What does Κανᾶ (Kanâ) mean in the Bible?
Kana names Cana in Galilee, a place associated entirely with John's Gospel in the New Testament. John first locates a wedding there, where Jesus turns water into wine.
Greek · G2580
Κανᾶ
Cana, a place in Palestine
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Κανᾶ G2580
Pronunciation Kanâ
What does Κανᾶ (Kanâ) mean in the Bible?
Kana names Cana in Galilee, a place associated entirely with John's Gospel in the New Testament. John first locates a wedding there, where Jesus turns water into wine.
Reader summary
Full entry for Κανᾶ (G2580) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2580?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Cana (4).
Where does Κανᾶ (Kanâ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 2:1. Its strongest book concentrations include John (4).
What This Word Actually Means
Kana names Cana in Galilee, a place associated entirely with John's Gospel in the New Testament. John first locates a wedding there, where Jesus turns water into wine. He then identifies Cana as the place of the first sign, where Jesus revealed His glory and His disciples believed in Him. Later, John recalls Cana when Jesus returns there and a royal official seeks healing for his son at Capernaum.
At the end of the Gospel, Nathanael is identified as being from Cana in Galilee. Kana therefore is not a word with a broad semantic range. It is a place name that helps readers trace John's narrative of signs, glory, faith, remembered mercy, and witness. It should be taught as Gospel geography serving John's presentation of Jesus.
How the Bible Uses It
Kana names Cana in Galilee in John's Gospel. The place is tied to the first sign, revealed glory, disciples' faith, later healing mercy, and Nathanael's identity.
- John.2.1
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,
John locates the wedding at Cana in Galilee, with Jesus' mother present.
- John.2.11
Jesus performed this, the first of His signs, at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
John identifies the Cana sign as Jesus' first sign, revealing His glory and leading His disciples to believe.
- John.4.46
So once again He came to Cana in Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.
John recalls Cana as the place where Jesus had turned water into wine when He later returns there.
- John.21.2
Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.
John identifies Nathanael as being from Cana in Galilee among the gathered disciples.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It Cana 4× John 2:1, John 2:11, John 4:46, John 21:2
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row John 2:1
Aligned rows 4
Books represented 1
John 4
Source forms
Κανὰ 3x Kana John 2:1, John 2:11, John 4:46
Κανᾶ 1x Kana John 21:2
Parsing patterns
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 2x John 2:1, John 2:11
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 1x John 4:46
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 1x John 21:2
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Let Cana teach narrative memory before drawing generalized lessons about places in a believer's life.
- Do not let curiosity about location overshadow John's witness to Jesus' glory.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that Kana has a hidden theological meaning apart from John's narrative use.
- Do not claim that Cana itself is the source of the sign's power or significance.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Cana, a place in Palestine
Source Gloss
Cana, a place in Palestine
Extended definition
:--Cana.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
John 2:1 Proper name
Κανᾷ kana
Cana
Read verse John 2:11 Proper name
Κανᾷ kana
Cana
Read verse John 4:46 Proper name
Κανᾶ kana
Cana
Read verse John 21:2 Proper name
Κανᾶ kana
Cana
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Cross-Language Connections
Hebrew roots and equivalents that share conceptual or etymological ground with this Greek word.
H7071 Related Hebrew
For the Preacher and Teacher
Kana matters because John's Gospel uses places as part of theological memory. Cana is not important because the name carries a hidden meaning. It matters because Jesus' first sign happens there. John explicitly says that at Cana Jesus revealed His glory and His disciples believed in Him. When Jesus later returns to Cana, the reader is meant to remember the water-into-wine sign as another scene of need and mercy unfolds through the official's son.
By John 21, Nathanael's connection to Cana quietly keeps the place within the circle of witness. Kana therefore helps teachers respect narrative location. The place anchors memory: Jesus acts, glory is revealed, faith begins to take shape, and the Gospel's signs invite readers to see who He is.
Anchor passage
John.2.11
Doctrinal connections
- G4592 Semeion: Cana is explicitly named as the place of Jesus' first sign in John.
- G1391 Doxa: The Cana sign reveals Jesus' glory.
- G4100 Pisteuo: John connects the sign with the disciples believing in Jesus.
- G1062 Gamos: The first Cana scene takes place at a wedding.
- G3631 Oinos: Water becoming wine belongs to the sign's concrete form.
- G1056 Galilaia: Cana is located in Galilee, grounding the sign in John's Gospel geography.
Kana is a proper place name. It should not be treated as a lexical concept with a meaning that can be applied apart from John's narrative settings.
From Old to New Testament
Scripture often attaches God's works to remembered places. Cana functions that way in John: not as a shrine to the place itself, but as a narrative marker where glory, sign, and faith are remembered.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain