John 2

Io 2.1Et diē tertiā nūptiae factae sunt in Canā Galilaeae, et erat māter Iēsū ibi.

And on the third day a wedding was held in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

Note. nūptiae, 'wedding', is plural in form. Cana was a village in Galilee, a few miles from Nazareth.

Io 2.2Vocātus est autem et Iēsus, et discipulī eius, ad nūptiās.

And Jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the wedding.

Io 2.3Et dēficiente vīnō, dīcit māter Iēsū ad eum: Vīnum nōn habent.

And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus says to him: They do not have wine.

Note. dēficiente vīnō: ablative absolute, 'the wine running out'.

Io 2.4Et dīcit eī Iēsus: Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier? nōndum vēnit hōra mea.

And Jesus says to her: What is it to me and to you, woman? Not yet has my hour come.

Note. Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier?: a Hebrew idiom, literally 'what is (there) to me and to you?', meaning roughly 'what concern is that of ours?'. mulier is vocative; in Greek this address was not disrespectful.

Io 2.5Dīcit māter eius ministrīs: Quodcumque dīxerit vōbīs, facite.

His mother says to the servants: Whatever he says to you, do.

Note. Quodcumque dīxerit vōbīs, facite: dīxerit is future perfect, 'whatever he will have said', idiomatic English 'whatever he tells you'.

Io 2.6Erant autem ibi lapideae hydriae sex positae secundum pūrificātiōnem Iūdaeōrum, capientēs singulae metrētās bīnās vel ternās.

Now there were there six stone water jars, set out according to the purification of the Jews, each holding two or three measures.

Note. secundum pūrificātiōnem: secundum + accusative, 'according to, for the purpose of' the Jewish rites of washing. singulae … bīnās vel ternās: distributive numerals, 'each … two or three apiece'. A metrēta was about 39 litres, so each jar held roughly 80–120 litres.

Io 2.7Dīcit eīs Iēsus: Implēte hydriās aquā. Et implēvērunt eās usque ad summum.

Jesus says to them: Fill the jars with water. And they filled them up to the top.

Io 2.8Et dīcit eīs Iēsus: Haurīte nunc, et ferte architrīclīnō. Et tulērunt.

And Jesus says to them: Draw now, and carry it to the master of the feast. And they carried it.

Io 2.9Ut autem gustāvit architrīclīnus aquam vīnum factam, et nōn sciēbat unde esset, ministrī autem sciēbant, quī hauserant aquam: vocat spōnsum architrīclīnus,

But when the master of the feast had tasted the water made wine, and did not know where it was from (but the servants knew, who had drawn the water), the master of the feast calls the bridegroom,

Note. aquam vīnum factam: 'the water (that had been) made wine'; vīnum is a predicate noun with factam. The words in the middle (et nōn sciēbat … aquam) are a parenthesis.

Io 2.10et dīcit eī: Omnis homō prīmum bonum vīnum pōnit et cum inēbriātī fuerint, tunc id, quod dēterius est. Tū autem servāstī bonum vīnum usque adhūc.

and says to him: Every man sets out the good wine first, and when they have become drunk, then that which is worse. But you have kept the good wine until now.

Note. cum inēbriātī fuerint: 'when they have become drunk', future perfect. dēterius: comparative of the rare dēterior, 'worse'. servāstī is the contracted form of servāvistī.

Io 2.11Hoc fēcit initium signōrum Iēsus in Canā Galilaeae; et manifestāvit glōriam suam, et crēdidērunt in eum discipulī eius.

This beginning of signs Jesus made in Cana of Galilee; and he made manifest his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

Note. initium signōrum: John calls Jesus' miracles signa, 'signs', because they point to who he is.

Io 2.12Post hoc dēscendit Capharnaum ipse, et māter eius, et frātrēs eius, et discipulī eius: et ibi mānsērunt nōn multīs diēbus.

After this he went down to Capernaum, he himself and his mother and his brothers and his disciples; and there they stayed not many days.

Note. Post hoc: 'after this'. frātrēs eius: the Gospels mention brothers of Jesus without explaining the relationship further.

Io 2.13Et prope erat Pascha Iūdaeōrum, et ascendit Iēsus Ierosolymam:

And the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem;

Note. Pascha (indeclinable) is the Passover, the spring festival recalling the exodus from Egypt. One 'goes up' (ascendit) to Jerusalem because it stands in the hills.

Io 2.14et invēnit in templō vēndentēs bovēs, et ovēs, et columbās, et numulāriōs sedentēs.

and he found in the temple men selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money-changers sitting.

Note. vendentēs bovēs: a participle used as a noun, 'people selling oxen'. Animals for sacrifice were sold in the temple courts, and money-changers swapped coins for the coinage accepted there.

Io 2.15Et cum fēcisset quasi flagellum dē fūniculīs, omnēs ēiēcit dē templō, ovēs quoque, et bovēs, et numulāriōrum effūdit aes, et mēnsās subvertit.

And when he had made as it were a whip from cords, he threw them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and of the money-changers he poured out the coins, and the tables he overturned.

Note. fēcisset quasi flagellum: 'had made a sort of whip'. numulāriōrum is the Clementine spelling of nummulārius, 'money-changer'.

Io 2.16Et hīs quī columbās vēndēbant, dīxit: Auferte ista hinc, et nōlīte facere domum patris meī, domum negōtiātiōnis.

And to those who were selling doves, he said: Take these things away from here, and do not make the house of my father a house of trade.

Note. nōlīte facere: nōlīte + infinitive is the regular negative command, 'don't make'. domum negōtiātiōnis: genitive of description, 'a house of trade'.

Io 2.17Recordātī sunt vērō discipulī eius quia scrīptum est: Zēlus domus tuae comēdit mē.

And his disciples remembered that it is written: The zeal of your house has eaten me up.

Note. Recordātī sunt … quia scrīptum est: in Biblical Latin quia/quod + indicative often replaces the classical accusative and infinitive after verbs of saying, knowing or remembering. The quotation is Psalm 69:9; comēdit is perfect, 'has eaten up'.

Io 2.18Respondērunt ergō Iūdaeī, et dīxērunt eī: Quod signum ostendis nōbīs, quia haec facis?

The Jews therefore answered and said to him: What sign do you show us, since you do these things?

Note. Quod signum: interrogative adjective, 'what sign?'. quia haec facis: 'since you do these things'.

Io 2.19Respondit Iēsus, et dīxit eīs: Solvite templum hoc, et in tribus diēbus excitābō illud.

Jesus answered and said to them: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Io 2.20Dīxērunt ergō Iūdaeī: Quadrāgintā et sex annīs aedificātum est templum hoc, et tū in tribus diēbus excitābis illud?

The Jews therefore said: In forty-six years this temple was built, and you in three days will raise it up?

Note. Quadrāgintā et sex annīs: ablative of time within which, 'in forty-six years'. Herod's rebuilding of the temple began around 20 BC.

Io 2.21Ille autem dīcēbat dē templō corporis suī.

But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

Io 2.22Cum ergō resurrēxisset ā mortuīs, recordātī sunt discipulī eius, quia hoc dīcēbat, et crēdidērunt scrīptūrae et sermōnī quem dīxit Iēsus.

When therefore he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he was saying this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus said.

Note. ā mortuīs: 'from the dead', the adjective mortuus used as a noun. resurrēxisset: pluperfect subjunctive in a cum-clause.

Io 2.23Cum autem esset Ierosolymīs in Paschā in diē fēstō, multī crēdidērunt in nōmine eius, videntēs signa eius, quae faciēbat.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, on the feast day, many believed in his name, seeing his signs which he was doing.

Io 2.24Ipse autem Iēsus nōn crēdēbat sēmetipsum eīs, eō quod ipse nōsset omnēs,

But Jesus himself did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all men,

Note. nōn crēdēbat sēmetipsum eīs: crēdō here means 'entrust': 'he did not entrust himself to them'. eō quod: 'for the reason that', a common Vulgate way of saying 'because'.

Io 2.25et quia opus eī nōn erat ut quis testimōnium perhibēret dē homine: ipse enim sciēbat quid esset in homine.

and because there was no need for him that anyone should bear witness about man; for he himself knew what was in man.

Note. opus erat: 'there was need', with the dative of the person (eī). ut quis: after ut, quis is indefinite, 'anyone'.