The transformation of water into

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

at the wedding at Cana (also called the marriage at Cana, wedding feast at Cana or marriage feast at Cana) is the first miracle attributed to Jesus in the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

. In the Gospel account,

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

his mother ''His Mother'' is a 1912 American silent film produced by Kalem Company. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier and Jack J. Clark in the leading roles. It was one of more than a dozen films produced by the Kalem Company filmed in Ir ...

and his disciples are invited to a wedding. When his mother notices that the wine has run out, Jesus delivers a sign of his

divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

by turning water into wine at her request. The location of

Cana Cana of Galilee ( grc, Κανὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας; ar, قانا الجليل , translit= Qana al-Jalil , lit=Qana of the Galilee) is the location of the Marriage at Cana, at which the miracle of turning water into wine took place in ...

has been subject to debate among biblical scholars and archaeologists; several villages in Galilee are possible candidates. The account is taken as evidence of Christ’s approval of marriage and earthly celebrations, and has also been used as an argument against

teetotalism Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...

Biblical account

John 2:1–11 states that Jesus was at a wedding ('' seudat nissuin'') in Cana with his disciples. Jesus' mother (unnamed in the Gospel of John) told Jesus, "They have no wine," and Jesus replied, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." His mother then said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:3–5). Jesus ordered the servants to fill containers with water and to draw out some and take it to the chief steward (waiter). After tasting it, without knowing where it came from, the steward remarked to the

bridegroom A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse (if female) is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man ...

that he had departed from the custom of serving the best wine first by serving it last (John 2:6–10). John adds that: "Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and it revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him" (John 2:11).

Interpretation

The Wedding Feast takes place in Cana shortly after the call of Philip and

Nathanael Nathanael is a biblical given name derived from the Hebrew נְתַנְאֵל (''Netan'el''), which means "God/ El has given" or "Gift of God/ El." Nathaniel is the variant form of this name and it stands to this day as the usual and most common s ...

. According to John 21:2, Cana was Nathanael's hometown. Although none of the synoptic Gospels mentions the wedding at Cana, Christian tradition based on John 2:11 holds that this is the first public miracle of Jesus. It is considered to have symbolic importance as the first of the

seven signs in the Gospel of John In Christian scholarship, the Book of Signs is a name commonly given to the first main section of the Gospel of John, from 1:19 to the end of Chapter 12. It follows the Hymn to the Word and precedes the Book of Glory. It is named for seven no ...

by which Jesus' divine status is attested, and around which the gospel is structured. Jesus will later return to Cana, where John 4:46–54 describes him healing a Capernaum official's young son; the second sign in the Gospel of John. The story has had considerable importance in the development of Roman Catholic theology. Bishop

Fulton J. Sheen Fulton John Sheen (born Peter John Sheen, May 8, 1895 – December 9, 1979) was an American bishop of the Catholic Church known for his preaching and especially his work on television and radio. Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria in ...

thought that it is very likely that it was one of Mary's relatives who was being married. This would mean Mary and her relatives would be embarrassed if they appeared inhospitable by running out of wine, giving Mary a reason to ask Jesus to intervene. Sheen further suggests that as Jesus arrived with additional guests, they may have contributed to the wines running short. When his mother advises Jesus that their hosts are running out of wine, he says "Woman, what has this to do with me?" Sheen sees an echo of the

Protevangelium Seed of the woman or offspring of the woman is a phrase from the Book of Genesis: as a result of the serpent's temptation of Eve, which resulted in the fall of man, God announces (in Genesis 3:15) that he will put an enmity between the seed of th ...

of Genesis 3:15 "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers", marking the commencement of Jesus' redemptive ministry. Jesus will again address her as "Woman" in John 19:26, when he entrusts his mother to his disciple John, "Woman, behold, your son." The gospel account of Jesus being invited to a wedding, attending, and using his divine power to save the celebrations from disaster are taken as evidence of his approval for marriage and earthly celebrations. It has also been used as an argument against the

practiced among certain Protestant Christian sects. Interpreted allegorically, the good news and hope implied by the story are in the words of the steward of the Feast when he tasted the good wine, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now" (John 2:10, RSV). This could be interpreted by saying simply that it is always darkest before the dawn, but good things are on the way. The more usual interpretation, however, is that this is a reference to the appearance of Jesus, whom the author of the Fourth Gospel regards as being himself "the good wine". According to Bill Day, the miracle may also be interpreted as the antitype of Moses' first public miracle of changing water (the Nile river) into blood. This would establish a symbolic link between Moses as the first saviour of the Jews through their escape from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and Jesus as the spiritual saviour of all people. Some commentators have speculated about the identity of the unnamed bridegroom. One tradition, represented by

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

among others, holds that the bridegroom was St John the Evangelist himself. Bishop John Spong suggests in his book ''Born of a Woman'' that the event was the wedding of Jesus himself to Mary Magdalene. In 1854, at a time when

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...

was an element of mainstream practice of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

, the Latter-day Saint elder

Orson Hyde Orson Hyde (January 8, 1805 – November 28, 1878) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a member of the first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus ...

made a similar suggestion, arguing that Jesus was a

polygamist Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...

and that the event at Cana was his wedding to Mary Magdalene,

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness ...

and

Mary of Bethany Mary of Bethany is a biblical figure mentioned only by name in the Gospel of John in the Christian New Testament. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Martha, she is described by John as living in the village of Bethany, a small village in Jud ...

. However, the idea that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene is usually dismissed by scholars as

pseudohistorical Pseudohistory is a form of pseudoscholarship that attempts to distort or misrepresent the historical record, often by employing methods resembling those used in scholarly historical research. The related term cryptohistory is applied to pseudohi ...

. Studying

Jesus in comparative mythology The study of Jesus in comparative mythology is the examination of the narratives of the life of Jesus in the Christian gospels, traditions and theology, as they relate to Christianity and other religions. Although the vast majority of New Testa ...

, the story of the transformation of water into wine bears some resemblance to a number of stories that were told about the ancient Greek god

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...

, who among others was said to fill empty barrels that had been left locked inside a temple overnight with wine. However, scholars generally agree that the Gospel of John was written by a

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

Jewish Christian Jewish Christians ( he, יהודים נוצרים, yehudim notzrim) were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). The Nazarene Jews integrated the belief of Jesus ...

s who had recently been excommunicated by the local synagogue for recognizing Jesus as the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

, leading some to conclude that it would be making it unlikely the possibility that the Gospel was influenced by

ancient Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...

. Bart Ehrman argues that the idea that the image of Jesus was influenced by ancient pagan mythology is usually dismissed by scholars as a

fringe theory A fringe theory is an idea or a viewpoint which differs from the accepted scholarship of the time within its field. Fringe theories include the models and proposals of fringe science, as well as similar ideas in other areas of scholarship, such a ...

. The view of the valley view looking out towards Nazareth, from Khirbet Qana, would have predominantly been of grape vines, as archeologists have found evidence of first century wine production. The early 6th century writer Antoninus Placentinus observed about Nazareth in his day: "it excels in wine and oil, fruits and honey." So, if a miracle of turning water into wine had actually occurred at the site it would have likely have had allegorical significance for observers familiar with Greek mythology. The German theologian

Friedrich Justus Knecht Friedrich Justus Heinrich Knecht (7 October 1839 – 31 January 1921) was a German Catholic theologian, writer and bishop in Freiburg, Germany. Early life and education Justus Knecht was born in Bruchsal, the fourth of seven children of Heinrich ...

(d. 1921) points out three lessons that are to be drawn from this account at Cana: 1) ''The power of Mary's intercession. '' "This first miracle, which confirmed the faith of our Lord’s disciples, was wrought at Mary’s intercession, for it was by her persuasion that He first manifested His glory by a striking miracle at Cana instead of at Jerusalem. Let us contemplate Mary’s compassion on the distress of the poor bride and bridegroom, her living faith in the omnipotence of Jesus, and her confidence in His goodness." 2) ''Matrimony.'' "By His presence at the marriage-feast of Cana Jesus honoured and sanctified marriage, which had already been instituted in Paradise." 3) ''Lawful pleasures.'' "The fact of our Lord taking part in the marriage-feast teaches us that it is lawful and pleasing to God that we should take part in innocent recreations and harmless pleasures, rejoicing with those who rejoice."

Identification of biblical Cana

The exact location of "Cana in Galilee" (, ) has been subject to debate among scholars. Modern scholars maintain that since the Gospel of John was addressed to

Jewish Christians Jewish Christians ( he, יהודים נוצרים, yehudim notzrim) were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). The Nazarene Jews integrated the belief of Jesus a ...

of the time, it is unlikely that the evangelist would mention a place that did not exist. However, Dominican scholar

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor Jerome Murphy-O'Connor (born 10 April 1935, Cork City, Ireland – died 11 November 2013, Jerusalem) was a Dominican priest, a leading authority on St. Paul, and a Professor of New Testament at the École Biblique in Jerusalem, a position ...

cautions that Cana is a very common name, with no known text offering any clue as to which of the dozen towns going by the name would be the correct one, and calls the common choice of Kafr Qanna near Nazareth "probably just a pious guess". The main candidates for the town from the Gospel of John are: *

Kafr Kanna Kafr Kanna ( ar, كفر كنا, ''Kafr Kanā''; he, כַּפְר כַּנָּא) is an Arab town in the Galilee, part of the Northern District of Israel. It is associated by Christians with the New Testament village of Cana, where Jesus tur ...

, in Galilee, locally identified at least since the

8th century The 8th century is the period from 701 ( DCCI) through 800 ( DCCC) in accordance with the Julian Calendar. The coast of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula quickly came under Islamic Arab domination. The westward expansion of the Umayyad E ...

with the biblical location; * Khirbet Qana, also in Galilee; *

Qana Qana, also spelled Cana or Kana, ( ar, قانا) is a town in southern Lebanon located southeast of the city of Tyre and north of the border with Israel, in an area historically known as Upper Galilee. The 10,000 residents of Qana are pr ...

, Southern Lebanon, in an area that was part of historical Galilee. According to the

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

of 1914, a tradition dating back to the 8th century identifies Cana with the modern Arab town of Kafr Kanna, in Galilee, about northeast of Nazareth, in today's

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The ruined village of Khirbet Qana (Kanet el-Jelil), about 6 miles () further north, is an option presented as certain by

William F. Albright William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars." ...

in 1923, whose name "Qana" is also etymologically closer to Cana than "Kanna". Some Lebanese Christians, especially the Lebanese Melkites (Greek Catholics), supported by their Church, believe the southern Lebanese village of Qana to have been the actual location of this event. The spring of 'Ain Kanah ("Kanah Spring") near the village of

Reineh Reineh (; ) is an Arab town in northern Israel. Located in the Galilee,Mokary, 2017Er-Reina/ref> between Nazareth and Qana of Galilee, it attained local council status in 1968. In it had a population of , the majority of whom are Muslims (85%), ...

, immediately northeast of Nazareth, has been proposed as an equally likely site by Conder in 1878, but has little going for it and has been rejected in more recent scholarship as a candidate.

Stone jars

Many throughout history have sought to recover the lost jars. On December 21, 2004, archaeologists reported finding in Kafr Kanna "pieces of large stone jars of the type the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

says Jesus used when he turned water into wine". But American scientists excavating the rival site of Khirbet Qana north of it, also claimed to have found pieces of stone jars from the time of Jesus. Fellow archaeologist

Shimon Gibson Shimon Gibson is a British-born archaeologist living in North Carolina, where he is a Professor of Practice in the Department of History at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Life Gibson was the lead archaeologist excavating a wilderness ...

cast doubt on the value of such finds for identifying the town meant by John, since such vessels are not rare and it would be impossible to link a particular set of vessels to the miracle. "Just the existence of stone vessels is not enough to prove that this is a biblical site." Several stone jars of the type described by the Gospel of John were found for instance in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

: "At least six of them stood in the basement kitchen of the irst-century CE'

Burnt house The Burnt House Museum (aka Katros House) is a museum presenting an excavated house from the Second Temple period situated below current street level in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. History The Burnt House is believed ...

'. They were shaped and finished on a very big lathe, given a pedestal foot and simple decoration. Such stone jars would hold large quantities of water for washing and kitchen needs. Flat discs of stone served as lids. The jars at Cana may have been similar to these", wrote Alan Millard.

Wine or beer

In the journal ''

Biblical Archaeology Review ''Biblical Archaeology Review'' is a magazine appearing every three months and sometimes referred to as ''BAR'' that seeks to connect the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience seeking to understand the world of the Bible, the ...

'', Michael Homan argued that biblical scholars had misinterpreted early texts, translating to 'wine' when the more sensible translation would have been '

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

'. However, this has been dismissed by other writers, who pointed out that the Greek always means wine, and that the word was available if the gospel author wanted to refer to barley beer.

In art

Depictions of ''The Wedding/Marriage at Cana'' are numerous in art history. File:Gerard David - The Marriage at Cana - WGA6020.jpg, ''Marriage at Cana'', ,

Gerard David Gerard David (c. 1460 – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester ...

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, Paris File:Jan Cornelisz. Vermeyen 006.jpg, ''The calling of Apostle John at the Marriage at Cana'', ,

Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen, or Jan Mayo, or Barbalonga (c. 1504 – 1559) was a Dutch Northern Renaissance painter. Biography Based on his will, rediscovered in 1998, Vermeyen was born in Beverwijk in 1504 (possibly 1503 or 1505). According to ...

File:Jacopo Tintoretto - Marriage at Cana - WGA22470.jpg, ''Marriage at Cana'', 1561,

Jacopo Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with ...

File:Paolo Veronese 008.jpg, '' The Wedding Feast at Cana'', 1563, Paolo Veronese,

, Paris File:Giorgio Vasari - Marriage at Cana - WGA24290.jpg, ''Marriage at Cana'', 1566,

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

File:Giotto - Scrovegni - -24- - Marriage at Cana.jpg, ''Marriage at Cana'' by

Giotto di Bondone Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/Proto-Renaissance period. Gi ...

, 14th century File:Bruiloft te Kana.jpg, Print about the Wedding at Cana. Made at the end of the 16th century. Preserved in the

Ghent University Library Ghent University Library ( nl, Universiteitsbibliotheek Gent) is located in the city of Ghent, Belgium. It serves the university community of students and scholarly researchers. History After Ghent University was founded in 1817, books confiscated ...

. File:Marten de Vos Cana.jpg, ''The Marriage at Cana'' by

Maerten de Vos Maerten de Vos, Maerten de Vos the Elder or Marten de Vos (1532 – 4 December 1603)Maerten de Vos
at the Net ...

Other

Sixth-century Irish missionary Saint Columba of Iona supposedly performed an identical miracle when he served as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in Ireland under

Finnian of Movilla Finnian of Movilla (–589) was an Irish Christian missionary. His feast day is 10 September. Origins and life Finnian (sometimes called Finbarr "the white head", a reference to his fair hair), was a Christian missionary in medieval Ir ...

, replenishing the supply of

sacramental wine Sacramental wine, Communion wine, altar wine, or wine for consecration is wine obtained from grapes and intended for use in celebration of the Eucharist (also referred to as the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion, among other names). It is usually ...

for a

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

References

External links

Shea, Mark. "The Significance of the Wedding at Cana", ''National Catholic Register'', September 10, 2012
{{Authority control

Gospel of John Jesus in art Kafr Kanna Luminous Mysteries Mary, mother of Jesus Miracles of Jesus Water and religion Wedding Winemaking Galilee