Bible Strands
John 2:13
When the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator addresses the reader at the moment Jesus departs Capernaum for Jerusalem as the Jewish Passover approaches.
The words — The Greek phrase ἐγγὺς ἦν (engus ēn) translates literally as "was near," establishing the immediate temporal context for the journey.
The thread — This temporal marker echoes the annual pilgrimage pattern in Luke 2:41 and anticipates the mass purification journeys described in John 11:55, while John 2:23 later notes Jesus was already in Jerusalem when the feast occurred.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to recognize Jesus’ deliberate movement toward the central Jewish festival before confronting the temple commerce described in the following verse.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
Cross-references
- Luke 2:41 Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.
- John 11:55 Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover.
- John 2:23 While He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the signs He was doing and believed in His name.
- Exodus 12:6 You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
- Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
- John 5:1 Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
- John 6:4 Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover was near.
- Numbers 28:16 The fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover.
- Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.