John 4:47

ἀπῆλθεν … ἠρώτα. Comp. John 4:27; John 4:30; John 4:40; John 4:50, and see on John 11:29. The leaving his son was a single act (aor.), the beseeching (John 4:31; John 4:40) was continuous (imp.). For ἵνα see on John 1:8. Some scholars think that in constructions like this ἵνα does not mean ‘in order that,’ but ‘that,’ and simply defines the scope of the request or command; comp. John 11:57; John 17:15; John 17:21; John 19:31; John 19:38; John 15:17; John 15:12; John 11:57. Winer, pp. 425, 573.

καταβῇ. Down to the lake (John 2:12); about 20 miles. See on John 1:7.

ἤμελλε. Μέλλειν here simply means ‘to be likely’ without any further notion either of intention (John 6:6; John 6:15; John 7:35; John 14:22), or of being fore-ordained (John 11:51; John 12:33; John 18:32).