John 2:8

Joh 2:8. Ἤνεγκαν, They bare) i.e. They drew and bare. [They exhibited a] beautiful obedience [to His directions].

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 2:8 . The second order might stagger them more, Ἀντλήσατε νῦν , καὶ φέρετε τῷ ἀρχιτρικλίνῳ . The ἀρχιτρίκλινος was originally the person who had charge of the triclinium or triple couch set round a dining table: “praefectus cui instruendi ornandique triclinii cura incumbit”; a butler or head waiter whose duty it was to arrange the table and taste the food and wine. Petron. Arb. 22, “Jam et Tricliniarches experrectus lucernis occidentibus oleum infuderat”. But apparently the person indicated in this verse is rather the συμποσιάρχης or συμποσίαρχος , the chairman elected by the company from among the guests, sometimes by lot. Cf. Horace’s “Arbiter bibendi,” Od., ii., 7. The requirements in such an official are described in Sir 32:1 ; Plato, Laws , p. 640; see also Reid’s edition of Cicero, De Senect. , p. 131. In general he regulated the course of the feast and the conduct of the guests. [Holtzmann and Weiss both retain the proper meaning of ἀρχιτρίκλινος .] Westcott suggests that the ἀντλήσατε νῦν may refer to drawing from the well, and that “the change in the water was determined by its destination for use at the feast”. “That which remained water when kept for a ceremonial use became wine when borne in faith to minister to the needs, even to the superfluous requirements of life,” a suggestive interpretation, but it evacuates of all significance the clause “they filled them up to the brim”. The servants obeyed, possibly encouraged by seeing that what they had poured in as water flowed out as wine; although if the words in the end of the ninth verse are to be taken strictly, it was still water when drawn from the water jars. But some refer the οἱ ἠντληκότες to drawing from the well. It is, however, more natural to refer it to the ἀντλήσατε νῦν of the eighth verse. Besides, drawing water from the well would be the business rather of the women than of the διάκονοι .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 8. Governor of the feast.] The original word, αρχιτρικλινος, signifies one who is chief or head over three couches, or tables. In the Asiatic countries, they take their meals sitting, or rather reclining, on small low couches. And when many people are present, so that they cannot all eat together, three of these low tables or couches are put together in form of a crescent, and some one of the guests is appointed to take charge of the persons who sit at these tables. Hence the appellation of architriclinus, the chief over three couches or tables, which in process of time became applied to the governor or steward of a feast, let the guests be many or few; and such person, having conducted the business well, had a festive crown put on his head by the guests, at the conclusion of the feast. See Ecclesiasticus, 32:1-3. It is very common for the Hindoos to appoint a person who is expert in conducting the ceremonies of a feast to manage as governor. This person is seldom the master of the house.

And they bare it.] A question has been asked, "Did our Lord turn all the water into wine which the six measures contained?" To which I answer: There is no proof that he did; and I take it for granted that he did not. It may be asked, "How could a part be turned into wine, and not the whole?" To which I answer: The water, in all likelihood, was changed into wine as it was drawn out, and not otherwise. "But did not our Lord by this miracle minister to vice, by producing an excess of inebriating liquor?" No; for the following reasons:

1. The company was a select and holy company, where no excess could be permitted. And,

2. Our Lord does not appear to have furnished any extra quantity, but only what was necessary. "But it is intimated in the text that the guests were nearly intoxicated before this miraculous addition to their wine took place; for the evangelist says, οτανμεθυσθωσι, when they have become intoxicated." I answer:

1. It is not intimated, even in the most indirect manner, that these guests were at all intoxicated.

2. The words are not spoken of the persons at that wedding at all: the governor of the feast only states that such was the common custom at feasts of this nature; without intimating that any such custom prevailed there.

3. The original word bears a widely different meaning from that which the objection forces upon it. The verbs μεθυσκω and μεθυω, from μεθυ, wine, which, from μετα θυειν, to drink after sacrificing, signify not only to inebriate, but to take wine, to drink wine, to drink enough: and in this sense the verb is evidently used in the Septuagint, Ge 43:34; So 5:1; 1 Macc. 16:16; Hag 1:6; Ecclus. 1:16. And the Prophet Isaiah, Isa 58:11, speaking of the abundant blessings of the godly, compares them to a watered garden, which the Septuagint translate, ως κηπος μεθυων, by which is certainly understood, not a garden drowned with water, but one sufficiently saturated with it, not having one drop too much, nor too little.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. And carry to the master of the feast. For the same reason as before, Christ wished that the flavor of the wine should be tried by the master of the feast, before it had been tasted by himself, or by any other of the guests; and the readiness with which the servants obey him in all things shows us the great reverence and respect in which he was held by them. The Evangelist gives the name of the master of the feast to him who had the charge of preparing the banquet and arranging the tables; not that the banquet was costly and magnificent, but because the honorable appellations borrowed from the luxury and splendor of the rich are applied even to the marriages of the poor. But it is wonderful that a large quantity of wine, and of the very best wine, is supplied by Christ, who is a teacher of sobriety. I reply, when God daily gives us a large supply of wine, it is our own fault if his kindness is an excitement to luxury; but, on the other hand, it is an undoubted trial of our sobriety, if we are sparing and moderate in the midst of abundance; as Paul boasts that he had learned to know both how to be full and to be hungry, (Philippians 4:12.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(8) Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast.—A vessel was let down into the pitcher, and was then carried to the ruler of the feast, who would distribute the wine in it to the guests. Ruler rather than “governor.” The same English word should be used throughout the two verses. What exact office is denoted by the Greek word is uncertain, as it occurs nowhere else in the Bible, and is very rare in the classical authors. The chief English commentators (Alford, Wordsworth, Trench) are agreed that he was chosen by the guests from among their own number, but this opinion has not commanded the general assent of scholars; and there seems more reason to think that the person intended is what we should call the “head-waiter,” whose duty it was to taste the viands and wines, to arrange the tables and couches, and to be generally responsible for the feast.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he saith unto them, draw out now,.... As soon as ever the vessels were filled with water, without any more delay, he ordered the servants to draw out of those larger, into lesser vessels; he does not say what, water or wine:

and bear unto the governor of the feast; who either had the ordering and management of the feast, and the command of the whole affair; hence the Ethiopic version calls him, "the master of the waiters", or servants: or he was the chief guest, as the word seems to import, who sat, or rather lay, on the chief couch at the table; and so a proper person to begin with, and put the cup round: or else he might be doctor or chaplain: for such an one was necessary at a marriage; since there were six or seven benedictions to be pronounced; and particularly a blessing was said over the cup of wine; for if there was any wine, a cup of it was brought, and he blessed over it first, and ordered every thing concerning the cup: and this made up seven blessings at such a time (y); and therefore was a very fit person to bear the wine to first:

and they bore it; the servants having drawn out of the stone vessels, by cocks, into smaller ones, carried the liquor, as they were ordered, to the above person.

(y) Maimon. Hilchot Ishot, c. 10. sect. 3, 4.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

Ver. 8. The governor of the feast] The Jews had a sort of officers at their feasts, called praefecti morum, οινοπται, οφθαλμοι, the eyes and overseers of the feast, that took care that none should drink too much. The Latins called them dictators; the Greeks, symposiarchs. Howbeit, among the Greeks, those officers’ power extended no further than to see that at feasts or banquets men drank small draughts only at first, which by degrees they increased till they came to their height of intemperance; at which point, when they were arrived, they kept no rule nor order: whereas, before, to drink out of one’s turn, or beyond his allowance, was counted incivility. {a}

{a} Hinc pergraecari: and as merry as a Greek.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Draw out now - This command was given to the servants. It showed that the miracle had been performed immediately. As soon as they were filled the servants were directed to take to the governor of the feast. Jesus made no parade about it, and it does not even appear that he approached the waterpots. He willed it, and it was done. This was a clear exertion of divine power, and made in such a manner as to leave no doubt of its reality.

The governor - One who presided on the occasion. The one who stood at the “head” or upper end of the table. He had the charge of the entertainment, provided the food, gave directions to the servants, etc.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Jews had one who was to order the affairs of their feast, and who is upon that account called the master, or

governor, of it; to whom our Saviour directs, that some of this newly made wine should be carried; either that they might not suspect it was by some art provided by him, or because he was of the best judgment in those affairs. The servants yield the same ready obedience to his commands which they had before yielded.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. Governor of the feast—This was either one of the guests elected to the office of presiding over the occasion, or it was a professional functionary skilled in the business. He presided both over the sacred ceremonies of pronouncing the blessings, and the progress of the festivities.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Draw forth (the object of the verb is not in the sentence. He did not say the "water" which you placed there, nor the "wine" into which it has been transformed, but simply, "Draw forth"), and bear to the governor of the feast. The traditional interpretation, that the water jars were the source of the unwonted supply, and the measure of it, strongly commends itself in preference to the suggestions of Westcott, Moulton, as well as Barnes, Olshausen, and others. The arcitriklinov , the "master of the table," is the chief servant presiding over the arrangements of the feast. This was an Attic official, referred to by Athenaeus (4, 100, 70) as trapezopoiov (cf. Heliodor., 7:27). The "symposiarch," arbiter bibendi, is not to be confounded with him. The latter was one of the guests chosen to taste the wine, etc. (see Ecc 32:1, where he is called hgoumenov). The "governor" is one who occupies a still higher position of importance in Greek feasts. There is no other trace of the Attic usage among the Jews. As the passage in Ecclesiasticus indicates a different custom, and the references to something similar describe the officer by different names, no very sure conclusion can be drawn. Wunsche says that, ordinarily, the master of the house was bound to serve his guests, and preside over the distribution of food and presents. Thus, at the marriage of his son, Rabbi Gamaliel served all his invited guests. Trench, Alford, and Wordsworth think that the governor here was one of the invited guests, from the freedom with which he addressed the bridegroom. Meyer, Godet, take the view that he was not. And they hear it, conscious of a wondrous fact, which must have filled them with consternation. At first the order must have seemed like felly, as when Moses called on Israel to "go forward" into the Red Sea, or as when Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take up thy bed, and walk." "They bear it."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. He saith, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. “He that had made wine that day in those six water-pots does the same every year in the vines. For as what the servants put in the water-pots was changed into wine by the operation of the Lord, just so what the clouds pour forth is changed into wine by the operation of the same law.—Augustine.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

8. ἀρχιτρ. Manager of the feast (triclinium) rather than ruler: but it is doubtful whether the head-waiter, who managed the feast and tasted the meat and drink, is meant, or the rex convivii, arbiter bibendi, the guest elected by the other guests to preside. The bad taste of his remark inclines one to the former alternative: Sir 32:1-2 is in favour of the second. In any case the translation should be uniform in these two verses, not sometimes ‘governor,’ sometimes ‘ruler.’ The word occurs nowhere else in N.T. Ὑδρία and ἀντλέω are also peculiar to this Gospel, and occur again Joh 4:7; Joh 4:15; Joh 4:28.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8.] The ἀρχιτρίκλινος (συμποσίαρχος, ἐπιμελητὴς τοῦ συμποσίου, Euthym.) seems to be the same with the ἡγούμενος spoken of, Sir. 35 (32:) 1, and with the Latin rex, or magister, convivii. It would seem (from Sir. l. c.) that he was one of the guests raised to the post of presiding over the arrangements of the feast. This is however doubted by the older Commentators (Severus in the Catena, Lücke, i. 472), who make him not one of the guests, but a person holding this especial office, and attending on feasts. Here, he tastes the wine; and therefore probably was a guest himself. Lücke quotes from Petronius “triclinarches.”

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. ἀντλήσατε νῦν κτλ. “Draw out now, and bear to the governor of the feast.” The ἀρχιτρίκλινος is called the ἡγούμενος in Ecclus. 32:1. It was customary for one of the principal guests to preside as arbiter bibendi (Horace, Od. ii. 7) or συμποσίαρχος, and it is this person who is indicated here by ἀρχιτρίκλινος, a word which elsewhere means a butler who arranged the triclinium, or three couches, each for three, at the table.

ἀντλήσατε νῦν has been generally taken to mean that the servants were bidden to draw water from the great jars and convey it in pitchers to the ruler of the feast. Westcott argues that ἀντλήσατε νῦν means rather “draw out now from the well,” whence water had previously been taker to fill the jars “up to the brim”; and that no miracle was wrought upon the water in the jars, but only upon water freshly drawn from the well in response to the command of Jesus. It is true that ἀντλεῖν is naturally used of drawing water from a well (cf. 4:7 and Gen 24:20, Exo 2:19, Isa 12:3). But the difficulties of this interpretation are considerable:

(1) If Westcott’s view be taken, the act (v. 7) of filling the large jars with water was quite otiose and has nothing to do with the story. There was no reason to mention the waterpots at all, if the miracle consisted in the conversion to wine of water freshly drawn from the well in pitchers1 and brought direct to the ἀρχιτρίκλινος.

(2) ἀντλεῖν can quite properly be used of drawing or pouring a liquid from a large vessel into a smaller one; and in its compounds ἐξαντλεῖν, καταντλεῖν, it means “to pour out,” “to pour over.” The drawing from the large hydriæ in the story would have been done by ladles (κύαθοι).2

(3) That ἀντλεῖν could be used of drawing wine appears from a passage in the comic poet Pherecrates (see D.C.G. ii. 815); and that a hydria was sometimes used to hold wine can be shown from Pollux, Onomasticon, x. § 74, … ἔφη Ὑδρίαν δανείζειν πεντέχουν ἢ μείζονα, ὥστʼ οὐ μόνον ὕδατος ἀλλὰ καὶ οἴνου ἂν εἴη ἀγγεῖον ἡ ὑδρία. This last quotation shows that the ἀρχιτρίκλινος would have had no reason for being surprised at wine being brought from the waterpots.

Jn. clearly means his readers to believe that what was served to the ruler of the feast was drawn from the water—jars; and that it was then served as a beverage. Had it been brought by the attendants for the purpose of pouring it on the hands of the ἀρχιτρίκλινος, it would have been brought in a different kind of vessel, and he would not have proceeded to taste it.

We must further notice that Jn. does not say that either the ruler of the feast, or the wedding guests generally, found anything miraculous in the wine that was served at the end. It was the disciples only who are said to have “believed” in Jesus, in consequence of this “sign.” See Introd., p. clxxxii.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Draw out [αντλησατε] . From antlov, the hold of a ship where the bilge - water settles, and hence, the bilge - water itself. The verb, therefore, originally, means to bale out bilge - water; thence, generally, to draw, as from a well (iv. 15). Canon Westcott thinks that the water which was changed into wine was not taken from the vessels of purification, but that the servants were bidden, after they had filled the vessels with water, to continue drawing from the well or spring.

Ruler of the feast [αρχιτρικλινω] . From arcw, to be chief, and triklinon, Latin, triclinium, a banqueting - hall with three couches (see on Mr 6:39). Some explain the word as meaning the superintendent of the banqueting - chamber, a servant whose duty it was to arrange the table - furniture and the courses, and to taste the food beforehand. Others as meaning one of the guests selected to preside at the banquet according to the Greek and Roman usage. This latter view seems to be supported by a passage in Ecclesiasticus (xxxv. 1, 2) : "If thou be made the master of a feast, lift not thyself up, but be among them as one of the rest; take diligent care for them, and so sit down. And when thou hast done all thy office, take thy place, that thou mayst be merry with them, and receive a crown for thy well ordering of the feast." According to the Greek and Roman custom, the ruler of the feast was chosen by throwing the dice. Thus Horace, in his ode to his friend Sestius, says, moralizing on the brevity of life : "Soon the home of Pluto will be thine, nor wilt thou cast lots with the dice for the presidency over the wine." He prescribed the proportions of wine and water, and could also impose fines for failures to guess riddles, etc. As the success of the feast depended largely upon him, his selection was a matter of some delicacy. Plato says, "Must we not appoint a sober man and a wise to be our master of the revels? For if the ruler of drinkers be himself young and drunken, and not over - wise, only by some special good fortune will he be saved from doing some great evil" (" Laws, " 640). The word occurs only here and ver. 9. Wyc. simply transcribes : architriclyn.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.