What Does John 2:6 Mean?
And six stone waterpots lay there, set for the cleansing of the Jews, each holding two or three measures.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
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.THE KEY
The sign begins inside vessels already set apart for cleansing, before anyone expects them to hold anything else.
THE MEANING
You are shown six stone vessels appointed for purification, each with room for two or three measures. Their purpose frames the scene: what is ready for washing becomes the setting for unexpected provision.
THE ROOT
καθαρισμός
katharismos
GROWS FROM
καθαρ-
kathar-
Clean; clear of defilement.
“the cleansing” in this verse is katharismos. This word belongs to the Greek family of “clean” and “cleanse,” so the verse names an enacted practice, not merely a label for the jars. Their connection to cleansing is established before they hold anything else in the scene.
ALSO GROWS
clean: Clean; pure.
καθαρός
The shared stem connects the practice of purification to the state of being clean.
cleanse: To cleanse; make clean.
καθαρίζω
This verb shows the action contained in the noun: purification is the work of cleansing.
THE PATTERN
What is already set out to hold provision becomes the vessel for more than its expected use.
And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me yet another vessel. And he said to her, There is not one more vessel. And the oil stood.Jesus said to them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them to the brim.THE THREAD
Then a dispute arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew about cleansing.The Greek noun καθαρισμός (katharismos, purification) names the practice associated with these vessels, and John returns to the same word-family in 3:25. The jars’ concrete purpose opens into a larger question about cleansing.
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