John 4:53

4:53 Just like many others (2:23; 4:39), the official and his household believed in Jesus because of the miracle.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 53. So the father knew] He had the fullest proof that his son's cure was supernatural, and that it was wrought by the Lord Jesus.

Himself believed, and his whole house.] He and his whole family became true converts to the doctrine of the manifested Messiah. The whole family, impressed with the great kindness of God in sending health to the child, were the more easily led to believe in the Lord Jesus. The sickness of the child became the mean of salvation to all the household. They, no doubt, thought at first that God was dealing hardly with them, when threatening to remove the child; but now they see that in very faithfulness God had afflicted them. Let us learn never to murmur against God, or think that he does not act kindly towards us. His wisdom cannot permit him to err; his goodness will not suffer him to do any thing to his creatures but what may be subservient to their best interests. By providential occurrences, apparently the most adverse, he may be securing our eternal salvation.

There is an account in Beracoth, fol. 34, very similar to this of the evangelist, and very possibly stolen from this holy source. "When the son of Rab. Gamaliel fell sick, he sent two of his disciples to R. Chanina, that he would pray to God for him. When he had seen them, he went on the roof of his house and prayed for him. He then came down and said to them, His fever has departed from him. They said unto him, Art thou a prophet? He answered, I am neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; but when I can recite my prayers readily, I know I shall be heard. They then wrote down the hour; and, when they returned to R. Gamaliel, he said to them, Ye have fulfilled your ministry-in respect to my son, all is complete. In that hour the fever (חמה chomah, ο πυρετος) left him, and he desired water to drink." Schoettgen very properly remarks, Ovum ovo non magis simile est, atque haec fabula narrationi evangelicae. "One egg is not more like to another, than this fable to the evangelical narration."

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

53. And he believed, and his whole house. It may appear absurd that the Evangelist should mention this as the commencement of faith in that man, whose faith he has already commended. Nor can it be supposed that the word believe — at least in this passage — relates to the progress of faith. But it must be understood that this man, being a Jew and educated in the doctrine of the Law, had already obtained some taste of faith when he came to Christ; and that he afterwards believed in the saying of Christ was a particular faith, which extended no farther than to expect the life of his son. But now he began to believe in a different manner; that is, because, embracing the doctrine of Christ, he openly professed to be one of his disciples. Thus not only does he now believe that his son will be cured through the kindness of Christ, but he acknowledges Christ to be the Son of God, and makes a profession of faith in his Gospel. His whole family joins him, which was an evidence of the miracle; nor can it be doubted that he did his utmost to bring others along with him to embrace the Christian religion.

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.

(53) So the father knew.—He was not mistaken, then. The power he had felt when these words were spoken to him was real. The hours that had passed since, as he hastened to know all, had prepared him to read the sign. “Thy son liveth!” “The seventh hour yesterday!” There is more than one miracle here. A new life passes into his own spirit, and he, too, bound in the death-grasp of a formal religion, liveth! A Father’s love has yearned for him. Christ has come down ere the child died.

Himself believed.—This is a yet higher faith. He believed the report before he went to Cana. He believed personally when he pleaded, “Lord, come down.” He believed the word that Jesus spake when told to go his way, and every step of that road going away from the power to the sufferer was an act of faith; but still there is place for a fuller faith, and he and his household became believers. St. John traces here, as before, in the case of the Samaritans (Joh_4:41-42), and of the disciples themselves (Joh_2:11), the successive development of faith.

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

53. himself believed] This is the last stage in the growth of the man’s faith, a growth which S. John sketches for us here as in the case of the Samaritan woman. In both cases the spiritual development is thoroughly natural, as also is the incidental way in which S. John places it before us.

and his whole house] The first converted family.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So the father knew that it was at the same hour,.... Precisely;

in that which Jesus said to him, thy son liveth: he had observed what time of day it was, in which he conversed with Jesus; and particularly, when he told him his son was alive and well, and when he took his leave of him; and by comparing the account of his servants, with that, found that things entirely agreed, and that the cure was wrought exactly at the time, that Jesus spoke the words:

and himself believed, and his whole house; when he came home, he related the whole affair to his family, and he and they all believed, that Jesus was the Messiah, and became his disciples and followers: if this nobleman was Chuza, Herod's steward, we have an account of his wife, whose name was Joanna, that she followed Christ, and ministered to him of her substance, with other women, Luk 8:3. There is a story, told by the Jews, and which seems somewhat like to this (d);

"it is reported concerning R. Chanina ben Dosa, that when he prayed for the sick, he used to say, , "this liveth", and this dies; it was said to him, whence knowest thou this? he replied, if my prayer be ready in my mouth, I know that he is accepted (of God, i.e. the sick man for whom he prayed); but if not, I know that he will be snatched away (by the disease):''

upon which the Gemarists give the following relation (e);

"it happened that the son of Rabban Gamaliel (the Apostle Paul's master) was sick, he sent two disciples to R. Chanina ben Dosa, to ask mercy for him; when he saw them, he went up to a chamber, and sought mercy for him; and when he came down, he said unto them, , "go your way, for the fever has left him"; they said unto him, art thou a prophet? he replied, I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; but so I have received, that if my prayer is ready in my mouth, I know that he is accepted; and if not, I know that he shall be snatched away; and they sat and wrote and observed "the very hour"; and when they came to Rabban Gamaliel, he said unto them, this service ye have not been wanting in, nor abounded in; but so the thing was, that in that hour the fever left him, and he asked of us water to drink.''

Which story perhaps is told, to vie with this miracle of Christ, and to obscure the glory of it.

(d) Misn. Beracot, c. 5. sect. 5. (e) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 34. 2.

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

53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

Ver. 53. And he himself believed] With a justifying faith, introduced at first by a common faith.

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.

Himself believed - This miracle removed all his doubts, and he became a real disciple and friend of Jesus.

His whole house - His whole family. We may learn from this,

1. That sickness or any deep affliction is often the means of great good. Here the sickness of the son resulted in the faith of all the family. God often takes away earthly blessings that he may impart rich spiritual mercies.

2. The father of a family may be the means of the salvation of his children. Here the effort of a parent resulted in their conversion to Christ.

3. There is great beauty and propriety when sickness thus results in piety. For that it is sent. God does not willingly grieve or afflict the children of men; and when afflictions thus terminate, it will be cause of eternal joy, of ceaseless praise.

4. There is a special charm when piety thus comes into the families of the rich. and the noble. It is so unusual: their example and influence go so far; it overcomes so many temptations, and affords opportunities of doing so much good, that there is no wonder that the evangelist selected this instance as one of the effects of the power and of the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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

Thy son liveth; i.e. thy son is recovered, at this very moment. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The circumstance of the time when his son recovered agreeing with the very hour when Christ had said unto him,

Thy son liveth, was a mighty confirmation to him, that he was beholden to Christ for his cure, and consequently that Christ was no ordinary man, more than a prophet, even the Son of God. This works upon his faith to a higher degree: he first believed the report of him, then he gave credit to the word that he spake, now he believeth savingly, and not he alone, but his whole family became Christians. Such instances we have concerning Lydia, Act 16:14,15, the jailer, Act 4:34, and Crispus, Act 18:8.

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

53. Himself believed, and his whole house—He becomes a believer; and his is a Christian family! What joy was theirs; a son spared from death, a whole house converted to Jesus! We can easily believe that the wife of that nobleman, the mother of that son, should be numbered among the noble women who ministered of their substance to Jesus’s wants. Luk_8:3.

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

The father then knew (came to know, by putting the facts together) that his son began to amend in the same hour in which Jesus said to him, Try son liveth. The word was mighty, none other than that very voice of the Lord "which healeth all our diseases," and "redeemeth our lives from destruction." No mere coincidence, no common accident. And himself believed and his whole household; believed in the Divine claims of Jesus. This is the earliest mention of "household faith". (cf. Act_10:44 Act_16:15, Act_16:34) In this case a whole picture rises before our eye. The mother, the sisters, the servants, the entire family, had shared in the anxiety, had sympathized in the journey to Cana, and now accepted the exalted claims of Jesus. Faith is graciously contagious. The nearness of the unseen world often reveals the features of the God-Man. The suggestion has frequently been hazarded that this basilikov was Chuza, the house steward of Herod, whose wife, Joanna, ministered to Jesus. (Luk_8:3 and Luk_24:10)

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

So he himself and his whole household believed

The reflexive pronoun "himself" is used here to emphasize the word "he." If you have a way of doing this in your language, you may consider using it.

sign

Miracles can also be called "signs" because they are used as indicators or evidence that God is the all-powerful one who has complete authority over the universe.

translationWords

Jesus

hour, hours

household

believe

miracle

Judea

Galilee

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

53. ἔγνω. Recognised, perceived.

ἐπίστευσεν. Εἰς αὐτόν, i.e. as the Messiah: comp. Joh 4:42, Joh 1:7; Joh 1:51, Joh 6:36, Joh 11:15, where, as here, πιστεύω is used absolutely. The growth of this official’s faith is sketched for us in the same natural and incidental way as in the cases of the Samaritan woman (Joh 4:19), the man born blind (Joh 9:11), and Martha (Joh 11:21).

ἡ οἰκία αὐ. ὅλη. The first converted family. Comp. Cornelius, Lydia, and the Philippian gaoler (Act 10:24; Act 16:15; Act 16:34).

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.

53.] κομψῶς ἔχειν in this sense is found in Arrian. Dissert. Epictet. iii. 10, cited by most of the Commentators. ὅταν ὁ ἰατρὸς εἰσέρχηται, μὴ φοβεῖσθαι τί εἴπῃ· μηδʼ ἂν εἴπη, κομψῶς ἔχεις, ὑπερχαίρειν … μηδʼ ἂν εἴπῃ, κακῶς ἔχεις, ἀθυμεῖν.…

ἀφῆκεν αὐτ. ὁ πυρ.] This was probably more than he expected to hear; and the coincidence of so sudden a recovery with the time at which Jesus had spoken the words to him (after ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὣρᾳ understand ἀφῆκεν αὐτὸν ὁ πυρετός), raises his faith at length into a full belief of the Power and Goodness and the Messiahship of Him, who had by a word commanded the disease, and it had obeyed. The ἐπίστευσεν, absolutely, implies that in the fullest sense he and all his became disciples of Jesus. It is very different from ἐπίστευσεν τῷ λόγῳ ὃν εἶπ. Ἰησ. in ver. 50—as believing on Him must be always different from believing on any thing else in the world, be it even His own word or His own ordinances. Here the advocates of the (imaginary—see above on ver. 6) Asiatic division of the hours by St. John, suppose him to have put that division into the mouth of Jews in Galilee. But that division would in reality not help the narrative here at all, as they maintain. The βασιλικός probably set out, as indeed the narrative implies, immediately on hearing our Lord’s assurance, and spent the night on the way. Indeed, curiously enough, Bp. Wordsw. makes him do this, and yet maintains the seventh hour to have been 7 p.m.

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

53. ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ, “that very hour,” the dat. fixing the hour definitely. The rec. text prefixes ἐν, but א*BC omit. In this was the σημε͂ιον, that the fever left the boy at the exact time that Jesus said, “Thy son lives.”

ἐπίστευσεν, “believed,” the verb being used absolutely, to express complete faith (see on 1:7).

καὶ ἡ οἰκία αὐτοῦ ὅλη. Cf. Act 18:8.

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