Cana
“Place of reeds”
Summary
A village in Galilee memorable as the scene of Christ's first miracle, where He turned water into wine at a wedding feast.
☩Biblical Significance
Cana of Galilee holds a special place in Gospel history as the location where Jesus performed His first miracle at a wedding feast, turning water into wine and manifesting His glory so that His disciples believed in Him. It was also the scene of a subsequent miracle when a certain nobleman came from Capernaum beseeching Jesus to heal his dying son; Jesus healed the boy by a word spoken at a distance, without traveling to Capernaum. Additionally, Cana was the hometown of the apostle Nathanael.
☩Geography and Location
The Gospel indicates that Cana was situated on higher ground than Capernaum, as Jesus 'went down' to Capernaum after the wedding, and the nobleman requested Him to 'come down' to heal his son. While not named in the Old Testament, Cana is mentioned by Josephus as a village of Galilee where he resided for a time. The Greek 'kana' probably transliterates an old Hebrew word meaning 'place of reeds.'
☩Traditional and Proposed Sites
Two principal sites contend for identification as New Testament Cana. The traditional site is Kefr Kenna, a small village about four miles northeast of Nazareth on the road to Tiberias, where both Greek and Latin churches maintain properties and show stone jars said to have been used in the miracle. The rival site, favored by many scholars, is Khirbet Kana (or Kana el-Jelil), a ruined village about eight miles north of Nazareth on the edge of the plain of Asochis, whose name more precisely matches the Arabic equivalent of 'Cana of Galilee.'
☩The Wedding Miracle
At the wedding feast when the wine ran out, Jesus instructed servants to fill six stone water-pots, each containing two or three firkins (about twenty to thirty gallons each), with water. When drawn out, the water had become wine of such quality that the master of the feast remarked that most hosts serve the good wine first, but this bridegroom had kept the best until last. This beginning of miracles manifested Christ's glory, demonstrating His divine power over nature.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Cana," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Cana," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 3.James Orr (ed.), "Cana, of Galilee," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 4.James Hastings (ed.), "Cana," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 5.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Cana," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).