John 4:43-46 - They had seen all that He had done

4:43-45

After He had finished teaching the Samaritans Jesus left and returned to Galilee. V44 has a parenthetical statement that a prophet is not honoured in his patris, patris can be translated as “hometown” or “home country”. There will now follow several incidents of conflict between Jesus and the Jewish leaders and the Jewish people. He had found a warm reception in Samaria, less so in Judea. Initially though the Galileans welcomed Him because they had seen the miracles He had performed in Jerusalem.

4:46

ESV just refers to an “official”, whereas NIV has “royal official”. This was probably an official who worked for Herod Antipas. He wasn’t actually a king, but the term was loosely used of him. The official’s son was ill. There are some who try to argue that this incident is another version of the healing of a Gentile official’s servant in Matt 8:5-13, and Lk 7:2-10. There really is no evidence for this, and there are some who seem to see the slightest element of similarity between two incidents to mean that they must be the same incident underlying both accounts. There is little justification for this. In this instance there is no hint that the official is a Gentile (which would surely have been mentioned if he was), and it is his son, not a servant, who is ill.