Attributed commentary excerpt
John Gill's Exposition on John 4:46
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Exposition of the Old and New Testament
John Gill (1697–1771) · 18th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
So Jesus came again unto Cana of Galilee, etc.] Where he had been once before; (see <430201>John 2:1,2). The Syriac version here, as there, calls it “Kotne” of Galilee; and the Persic version, “Catneh” of Galilee: where he made the water wine; (see <430209>John 2:9,11); there was a certain nobleman; the Vulgate Latin renders it, “a petty king”; the Arabic version, and Nonnus, call him, “a royal man”; and the Syriac version renders it, “a king’s servant”; with which agrees the Ethiopic, calling him “a minister, a steward, the king’s domestic”. The Persic version makes it to be his name, reading it, “there was a great man, whose name was Abdolmelic”, which signifies a king’s servant: from the whole he seems to be one that belonged to the palace of Herod Antipas, and was one of his courtiers; who, though he was but tetrarch of Galilee, yet is sometimes called a king, (<410614>Mark 6:14); whose son was sick at Capernaum; some versions, as the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic, read the phrase, “in Capernaum”, with the former clause, “there was a nobleman in Capernaum”: and others, as we do with this; and both may be true; for he might be an inhabitant of Capernaum, and his house be there where his son lay sick. Some think this nobleman was either Chuza, Herod’s steward, (<420803>Luke 8:3), or Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod, (<441301>Acts 13:1).
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