Mark and John: A Wedding at Cana—Whose and Where?
A version of “Mark and John: A Wedding at Cana—Whose and Where?” originally appeared on Dr. James Tabor’s popular Taborblog, a site that discusses and reports on “‘All things biblical’ from the Hebrew Bible to Early Christianity in the Roman World and Beyond.” Bible History Daily republished this article with permission from the author.
There is a very intriguing story, unique to the Gospel of John, about a wedding attended by Jesus and his disciples at the Galilean village of Cana (John 2:1–11). Within the Gospel of John the story functions in a theological and even allegorical manner—it is the “first” of seven signs, the “water into wine” story, but that is not to say it lacks any historical foundation.
The story is part of an earlier written narrative that scholars call the “Signs Source,” now embedded in the Gospel of John much like the Q source is embedded in Matthew and Luke. Many scholars consider the Signs Source to be our most primitive gospel narrative, earlier than, and independent from, the Gospel of Mark.
Most readers of John’s gospel concentrate on the long “red letter” speeches and dialogues of Jesus with the lofty language about him as the “Son” sent from heaven, in cosmic struggle with “the Jews” who are cast in a pejorative light. Such elements are apparently a much later theological overlay, as they are absent from this primitive narrative source.
The work, at least according to this “Signs Source,” was originally written to promote the simple affirmation that Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed King of the line of David, and to explain how his death was part of the plan of God. This narrative source is written in a completely different style from the later material now in John’s gospel. It moves along from scene to scene with vivid details and in gripping narrative flow.
The elements of the Cana story are fascinating. Jesus and his disciples, who have been down in the Jordan valley with John the Baptist, return to the area to join the wedding celebration. Jesus’ mother Mary (though unnamed in John) and his brothers are already there (2:12), so it seems to be some kind of “family affair.”
Indeed, Mary seems to be at some level officially involved in the celebration as a kind of co-hostess since she takes charge of things when the wine planned for the occasion, unexpectedly runs out, indicating either that the crowd was larger than expected or that things became quite festive, or both. Mary turns to Jesus and the rest of the story is well known to everyone—he miraculously turns six stone vessels, filled initially with water, into the finest wine.
But beyond the “miracle” or the “sign,” a number of other quite interesting questions arise.
First, one has to ask: Why would the lack of wine be a concern of Mary, Jesus’ mother?
And what do we know about Cana?
And most importantly, whose wedding was this and why were Jesus and his family present in the first place?
What do we know about Cana?
Let’s begin with Cana itself. What do we know about it?
Most tourists are taken to the traditional site of Cana (Kefr Kenna) near Nazareth on the road to Tiberias that the Franciscans maintain. The problem is that this location has no Roman-period ruins and most certainly is not the place mentioned in the New Testament. Its veneration began sometime in the Middle Ages.
An alternative site, Khirbet Qana, is 8 miles northwest of Nazareth and 12 miles west of the Sea of Galilee. It is high on a hill overlooking the Bet Netofa valley. This location has much more evidence in its favor.
My colleague and friend, the late Professor Doug Edwards, began excavating there in 1998, and Tom McCollough has carried on his work as time has allowed. What they have found seems fairly decisive, including Second Temple period tombs, houses and possibly a beth midrash or synagogue. Evidence of Christian veneration at this site dates back to the sixth century C.E.
Khirbet Qana
Right after the wedding, according to John 2:12, Jesus goes to Capernaum and with him are his disciples, but also his mother and his brothers. I think that implies the whole family, including the brothers (and thus the sisters) were not only at the wedding but are now traveling with him. They go to Capernaum, where he sets up a kind “residence” or operational HQ, according to the tradition that Mark has received (see Mark 2:1; 3:19; 9:33 and the references to the house and being “at home”).
Mark knows nothing of Cana but John mentions it again when Jesus returns from a trip to Judea, where he stirred up a considerable amount of trouble and needs some place to “lay low.” He and his disciples go back to Cana (John 4:46). Why go back there if the first visit was just for a wedding and had no connection to him? I think this is important in that it seems to become for Jesus a kind of “safe house” or place of operations when he needs to retreat to Galilee, much like Capernaum.
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There is definitely a “Jesus connection” to Cana, parallel to the one that Mark reports regarding Capernaum.
Peter Richardson of the University of Toronto has written a significant academic article on this point titled “What Has Cana to Do with Capernaum?” (New Testament Studies 48 (2002), pp. 314–331) that I highly recommend. He argues that the significant differences on geographical matters between the Synoptics with their sources and John with its sources—especially the question of Jesus’ “place”—should not be resolved simply in favor of Mark. Cana as a place in John is as significant as Capernaum in Mark. In fact, Richardson argues that Cana served as an operational base for Jesus according to the tradition that John reflects.
It is interesting to note that during the Jewish Revolt, Josephus, commander of the Jewish forces in Galilee, made Cana his strategic headquarters for a time (Life 86). Its prime location, overlooking Sepphoris and the cities of the Bet Netofa Valley, made it an ideal location. Also, Jewish tradition locates the priestly family of Eliashib, mentioned in 1 Chronicles 24:19 as one of the 24 orders of Cohanim or priest, as from Cana.
John indicates the connection in the last chapter of his gospel, where he says that the disciple Nathanael, mentioned only in the Gospel of John is from Cana in Galilee (21:2). Nathanael is mentioned earlier in the Gospel of John as an early follower or disciple, associated with Andrew of Bethsaida (1:45). He is most often identified as one of the Twelve, under his father’s name, Bar-Tholomew or “Bar Tolmai” in Aramaic, in Mark’s list of the disciples (Mark 3:18). I find this identification likely.
Given this background all we can do is speculate. I think we can assume that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is somehow involved in the wedding, and since we know Jesus and his disciples—as well as his brothers—are there, it is not a passing event but some kind of family affair. And since he returns to the place when things get heated for him and his disciples in Judea, it is a safe place for him, and one to which he is connected. So whose was the wedding? Or can we even make a wild guess?
Whose Wedding is it?
Many have suggested that the wedding at Cana was that of Jesus. I find this unlikely. Even though the account is very “allegorical” as it comes to us in John, and it is accordingly hard to derive historical material therefrom, the way in which Jesus shows up with his disciples, when his mother and brothers are already there, indicates to me that the wedding is of someone else.
Why is Mary Involved in Preparations?
My own guess would be that it is the wedding of either one of his brothers or sisters, since Mary is involved—not, as I read it, as the hostess, but as one concerned with the provisions for the wedding. Since the wedding is held in Cana, my guess is that it could very well be the wedding of one of Jesus’ brothers, perhaps James, to a sister or daughter of Nathanael, thus accounting for it being held in that village. Cana then becomes a place to which Jesus can return, and as with Capernaum, it served as a kind of “home” for him.
Regardless, I do think, as Richardson has argued, that we should take John’s references to geographical locations as rooted in some of the earliest traditions we have related to the life of Jesus–even predating Mark.
I have of late become persuaded that Jesus well might have been married, and this represents a change of mind for me that I have detailed in our book The Jesus Discovery. If such be the case, it seems impossible to tell whether he would have been married long before this point in his life, perhaps in his 20s, or whether he chose not to be married into his adult life, and only subsequently did so closer to the end.
Dr. James Tabor is Professor of Christian Origins and Ancient Judaism in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Since earning his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1981, Tabor has combined his work on ancient texts with extensive field work in archaeology in Israel and Jordan, including work at Qumran, Sepphoris, Masada, Wadi el-Yabis in Jordan. Over the past decade he has teamed up with with Shimon Gibson to excavate the “John the Baptist” cave at Suba, the “Tomb of the Shroud” discovered in 2000, Mt Zion and, along with Rami Arav, he has been involved in the re-exploration of two tombs in East Talpiot including the controversial “Jesus tomb.”
Tabor is the author of the popular Taborblog, and several of his recent posts have been featured in Bible History Daily as well as the Huffington Post. His latest book, Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity, has become immediately popular with specialists and non-specialists alike.
You can find links to all of Dr. Tabor’s web pages, books, and projects at jamestabor.com.
This Bible History Daily article was first republished in Bible History Daily from James Tabor’s blog on November 16, 2015.
Related reading in Bible History Daily
Was Mary Magdalene Wife of Jesus? Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute?
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Given Jesus’ advice to His disciples in Matthew 19:10-12, it is highly unlikely any of His disciples married from that point on. Any suggestion that Jesus married is sheer foolishness and immaturity.
I would have to agree with commentator David, given the advantage of archaeological discoveries that has allowed us to see the person of Jesus of Nazareth as a product of his environment not unlike the “fruits of the land” around which the seasonal cycle forms the three most important observances in Dueteronomy 16:16, the festival of unleavened bread (barley harvest), the festival of weeks (wheat harvest) and the festival of booths (grape and olive harvest), which are really the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, respectively. It represents the metabolism of God’s word growing slowly like vegetation, in contrast to the animal impulse of humans to procreate, which is why Mary of Magdala isn’t mentioned at the wedding at Cana due to this being a gospel with hidden allusions to a lost form of gnosis or knowledge pertaining to the spiritual wedding chamber and she still is a presence at the wedding (which is why we are here discussing this) not unlike the Divine Presence known in Hebrew as “shekinah” from the root “sukkah” meaning “to dwell” and is the basis for the word “Sukkot” or “booths” that celebrated Israel’s migration through the wilderness when they dwelt in huts.
We see the link between the wedding at Cana and, “he came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine” (John 4:46). Prior to performing the second “sign” of healing the son of an official, the discussion was centered on the harvest (John 4:35-38) after his disciples couldn’t figure out why Jesus would talk to the Samaritan woman. This along with Mary Magdalene’s assumption that the ressurected Christ was the gardener/caretaker of the tombs only symbolizes the union between the upper and lower worlds, with the spiritual realm being the male and associated with the Garden of Eden and the physical world being female and that this phenomenon is represented by the male and female followers going to an “upper chamber” (Acts 1:13) on the day of Pentecost, or Festival of Weeks, when some people thought that the people speaking in tongues were “full of sweet wine” (Acts 2:13).
Very interesting insight. I will be looking forward to seeing more of your views.
I’m afraid my familiararity with with the language and culture of the Jewish people is lacking but fortunately “others have labored” (John 4:38) and did the research and here’s an excerpt from “The Hebrew Goddess” by Raphael Patai, p. 99:
“Shekhina (sh’khinah) is a Hebrew abstract noun derived from the Biblical verb ‘shakhan’ discussed above and means literally ‘the act of dwelling.’ These abstract nouns, constructed from the verbal root-letters with the added ‘-ah’ suffix, have the feminine gender. In actual usage, the term Shekhina, when it first appears, meant that aspect of the deity which can be apprehended by the senses.”
The fact that Mary Magdalene is the first witness to the post-mortal and pre-ascension Jesus fits in with the elaborate system developed in the 13th century C.E. book of Zohar where the Shekhina, or Divine Presence, is sometimes referred to in the Hebrew word ‘zot,’ as in “this (zot) shall be called woman, because out of man was taken this (zot) in Genesis 2:23.
The Shekhina is also alluded to in the Song of Songs 3:6:
“Who is this (zot) rising from the wilderness like columns of smoke; perfumed with myrrh and frankincense; with all the powders of the merchant?”
The word for rising is ‘olah’ that is also used in the context of the sacrificial offering on the altar rising with aromatic spices to heaven.
In the Zohar there is frequent mention of the concept of the wedding chamber and in “The Zohar, vol. 1,” by Daniel Matt (p. 68) an example is given of scriptural interpretations among the learned rabbis:
“Rabbi Shim’on said to the Companions, ‘Members of this wedding party, let each one of you adorn the Bride with one adornment.”
Then in the footnote it states:
“On the eve of Shavu’ot (Festival of Weeks), the Companions are invited to adorn Shekhina with new interpretations of the Torah, preparing Her for Her union with ‘Tif’eret'”
‘Tiferet’ means ‘beauty’ and it is the attribute of the third day of creation in Genesis 1:8-13 with the origin of vegetation on earth. The revelation at Mount Sinai is invoked on the day of Shavu’ot, the Greek Pentecost, and in another place in “The Zohar” (p.173) it states:
“So, She is ‘tamar,’ a palm tree – male and female – for one does not rise without the other.”
The word for palm tree, ‘tamar,’ is then compared with the word ‘timerot,’ meaning ‘columns,’ as in “like columns (timerot) of smoke; perfumed with myrrh and frankincense (Song of Songs 3:6), and in the accompanying footnote we are also given the fruit of archaeological research:
“Palm trees are dioecious; male and female flowers grow on separate trees. Male flowers produce pollon while female flowers develope into fruit. As early as 2300 B.C.E., Mesopotamian farmers had learned to hang a male flower in a female tree to enhance pollination. Here Rabbi Shim’on’s point is that Shekhina is called ‘palm tree’ because She and Her male partner are interdependant; becoming fruitful only by joining together.”
You know since this we have the evidence of both cannabis and frankincense burnt on altars at the 8th century BCE site of Tel Arad, Jerusalem. This site had inscriptions referring to it as ‘The House of Yahweh’, and evidence of the combined worship of Asherah and Yahweh. It was believed to have been cancelled at the time Hezekiah or Josiah, which ficts with the rejection of Kaneh and Frankincense in Jeremiah 6:20, and the condmenations of burning incense to the Queen of Heaven in Jeremiah 44. Check out my book, Cannabis: Lost Sacrament of the Ancient World for more on this.
The palm tree was originally the “Tree of Life” (Genesis 2:9) in southern Mesopotamia and it was sacred to the Sumerian god of wisdom, Ea, in the first city to gain prominence, Eridu, which is where the “kingship from heaven” descended, according to the Babylonian King List.
There seems to be a clue in Genesis 2:5 as to what the Tree of Life might have originated as; “and every shrub of the field not yet it was on the earth, and every herb of the field not yet had it sprung up.” since we have the interpretation of Philo the Alexandrian that the words shrub and herb at the beginning of the Garden of Eden story allude to things that existed prior to the present, or in other words, the original “Food of the Gods” by Terrence McKenna (p.155):
“Cannabis is anathema to the dominator culture because it deconditions or decouples users from accepted values. Because of its subliminally psychedelic effect, cannabis, when pursued with a lifestyle, places a person in intuative contact with less goal-oriented and less competitive behavior patterns. For these reasons marijuana is unwelcome in the modern office environment, while a drug such as coffee, which reinforces the values of industrial culture, is both welcomed and encouraged. Cannabis use is correctly sensed as heretical and deeply disloyal to the values of male dominance and stratified hierarchy.”
Shrub and herb, meaningless nouns, until you see in the Wikipedia page on “Entheogen” where it quotes the orthodox scholar on the Kabbalah, Aryeh Kaplan, in his beautiful commentary on the first five books of the Bible, “The Living Torah,” as saying that it was cannabis that was the ingredient of the holy annointing oil that usually mentioned in Exodus 30:22 as calamus in translations deriving from the Septuagint version. However, the Hebrew word “kaneh-bosm,” which is interpreted as an aromatic cane, wasn’t exclusively used by the high priest in the temple since all you had to to was be there when it was burned as incense. Perhaps the total detachment from the the process of turning water into wine on the part of Jesus was because, as his intuitive mother seemed to know when she told the caterer in John 2:5, “Whatever he tells you, do.” He may have taken a Nazirite vow to abstain from wine and let his hair grow., which is what one of the meanings of the word “qaneh” would imply; meaning “reed, stalk.”
Most all who have commented are men and here’s what your missing. Simply this. If I, being a woman, were an invited guest to a wedding and they ran out of wine, which would be hugely embarrassing for the wedding party, I would ask my son whom I knew could perform miracles to save the day. Don’t overthink this.
The BIBLE states do not go beyound what is written, all will be revealed in the end of days.
hmm… I cannot believe this…should I call it a fable or incredible story…
Remember that ,all scripture is giving by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, hence, the true interpretation of scriptures is not based on speculations, but on the Holy Spirit …
The Lord Jesus Christ promised his disciples the holy spirit who would direct them into all truths. Why are we now refusing to be directed by the holy spirit into the truth of God’s word? Or we now believe in speculative approach than the holy spirit…
Unless one says anything as one from the Holy Spirit ,it should be ignored fom spiritual considerations
Jesus ultimately does end up getting married to his bride, the church, those that believe he is the Son of God, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, condemned to the cross as an innocent man, buried and risen from the dead on the third day by the matchless power of God the Father, and now sits in glory on a throne in heaven ruling a kingdom that is not tangible in the physical sense but spiritual, existing in our hearts, perceived in our minds, and demonstrated through our lives with love, forgiveness, grace and mercy. The final statement John makes concerning the event in Cana says this was the first miracle Jesus performed revealing his glory. John also wrote Revelations and with that in mind we know John writes symbolically. Jesus stated to his mother (woman) at that point, on the third day of this wedding in Cana, His time had not come, therefore it was not his wedding at which point His blood as a wine would be poured out. The wine from the ceremonial cleansing pots represents the cleansing blood of Jesus poured out to wash our sins as Jesus stated at Last Supper. The wedding guests representing Israel may have been, or may not have been, drunk, or desensitized, on the first wine, representing the blood of sacrificed animals over the years. The servants that drew the water that had been turned into wine and knew where it came from represent the Levitical priests who sprinkled the blood on and around the alter during the animal sacrifices. The master of the banquet who judged the wine (Father God?) said to the bridegroom, representing Jesus at his crucifixion, His wedding day when he referred once again to his mother as woman, it was the best saved for last, meaning no more sacrifices needed. All throughout the Old Testament there is a foreshadowing of Jesus, what he would say, do, and ultimately his death and resurrection. I hope everyone who reads my comment is blessed and not offended.
My dear brothers and sisters
As I absorb the comments ,I sense not a celebration of a intimate moment that occurred in which the text suggest “Jesus was invited ”
As the gospel suggest that he had been proclaimed by John and baptized by John
“To be the one to Baptiste with the fire of the spirit .”
One might think why Jesus was not askd to preform the ceremony
It is obvious that his mother and disciples recognized his authority
This is classic of what this text really represents
Empty stone jars , different in shape color and design
Each having their own residue inside , impenetrable ,
At this celebration Jesus merrily ask his followers to work together with him to give a drink to all who would partake ,
Having an affect on everyone witnessing .
Yahweh says that you are all created the same
So why do you fight each other
There were a number of schools, like we might just say today “rabbi schools,” or “religious schools” back 2,000 years ago. The “advanced” program involved additional training of the grad students, or PhD type students, that went til about age 35 . Some of the religious men didn’t marry until they were 35 years of age after their training, so it’s possible Yeshua wasn’t married at all when he was “hung on a tree.” Also there were chaste marriages in those and earlier times, like Abraham and Sarah or Joachim and St. Anne, until advanced age when angels petitioned the couples to consummate their marriages. Until advanced age, the couples were just “betrothed” to one another. The Essenes often didn’t consummate their betrothals at all, or only once or twice a year as possibly directed by the elders or spiritual advisors of the sect. Joachim and St Anne, the parents of Mary, and perhaps Zechariah and Elizabeth as well might have been Essenes from the settlement north or just outside of Jerusalem after Qumram was closed down. One idea is also that the feast at Cana was the betrothal of St. John to Mary Magdalene, a marriage of celebates, who were understudies of Yeshua and formerly John the Baptizer. Or possibly of Yeshua himself, maybe James the Lesser or Just. I think James might have become a priest in the Temple in Jerusalem as well, either before or after the crucifixtion. It’s important to remember that in these days we have very open kinds of relationships, marriages and remarriages. Hillel the rabbi was more liberal than Jesus in his ideas, but all in all, many of the rabbi didn’t condone remarriage for any reason, or consummating a second marriage in the case of widow hood or divorce, etc. If your husband died you would be “wed” as it were to someone’s family, or as in the case of Mary, betrothed to Joseph for instance as a caretaker, but with a pure and chaste relationship. Widows needed to be adopted in Roman times, or eventually in the Christian sect they became wives and daughters of the church–giving liberally to the origins of the Church itself, and becoming “virgins” or single women without marital status, but with standing and protection by the elders and families. An engagement was a grander celebration than a marriage, which happened 6 months later in the year. Consummation of marriages, or engagements, happened in Nov or Dec often so that births would be 9 months later in AUG or SEP when children would be born with strong bones from the summer sun, and called “kings” or queens. Mary was born on Sept 8th or 9th for instance a bat of David.