Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 4:51
And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told [him,] saying, Thy son liveth.
The servants that met him to bring the acceptable news of his sons recovery, knew nothing of the passages that had been betwixt Christ and their master, but merely came to tell their master what they knew would be acceptable to him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
48-54. Except ye see signs,c.He did believe, both as his coming and his urgententreaty show but how imperfectly we shall see; and our Lord woulddeepen his faith by such a blunt and seemingly rough answer as Hemade to Nicodemus.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And as he was now going down,…. From Cana to Capernaum, the day after he had been with Christ:
his servants met him, and told [him], saying, thy son liveth; as soon as this cure was wrought, though it was not known in the family how, and by whom it was done, immediately some of the servants were dispatched to carry the news to their master, that his sorrow might be removed; and he give himself no further trouble in seeking for a cure: these meeting him on the road, with an air of pleasure, at once address him with the joyful news, that his son was thoroughly recovered of his disorder, and was alive, and well; news which he was acquainted with, and believed before; though it must give him an additional, pleasure to have it confirmed.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
As he was now going down ( ). Genitive absolute in-spite of the fact that (associative instrumental case with aorist active indicative of ) is near.
That his son lived ( ). Present active indicative preserved in indirect discourse (cf. the words of Jesus in verse 50). Note here (only example in John), in 50, (diminutive of tenderness) in 49.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And as he was now going down,” (ede de autou katabainontos) “Then while the courtier was going down,” back from Cana to his home in Capernaum, Joh 4:46.
2) “His servants met him, and told him, saying “ (hoi douloi hupentesan auto legontes) “His slave-servants met him, repeatedly saying,” with elation or excitement, with a good testimony regarding his son. They gave him the reward of his faith in the words of Jesus, the assurance that his son was now well, cured of the illness that once held him in the grips of death.
3) “Thy son liveth.” (hoti ho pais autou ze) “That your boy lives,” is alive, just as Jesus had assured him, Joh 4:50. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the sustainer of physical life in every man, every moment of every day, La 3:22, 23; Act 17:28.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
51. While he was still going down. Here is described the effect of faith, together with the efficacy of the word; for as Christ, by a word, restores to life this child who was just dying, so in one moment the father, by his faith, regains his son safe and sound. Let us therefore know that, whenever the Lord offers his benefits to us, his power will always be ready to accomplish whatever he promises, provided that the door be not shut against him by our unbelief. It does not always happen, I acknowledge, and even is not frequent or ordinary, that God instantly displays his arm for giving us assistance; but whenever he delays, he has always a good reason, and one that is highly advantageous to us. This at least is certain, that so far is he from delaying unnecessarily, that he rather contends with the obstacles which we throw in the way; and, therefore, when we do not see his immediate aid, let us consider how much of concealed distrust there is in us, or at least how small and limited our faith is. And we ought not to wonder if He is unwilling to allow his benefits to be lost, or to throw them at random on the ground, but chooses to bestow them on those who, by opening the bosom of their faith, are ready to receive them. And though he does not always assist his people in the same manner, yet in no instance will the faith of any one be fruitless, or hinder us from experiencing the truth of what the Prophet says, that the promises of God, even when they seem to delay, are in reality making great haste.
Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry, (Hab 2:3.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(51) And as he was now going.Many a long mile lay between him and his child, and many an anxious thought must have come to his mind as he journeyed homeward. Now faith would be strong, and now almost give way; but he travels on with the words, Thy son liveth, which had come to him as a voice from heaven, sustaining and cheering him. Again he hears the same words, Thy son liveth! but they are spoken by the servants, who have come to meet him, and bring from Capernaum the glad news that he had himself heard at Cana.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And as he was now going down his servants met him to say that his son lived. So he enquired of then the hour when his began to improve. They said therefore to him, “The fever left him yesterday, at the seventh hour.’
As he went on his way the man was met by his servants who told him that his son had recovered. Then he enquired as to what time his son had begun to mend and learned that it was at the very hour that Jesus had spoken His words of healing. We are not told of His immediate reaction but we can have little doubt that he worshipped God and praised Jesus.
‘Going down’. Going to Capernaum from Cana one must go east across the Galilean hills and then descend to the Sea of Galilee. The 20 mile (33 kilometre) journey could not be made in a single day. The author is clearly familiar with Palestinian geography.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Faith vindicated:
v. 51. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.
v. 52. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
v. 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.
v. 54. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did when He was come out of Judea into Galilee. The officer did not reach home that evening any more. But early the next morning he was met by some of his servants with the joyful news that his son was alive and doing well. It is a fine testimony for this master that his servants thought so much of him as to set out with their glad tidings at once. The careful official now insisted upon finding out the exact hour when the sickness had receded from his son and left him well. And when they told him that it had been on the day before, at one o’clock in the afternoon, he knew that it was at just that time that Jesus had spoken the words of reassurance. So he experienced the truth of Christ’s words, he found out that God keeps His promises. And therefore he himself was confirmed in his faith, greatly strengthened. And his family and servants, to whom he brought the glorious news of the manner of the cure, rejoiced and believed with him. Thus the nobleman’s faith progressed from weakness to strength, from trusting in external. visible evidence to believing in the Word only, as is the manner of faith the world over. “Thus the Lord God deals also with us, in order to make us more perfect and place us into a higher station. If we pass through such experiences, then we gain knowledge and become sure of our faith. ” This miracle Jesus performed as the second in Galilee after He had come from Judea. The time of the full ministry of miracles in Galilee was still in the future.
Summary. Jesus has a long conversation with the woman of Samaria, through which He works faith in her heart and willingness to do missionary work for Him,. He then passes on into Galilee and heals the son of the nobleman of Capernaum.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Joh 4:51-54 . . ] see Buttmann, N. T. Gr. p. 270 [E. T. p. 315].
] belongs to ., not to . (B. Crusius): when he was already going down , and now was no longer in Cana, but upon his journey back.
, . . .] to reassure the father, and to prevent the now unnecessary coming of Jesus.
] he is not dead, but the sickness has the opposite issue: he lives!
] finer, prettier , as in common life we are wont to say, “he is pretty well.” Exactly so in Arrian. Epict . iii. 10 of the sick: , and its opposite . Comp. the Latin belle habere . Here it is an “amoenum verbum” (Bengel) of the father’s heart, which apprehends its good fortune still with feelings of tenderness and anxiety.
] see Lobeck, ad Phryn . p. 323.
] He had therefore been on the way since one o’clock the day before, because we must suppose from Joh 4:50 that he set out immediately after the assurance of Jesus. This also seems strange to us, considering the distance from Cana to Capernaum, not exactly known to us indeed, but hardly three geographical miles. That in his firm faith he travelled “ non festinans ” (Lampe) is unnatural; the impulse of parental love would hurry him home; and so is also the idea that he stayed the night somewhere on the way, or at Cana (Ewald assumes the latter, making the seventh hour seven in the evening, according to the Roman reckoning). We may suppose some delay not named, on the journey back, or (with Hengstenberg, Brckner, and others) take the to-day in the mind of the Jewish servants as denoting the day which began at six P.M. (sunset). According to Baur and Hilgenfeld, this noting of the time is to be attributed, not to the genuineness and originality of the account, but to the subjective aim of the writer, which was to make the miracle as great and pointed as possible (comp. Joh 4:54 , note).
. . ] sc . . Observe, with reference to , that it does not mean idem , but is the simple relative ille .
. , . . .] upon Jesus as the Messiah. , , . . ., Euthymius Zigabenus. Observe how faith here attains its realization as to its object, and further, the importance of this (the first household ), which now occurs for the first time. Comp. Act 16:14-15 ; Act 16:34 ; Act 18:8 .
, . . .] Referring back to Joh 2:11 . Literally inaccurate, yet true as to its import, is the rendering of Luther: “ This is the second miracle that Jesus did; ” stands by itself, and the following . . supplies the place of the predicate ( this Jesus did as the second miracle ), hence no article follows . See on Joh 2:11 , and Bremi, ad Lys. Exc . II. p. 436 f.; Ast, Lex. Plat . II. 406; Stallbaum, ad Plat. Apol . pp. 18 A, 24 B. , however, must not be overlooked, nor is it to be joined with (so usually ) as a current pleonasm (see on Mat 26:42 ; comp. Joh 21:15 , Act 10:15 ), for is not an adverb, but an adjective. It rather belongs to , thus affirming that Jesus now again did this as a second miracle (comp. Beza) upon His return from Judea to Galilee (as in Joh 2:1 ). Thus the idea that the miracle was a second time wrought upon His coming out of Judea into Galilee is certainly doubly expressed, once adverbially with the verb ( ), and then adjectivally with the noun ( .); both receive their more minute definition by , . . . Schweizer (p. 78) quite arbitrarily considers the reference to the first miracle at Cana unjohannean.
Note .
The is not the same with the Centurion of Mat 8:5 ff.; comp. Luk 7:2 ff. (Origen, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus, and most others). On the assumption of their identity (Irenaeus, Eusebius, Semler, Seyffarth, Strauss, Weisse, B. Bauer, Gfrrer, Schweizer, Ammon, Baumgarten Crusius, Baur, Hilgenfeld, Ewald, Weizscker), which thus attributes the greater originality on the one hand to Matthew and Luke (Strauss, B. Bauer, Weisse, Baur, Hilgenfeld), on the other to John (Gfrrer, Ewald), and to the latter an adjusting purpose (Weizscker), the discrepancies as to place, time, and even as regards the sick person, constitute lesser difficulties, as well as the entirely different character in which the suppliant appears in John and in the two Synoptics. In these latter he is still a heathen, which, according to John, he cannot be (against Cyril, Jerome, Baur, and Ewald); see Joh 4:48 , which represents him as associated with Galileans, and therefore Jews; and this alone suffices to establish the difference of the two miracles, apart from the fact that there is no more objection against the supposition of two healings wrought at a distance than against one. This is at the same time against Schweizer’s view, that the section in John is an interpolation. Indeed, a single example of healing at a distance, the historical truth of which, moreover, even Ewald maintains, might more easily be resolved by the arbitrariness of criticism into a myth borrowed from the history of Naaman, 2Ki 9:5 ; 2Ki 9:9 ff. (Strauss), or be explained away as a misunderstanding of a parable (Weisse), or be dissolved into a subjective transposition and development of the synoptical materials on John’s part for his own purpose, which would make the belief in miracles plainly pass beyond the Jewish range of view (Hilgenfeld), and appears in its highest form as a (Baur, p. 152); [202] although , Joh 4:41 , is something quite different from , and the in Joh 4:53 took place, not , but .
[202] If John had really derived his matter from the Synoptics, it would be quite inconceivable how, according to the design attributed to him by Baur, he could have left unused the statement of Mat 8:10 , especially if the is taken to be a Gentile. See Hase, Tbingen Schule , pp. 32, 33.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him , saying, Thy son liveth.
Ver. 51. Thy son liveth ] So the son was restored by his father’s faith. It is a benefit to be born of good parents. Personal goodness is profitable to posterity.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
51. ] He appears [see below] to have gone leisurely away, for the hour (1 P.M.) was early enough to reach Capernaum the same evening (twenty-five miles): in confidence that an amendment was taking place, which he at present understood to be only a gradual one.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 4:51 . And while already on his way down [ showing that he did not remain with Christ until from some other source he heard that his son was healed], his servants met him and gave him the reward of his faith. , an echo, as Weiss remarks, of the words of Jesus, Joh 4:50 . The servants seeing the improvement in the boy and not ascribing it to miracle, set out to save their master from bringing Jesus to Capernaum.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
And = But already.
servants = bond-servants.
met. Greek apantao, but all the texts read hupantao.
son = boy. Greek. pais. App-108.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
51.] He appears [see below] to have gone leisurely away,-for the hour (1 P.M.) was early enough to reach Capernaum the same evening (twenty-five miles): in confidence that an amendment was taking place, which he at present understood to be only a gradual one.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 4:51. , now) He was therefore hastening, in order that he might see those things which he believed: yet the trial of his faith lasted till the following day. He believes even his servants before that he sees.- , servants) who themselves also subsequently believed.-, met) Because the patient had so quickly become convalescent, they were desirous of knowing what had happened, and of gladdening their master by the tidings of his sons recovery. Their joy was mutual. Without doubt the servants said, At this very seventh hour our master spake with Jesus [and so inferred, the cure was due to His miraculous power].-, liveth) They announce the fact in the same words which Jesus had spoken [Joh 4:50].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 4:51
Joh 4:51
And as he was now going down, his servants met him, saying, that his son lived.-The change for the better in the condition of the child was so marked that servants were sent out to assure him that his son was much better and doubtless that Jesus need not come.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Thy: Joh 4:50, Joh 4:53, 1Ki 17:23
Reciprocal: 1Ki 17:16 – the barrel
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
The nobleman did not reach home until the day after his conversation with Jesus. His servants saw him coming and went to meet him with the good news.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 4:51. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, saying that his son lived. The word now (or already) may appear superfluous, but it may possibly imply that some time had elapsed since the words of Joh 4:50 were spoken,when he had now begun the journey. Business may have detained him for a few hours in Cana; and if it did so, it would be a testimony to the firmness of that faith with which he had now believed in Jesus. Going down,because Cana is situated in the hilly district, several hundred feet above the level of the Sea of Galilee.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Vv. 51-53. As he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him saying.Thy son liveth. 52. So he inquired of them the hour when he began to mend. They said to him: yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him.
53. The father, therefore, knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus had said to him:Thy son liveth. And he believed, himself and all his house. The servants, in their report, use neither the term of affection (), which would be too familiar, nor that of dignity (), which would not be familiar enough, but that of family life:, the child, which the T. R. rightly gives. The selected term , suits well the mouth of a man of rank. It is the expression of a comparative improvement; as we say, finely. The seventh hour, according to the ordinary Jewish mode of reckoning, denotes one o’clock in the afternoon (see on Joh 1:40). But if it was at that hour that Jesus had given his answer to the father, how was it that he did not return to his home on the same day? For seven leagues only separate him from his house. Those also who, like Keil, Westcott, etc., think that John used, in general, the mode of reckoning the hours which was usual in the Roman courts, support their view, with a certain probability, by our passage. Nevertheless, even on the supposition that , yesterday, proves that it was really the following day, in the ordinary sense of the word, this delay may be explained either by the necessity of letting his horses rest or by the fear of traveling by night. But the term yesterday does not even compel us to suppose that a night has elapsed since the healing of the child. For as the day, according to the Hebrews, closed at sunset, the servants might, some hours after this, say yesterday.
At this moment the faith of this man rises, at last, to a higher degree, that of personal experience. Hence the repetition of the word: and he believed; comp. Joh 2:11. The entire household is borne on by this movement of faith impressed on the heart of their head.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Verse 51
Going down; to Capernaum, his residence, which was upon the shore of the lake.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
His servants met him on his way back to Capernaum with good news. Jesus had made His promise about 1:00 p.m. the day before the official met his servants. When he met them, he learned that his son’s condition had improved significantly, not just begun to improve as he had expected, when Jesus gave His promise. His recovery was no accident. This resulted in his believing in Jesus to an even deeper level, though he may not have understood that He was the Son of God. The members of his household believed in Jesus too (cf. Joh 2:11; Act 10:2; Act 11:14; Act 16:15; Act 16:31; Act 18:8). He learned that Jesus’ word is powerful to save even at a distance. His faith grew from "crisis faith" (Joh 4:47), to "confident faith" (Joh 4:50), to "confirmed faith" (Joh 4:53), to "contagious faith" (Joh 4:53). [Note: Wiersbe, 1:303.]