Logos Bible Study

John 2:6–7

The NET BibleOther versions

English

Arabic

Czech

French

German

Greek

Hungarian

Italian

Korean

Latin

Portuguese

Russian

Simplified Chinese

Spanish

Traditional Chinese

2:6Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing,11 each holding twenty or thirty gallons.122:7Jesus told the servants,13 “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the very top.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

  1. 11 Grk “for the purification of the Jews.”
  2. 12 Grk “holding two or three metretes” (about 75 to 115 liters). Each of the pots held 2 or 3 μετρηταί (metrētai). A μετρητῆς (metrētēs) was about 9 gallons (40 liters); thus each jar held 18–27 gallons (80–120 liters) and the total volume of liquid involved was 108–162 gallons (480–720 liters). Significantly, these jars held water for Jewish ceremonial washing (purification rituals). The water of Jewish ritual purification has become the wine of the new messianic age. The wine may also be, after the fashion of Johannine double meanings, a reference to the wine of the Lord’s Supper. A number have suggested this, but there does not seem to be anything in the immediate context which compels this; it seems more related to how frequently a given interpreter sees references to the sacraments in John’s Gospel as a whole.
  3. 13 Grk “them” (it is clear from the context that the servants are addressed).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained twenty or thirty gallons.

“Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim.

NLTNew Living Translation

Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled,

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Now six stone water jars were set there, in accordance with the ceremonial cleansing of the Jews, each holding two or three measures. Jesus said to them, “Fill the water jars with water.” And they filled them to the brim.

KJV 1900King James Version

And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.