Bible Strands
John 2:6
Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the physical preparation at the wedding feast immediately after Mary instructs the servants to obey Jesus. The jars are positioned at the site before Jesus issues His command to fill them.
The words — The text specifies λίθιναι ὑδρίαι (lithinai hudriai), literally “stone water jars,” indicating vessels constructed from rock rather than clay or wood. The narrator emphasizes their capacity of twenty to thirty gallons each to establish their substantial size.
The thread — The text identifies the jars as vessels for Jewish purification rites, which the New Testament later connects to disputes over ceremonial washing (John 3:25) and external regulations fulfilled in Christ (Hebrews 9:10). The water motif also anticipates the cleansing described in Ephesians 5:26.
Why it lands — The verse requires recognition that physical vessels prepared for ritual washing are immediately repurposed for a divine act. It demands that readers observe how ordinary preparations become the instrument for Jesus’ first sign.
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 there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
Cross-references
- John 3:25 Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the issue of ceremonial washing.
- Ephesians 5:26 to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
- Hebrews 9:10 They consist only in food and drink and special washings—external regulations imposed until the time of reform.
- Mark 7:2 and they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled—that is, unwashed.
- Hebrews 9:19 For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people,
- Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
- Hebrews 6:2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.