Wedding at Cana

The wedding at Cana (also called the marriage at Cana, wedding feast at Cana or marriage feast at Cana) is the name of the story in the Gospel of John at which the first miracle attributed to Jesus takes place.^[1]^[2]

This article is about the miracle of Jesus. For other uses, see Wedding at Cana (disambiguation) and Water into Wine (disambiguation).

In the Gospel account, Jesus, his mother and his disciples are invited to a wedding at Cana in Galilee. When his mother notices that the wine (Ancient Greek: οἶνος) has run out, Jesus delivers a sign of his divinity by turning water into wine at her request. The location of Cana has been subject to debate among biblical scholars and archaeologists; several villages in Galilee are possible candidates.

The account is taken as evidence of Jesus' approval of marriage and earthly celebrations, and has also been used as an argument against teetotalism.

Biblical account[edit]

The second chapter of the Gospel of John states that Jesus was at a wedding (Ancient Greek: γάμος) in Cana with his disciples.^[a] 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".^[b] Jesus ordered the servants to fill containers with water and to draw out some and take it to the chief steward (household official, master of the feast). After tasting it, without knowing where it came from, the steward remarked to the bridegroom that he had departed from the custom of serving the best wine first by serving it last.^[c] 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".^[d]

in Galilee, locally identified at least since the 8th century with the biblical location;^[24]

Kafr Kanna

also in Galilee;^[24]^[25]

Khirbet Qana

southern Lebanon,^[23] in an area that was part of historical Galilee.

Qana

The exact location of "Cana in Galilee" (Ancient Greek: Κανὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, Kana tēs Galilaias) has been subject to debate among scholars.^[22] Modern scholars maintain that since the Gospel of John was addressed to Jewish Christians of the time, it is unlikely that the evangelist would mention a place that did not exist. However, Dominican scholar Jerome Murphy-O'Connor 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".^[23]

The main candidates for the town from the Gospel of John are:

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1914, a tradition dating back to the 8th century identifies Cana with the modern Arab town of Kafr Kanna, in Galilee, about 7 km (4.3 mi) northeast of Nazareth,^[26] in today's Israel.

The ruined village of Khirbet Qana (Kanet el-Jelil), about six miles (9.7 km) further north,^[27] is an option presented as certain by William F. Albright in 1923,^[28] whose name "Qana" is also etymologically closer to Cana than "Kanna".^[24]

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.^[23]

The spring of 'Ain Kanah ("Kanah Spring") near the village of Reineh, immediately northeast of Nazareth, has been proposed as an equally likely site by Conder in 1878,^[29] but has little going for it and has been rejected in more recent scholarship as a candidate.^[25]

Vessels and beverage[edit]

Stone jars[edit]

Many throughout history have sought to recover the lost jars. On 21 December 2004, archaeologists reported finding in Kafr Kanna "pieces of large stone jars of the type the Gospel says Jesus used when he turned water into wine".^[30] 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.^[30] Fellow archaeologist Shimon Gibson 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.^[30] "Just the existence of stone vessels is not enough to prove that this is a biblical site."^[30] Several stone jars of the type described by the Gospel of John were found for instance in Jerusalem: "At least six of them stood in the basement kitchen of the [1st-century CE] 'Burnt house'. 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.^[31]

Wine or beer[edit]

In the journal Biblical Archaeology Review, Michael Homan argued that biblical scholars had misinterpreted early texts, translating to 'wine' when the more sensible translation would have been 'beer'.^[32] However, this has been dismissed by other writers, who pointed out that the Greek oinos always means wine, and that the word sikera was available if the gospel author wanted to refer to barley beer.^[33]^[34]^[35]

The Coptic Orthodox Church, alone among the apostolic churches, teaches that the wine was non-alcoholic.^[36] However, the second century Coptic Saint Clement of Alexandria would appear to indicate the opposite when he states that, although the Lord approved of drinking wine, he did not approve of drunkenness.^[37]

Feast[edit]

The Coptic Church observes the feast of the Wedding of Cana three days after Epiphany, i.e. on the 13th of Tobi according to the Coptic calendar.^[38] It is counted as one of the 7 Minor Feasts of the Lord.^[39]