The Nobleman's Son

The words

John 4:43–54 (opens a new tab)

1. Amend

   John places “began to amend” in the father’s question about the time of recovery; the servants answer with the hour when the fever left.

   John 4:52 (opens a new tab)

2. Besought

   Earnestly asked or pleaded.

   John describes the father coming to Jesus after hearing of his arrival from Judaea, then asking him to come down to his son in Capernaum.

   John 4:46–47 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 4:43-54 (opens a new tab)

3. Child

   John quotes the father’s plea, “come down ere my child die,” followed by Jesus’s words “thy son liveth” and the man believing what Jesus says.

   John 4:49–50 (opens a new tab)

4. Enquired

   Asked for information.

   John records the father asking his servants when the boy began to recover; he matches their answer about the fever’s departure with Jesus’s words.

   John 4:52–53 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 4:43-54 (opens a new tab)

5. Fever

   John gives the servants’ report that the fever left at the seventh hour; the father connects that hour with Jesus’s words about his son living.

   John 4:52–53 (opens a new tab)

6. Galilaeans

   Galileans; people from Galilee.

   John reports the Galilaeans receiving Jesus because they had seen his deeds at the Jerusalem feast, before he returns to Cana and the father approaches.

   Did you know?

   Earlier, John 2:23 places miracles in Jerusalem at Passover and describes people believing after seeing them; chapter 4 mentions Galilaeans who had attended the feast.

   John 4:45–47 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 4:43-54 (opens a new tab) · John 2:23 (opens a new tab)

7. Honour

   John gives Jesus’s saying that a prophet has no honor in his own country, then describes the Galilaeans receiving him and his return to Cana.

   John 4:44–46 (opens a new tab)

8. Liveth

   Lives; is alive.

   John repeats “thy son liveth” first as Jesus’s reply, then as the servants’ message; the father connects the reported recovery with Jesus’s words.

   John 4:50–53 (opens a new tab)

9. Nobleman

   John introduces a nobleman whose son is sick in Capernaum; the NET calls him a “royal official,” without naming him in the passage.

   Did you know?

   Cleveland Museum describes the pictured painting as unfinished: the carpet border and geometric floor patterns remain unpainted, and the work appears to involve at least two artists.

   John 4:46 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: John 4:43-54 (opens a new tab) · Cleveland: Mughal Gospel illustration (opens a new tab)

10. Point of Death

    John describes the son as “at the point of death” when the father asks Jesus to come; the father then pleads, “come down ere my child die.”

    John 4:47–49 (opens a new tab)

11. Second Miracle

    John closes the account with “the second miracle” on Jesus’s return from Judaea to Galilee, having recalled the water made wine when naming Cana.

    John 4:46; John 4:54 (opens a new tab)

12. Seventh Hour

    John reports the servants saying the fever left at the seventh hour; the father identifies this as the hour when Jesus said his son would live.

    John 4:52–53 (opens a new tab)

13. Sick

    John places the sick son in Capernaum while Jesus is at Cana; the father comes to Jesus and asks him to come down and heal the boy.

    John 4:46–47 (opens a new tab)

14. Testified

    John uses “testified” for Jesus’s saying about a prophet’s lack of honor in his own country, then places the Galilaeans’ reception beside it.

    John 4:44–45 (opens a new tab)

15. Yesterday

    John gives “Yesterday at the seventh hour” as the servants’ answer about the fever; the father recognizes the time as matching Jesus’s earlier words.

    John 4:52–53 (opens a new tab)