, so many gods were acknowledged and worshiped, when yet the ancient church, from which those epithets came, never worshiped any but one god venerated under so many names, inasmuch as by name the men of that church understood quality. AC 2724.

Verses 24, 25. Because he knew all, &c. By knowing, when it is predicated of god, that is, of the lord, is signified to gift with charity; for it is charity which conjoins the lord with man, and makes the lord to be present with him, consequently to know him; the lord indeed knows all in the universe, but not as a father his sons, except those who are in the good of love and charity; therefore the lord says of those who are in good, whom he calls his sheep, "I am the good shepherd, I know my own, and am known by my own; my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me," John 10:14, 27. But of those who are in evil the lord says, that he does not know them, Matt 7:22, 23; 25:11, 12; Luke 13:25, 26, 27; hence it is evident that to be known, when it is said by the lord, denotes to be in the good of charity, that is, denotes to be gifted with that good, because all the good of charity comes from the lord ; and that not to be known denotes to be in evil; to know involves conjunction, and man is said to be known by the lord, so far as he is conjoined to him: the lord also knows those who are not conjoined, yea the most singular things belonging to every one, but inasmuch as these latter are in evil, they are in another presence, which is as it were absence, although the lord is not absent, but the man and spirit who is in evil. AC 6806.

translator's notes and observations.

Verse 3. And when the wine failed, &c. This is expressed in the common version of the New Testament by when they wanted wine, but the original Greek is v^tprjaavrog olvu, which evidently relates to a deficiency of wine, and not to any want of it expressed by the guests.

Verse 4. Jesus says to her, What [is it] to me and to you? In the common version of the New Testament this passage is rendered, What have I to do with you; but the original Greek. is, Ti e/j,ot «u aoi, which is literally What to me and to you, conveying a very different idea from what is suggested in the common version, which is harsh and repulsive, and thus not at all in agreement with the meekness and gentleness of the divine speaker.

Verse 10. And when they are drunken, not when men have well drunk, as it is expressed in the common version; for in the original Greek, which is fjuBvaQuai, no mention is made either of men, or of well, but only of being drunken, as the term implies, thus denoting that the guests have drunk to excess, rather than well.

Verse 11. This beginning of miracles [signs] did Jesus, &c. It may here be proper to observe, that the terms miracle, and miracles, whenever they occur in the Evangelists, and in the Revelations, are expressed in the original Greek by the terms sumeion and simeia, signifying a sign, or signs, except in one instance, Mark 9:39, where the original Greek is dunamig, which properly signifies a power. But occasionally the word a^fnuov is rendered a sign, as Matt 16:3, 24:24; Mark 16:17, 20; Luke 21:25, and in other places.

Verse 15. And poured out the money of the money-merchants. It is remarkable that it is not here said moneychangers, as before, but in the original Greek another expression is used, which yet is not noticed in the common version, namely kollubigstwn, whereas what is rendered moneychangers, is expressed in the original by the term KEp^anorae. What the distinction between the two terms properly is, and what the distinct ideas which they were intended to convey, may perhaps be difficult to discover, since all that is known concerning the terms is, that the former is derived from the Greek substantive Ko\\vffoe, which signifies a piece of money, and the latter from the Greek substantive kerma, which also signifies a piece of money. There is likewise reason to believe that the nep/Mri-rat gave change for the high foreign gold and silver coins, to furnish those that came up to the temple with small money for the temple duties, whilst the KoXXw/3iTeu were probably more especially engaged in the exchange, or the agio, between the respective countries. There is, however, every reason to believe, that the two terms were intended to convey distinct ideas as to their internal meaning, and therefore it is proper to preserve a distinction as to their external expression.