John 4 - Introduction
John 4:1-42. The Work among Samaritans... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:1-42. The Work among Samaritans... [ Continue Reading ]
_When therefore the Lord knew_ The -therefore" refers us back to John 3:26. Of the many who came to Christ some told the Pharisees of His doings, just as others told John. _the Pharisees_ See on John 1:24. _made and baptized_ Literally, IS MAKING AND BAPTIZING, the very words of the report are giv... [ Continue Reading ]
John 2:13 TO JOHN 11:57. The Work We here enter on the second portion of the first main division of the Gospel, thus subdivided: The Work (1) among _Jews_, (2) among _Samaritans_, (3) among _Galileans_, (4) among _mixed multitudes_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus himself baptized not_ Because baptizing is the work of a minister, not of the Lord. Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33).... [ Continue Reading ]
_He left Judæa_ The stronghold of the Pharisees and of the party opposed to Christ. We are to infer, therefore, that this report made them commence operations against Him. _departed again into Galilee_ -Again" is somewhat wanting in authority. It points to the period from John 1:43 to John 2:12. Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
_he must needs go through Samaria_ There was no other way, unless he crossed the Jordan and went round by Perea, as Jews sometimes did to avoid annoyance from the Samaritans (on the Samaritans, see note on Matthew 10:5). As Christ was on his way _from_Jerusalem, and escaping from the ruling party th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then cometh he_ Better, _He cometh_ THEREFORE; because that was His route. _a city of Samaria_ City is used loosely, and must not be supposed to imply anything large. Capernaum, which Josephus calls a village, the Evangelists call a city. -Town" would be better as a translation. Samaria is the ins... [ Continue Reading ]
Doubt has been thrown on this narrative in three different ways. (1) On _a priori_grounds. How could the Samaritans, who rejected the prophetical books, and were such bitter enemies of the Jews, be expecting a Messiah? The narrative is based on a fundamental mistake. But it is notorious that the Sam... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jacob's well_ Or, SPRING (John 4:11). It still exists, but without spring-water; one of the few sites about which there is no dispute, in the entrance to the valley between Ebal and Gerizim. _sat thus on the well_ Or, WAS SITTING _thus_(just as He was) BY _the_ SPRING. All these details mark the r... [ Continue Reading ]
_a woman of Samaria_ i.e. of the province; not of the _city_of Samaria, at that time called Sebaste, in honour of Augustus, who had given it to Herod the Great. Herod's name for it survives in the modern Sebustieh. A woman of the city of Samaria would not have come all that distance to fetch water.... [ Continue Reading ]
_to buy meat_ i.e. food, not necessarily flesh. The meat-offering was fine flour and oil without any flesh. Leviticus 2:1. The Greek word here means -nourishment.... [ Continue Reading ]
_woman of Samaria_ In both places in this verse we should rather have SAMARITAN WOMAN: the Greek is not the same as in John 4:7. The adjective lays stress on the national and religious characteristics. For -then" read THEREFORE, as in John 4:5. _How is it_ Feminine pertness. She is half-amused and... [ Continue Reading ]
_the gift of God_ What He is ready to give thee, what is now held out to thee, thy salvation. For -knewest" read HADST KNOWN. Comp. John 11:21; John 11:32; John 14:28, where we have the same construction; and contrast John 5:46 and John 8:19, where the A. V. makes the converse mistake of translating... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sir_ A decided change from the pert -How is it?" in John 4:9. His words and manner already begin to impress her. _the well is deep_ Not the same word for -well" as in John 4:6. There the _spring_in the well is the chief feature: here it is rather the _deep hole_in which the spring was. Earlier tra... [ Continue Reading ]
_Art thou greater_ -Thou" is very emphatic; _Surely Thou art not greater_. Comp. John 8:53. The loquacity of the woman as contrasted with the sententiousness of Nicodemus is very natural, while on the other hand she shews a similar perverseness in misunderstanding spiritual metaphors. _our father Ja... [ Continue Reading ]
Christ leaves her question unanswered, like that of Nicodemus (John 3:4-5), and passes on to develop the metaphor rather than explain it, contrasting the literal with the figurative sense. Comp. John 3:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall never thirst_ Literally, WILL CERTAINLY NOT THIRST FOR EVER, for the craving is satisfied as soon as ever it recurs. See on John 8:51. _springing up into everlasting life_ Not that ETERNAL life is some _future_result to be realised hereafter; it is the _immediate_result. The soul in which th... [ Continue Reading ]
She still does not understand, but does not wilfully misunderstand. This wonderful water will at any rate be worth having, and she asks quite sincerely (not ironically) for it. Had she been a Jew, she could scarcely have thus misunderstood, this metaphor of -water" and -living water" is so frequent... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go, call thy husband_ Not that the man was wanted, either as a concession to Jewish propriety, which forbad a Rabbi to talk with a woman alone, or for any other reason. By a seemingly casual request Christ lays hold of her inner life, convinces her of sin, and leads her to repentance, without which... [ Continue Reading ]
_hast well said_ i.e. SAIDST _rightly_. Comp. John 8:48; Matthew 15:7; Luke 20:39. There is perhaps a touch of irony in the -well.... [ Continue Reading ]
_five husbands_ To be understood quite literally. They were either dead or divorced, and she was now living with a man without being married to him. _in that saidst thou truly_ Better, THIS (one thing) _thou_ HAST SAID _truly_. Christ exposes the falsehood which lurks in the literal truth of her st... [ Continue Reading ]
_a prophet_ One divinely inspired with supernatural knowledge, 1 Samuel 9:9. Note the gradual change in her attitude of mind towards Him. First, off-hand pertness (John 4:9); then, respect to His gravity of manner and serious words (John 4:11); next, a misunderstanding belief in what He says (John 4... [ Continue Reading ]
Convinced that He can read her life she shrinks from inspection and hastily turns the conversation from herself. In seeking a new subject she naturally catches at one of absorbing interest to every Samaritan. Mount Gerizim shorn of its temple suggests the great national religious question ever in di... [ Continue Reading ]
_believe me_ This formula occurs here only; the usual one is -I say unto you." _the hour cometh_ No article in the Greek; _there cometh_ AN _hour_. Christ decides neither for nor against either place. The utter ruin on Gerizim and the glorious building at Jerusalem will soon be on an equality. Thos... [ Continue Reading ]
"We shall surely be justified in attributing the wonderful words of John 4:21; John 4:23-24, to One greater even than S. John. They seem to breathe the spirit of other worlds than ours -of worlds whose course is equable and pure;" where media and vehicles of grace are unneeded, and the soul knows ev... [ Continue Reading ]
_ye know not what_ Or, THAT WHICH YE KNOW NOT. The Samaritan religion, even after being purified from the original mixture with idolatry (2 Kings 17:33; 2 Kings 17:41), remained a mutilated religion; the obscurity of the Pentateuch (and of that a garbled text) unenlightened by the clearer revelation... [ Continue Reading ]
_the hour cometh_ As before, _there cometh_ AN _hour_. What follows, _and it is now here_, could not be added in John 4:21. The local worship on Gerizim and Zion must still continue for a while; but there are already a few who are rising above these externals to the spirit of true worship, in which... [ Continue Reading ]
God is spirit, and must be approached in that part of us which is spirit, in the true temple of God, -which temple ye are." Even to the chosen three Christ imparts no truths more profound than these. He admits this poor schismatic to the very fountain-head of religion.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Messias_ See note on John 1:41. There is nothing at all improbable in her knowing the Jewish name and using it to a Jew. The word being so rare in N.T. we are perhaps to understand that it was the very word used; but it may be S. John's equivalent for what she said. Comp. John 4:29. Throughout this... [ Continue Reading ]
_am he_ This is correct, although -He" is not expressed in the Greek. It is the ordinary Greek affirmative (comp. Luke 22:70); there is no reference to the Divine name -I AM," Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy 32:39. This open declaration of His Messiahship is startling when we remember Matthew 16:20; Matthe... [ Continue Reading ]
_talked with the woman_ Rather, WAS TALKING _with_ A _woman_, contrary to the precepts of the Rabbis. -Let no one talk with a woman in the street, no not with his own wife." The woman's being a Samaritan would increase their astonishment. _What seekest thou?_ Probably both questions are addressed ... [ Continue Reading ]
_The woman then_ Better, _The woman_ THEREFORE; because of the interruption. _left her waterpot_ Same word for -waterpot" as in the miracle at Cana, and used nowhere else. Her leaving it shews that her errand is forgotten, or neglected as of no moment compared with what now lies before her. This gr... [ Continue Reading ]
_all things that ever I did_ How natural is this exaggeration! In her excitement she states not what He had really told her, but what she is convinced He could have told her. Comp. -all men" in John 3:26, and -no man" in John 3:32. This strong language is in all three cases thoroughly in keeping wit... [ Continue Reading ]
_went out … and came_ Literally, _went out … and_ WERE COMING. The change of tense from aorist to imperfect gives vividness. We are to see them coming along across the fields as we listen to the conversation that follows, 31 38.... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the mean while_ Between the departure of the women and the arrival of her fellow-townsmen. _Master, eat_ Better, RABBI, _eat_. Here and in John 9:2 and John 11:8 our translators have rather regrettably turned -Rabbi" into -Master," (comp. Matthew 26:25; Matthew 26:49; Mark 9:5; Mark 11:21; Mark... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have meat_, &c. The pronouns -I" and -ye" are emphatically opposed. His joy at the woman's conversion prompts Him to refuse food: not of course that His human frame could do without it, but that in His delight He feels for the moment no want of food.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hath any man brought him_ The emphasis is on -brought." -Surely no one hath _brought_Him any thing to eat." Another instance of dulness as to spiritual meaning. In John 2:20 it was the Jews; in John 3:4 Nicodemus; in John 4:11 the Samaritan woman; and now the disciples. Comp. John 11:12; John 14:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
_My meat is to do the will_, &c. Literally, _My food is_ THAT I MAY do _the will of Him that sent Me and thus finish His work_. It is Christ's aim and purpose that is His food. Comp. John 5:36; John 8:56. These words recall the reply to the tempter -man doth not live by bread alone," and the reply t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Say not ye_ The pronoun is again emphatic. _There are yet four months_, &c. This cannot be a proverb. No such proverb is known; and a proverb on the subject would have to be differently shaped; e.g. -From seedtime to harvest is four months," or something of the kind. So that we may regard this say... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto life eternal_ Another small change without reason (comp. John 12:25; John 17:3). Our translators vary between -eternal life," -life eternal," -everlasting life," and -life everlasting" (John 12:50). The Greek is in all cases the same, and should in all cases be translated -eternal life." See o... [ Continue Reading ]
_And herein is that saying true_ Rather, FOR _herein is the saying_(_proved) true_, i.e. is shewn to be the genuine proverb capable of realisation, not a mere empty phrase. -True" is opposed to -unreal" not to -lying." See on John 4:23; John 1:9 and John 7:28. -Herein" refers to what precedes: comp.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I sent you_, &c. The pronouns are again emphatically opposed, as in John 4:32. _other men_ Christ, the Sower; but put in the plural to balance -ye" in the next clause. In John 4:37 both are put in the _singular_for the sake of harmony; -One soweth" (Christ), -another reapeth" (the disciples). All... [ Continue Reading ]
_many of the Samaritans_ Strong proof of the truth of John 4:35. These Samaritans outstrip the Jews, and even the Apostles, in their readiness to believe. The Jews rejected the testimony of their own Scriptures, of the Baptist, of Christ's miracles and teaching. The Samaritans accept the testimony o... [ Continue Reading ]
_besought him_ Or, KEPT BESEECHING _Him_. How different from His own people at Nazareth; Matthew 13:58; Luke 4:29. Comp. the thankful Samaritan leper, Luke 17:16-17. _tarry with them_ Better, ABIDE _with them_. See on John 1:33. They perhaps mean, take up His abode permanently with them, or at any... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy saying_ Not the same word as in John 4:39, the Greek for which is the same as that translated -word" in John 4:41. _Joh 4:39; John 4:41_should be alike, viz. -word," meaning -statement" in John 4:39 and -teaching" in John 4:41. Here we should have -speech" or -talk." In classical Greek _lalia_h... [ Continue Reading ]
The Work among Galileans 43. _after two days_ Literally, _after_ THE _two days_mentioned in John 4:40. _and went_ These words are wanting in the best MSS.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For Jesus himself testified_ This is a well-known difficulty. As in John 20:17, we have a reason assigned which seems to be the very opposite of what we should expect. This witness of Jesus would account for His _not_going into Galilee: how does it account for His going thither? It seems best to fa... [ Continue Reading ]
_all the things that he did_ Of these we have a passing notice John 2:23. -The Feast" means the Passover, but there is no need to name it, because it has already been named, John 2:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
_where he made the water wine_ and therefore would be likely to find a favourable hearing. For -So Jesus came" read HE _came_ THEREFORE. See on John 6:14. _nobleman_ Literally, _king's man_, i.e. OFFICER IN THE SERVICE OF THE KING, Herod Antipas; but whether in a civil or military office, there is... [ Continue Reading ]
_that he would come down_ Literally, IN ORDER THAT HE MIGHT _come down_; comp. John 4:34; John 5:7; John 5:36; John 6:29; John 6:50. _at Capernaum_ 20 miles or more from Cana.... [ Continue Reading ]
_signs and wonders_ Christ's miracles are never mere -wonders" to excite astonishment; they are -signs" of heavenly truths as well, and this is their primary characteristic. Where these two words are joined together -signs" always precedes, excepting four passages in the Acts, where we nave -wonders... [ Continue Reading ]
_ere my child die_ This shews both the man's faith and its weakness. He believes that Christ's presence can save the child; he does not believe that He can save him without being present.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the man believed_ The father's faith is healed at the same time as the son's body. _had spoken_ Better, SPAKE; aorist, not pluperfect.... [ Continue Reading ]
_began to amend_ Or, WAS SOMEWHAT BETTER; a colloquial expression. The father fancies that the cure will be gradual. The fever will depart at Christ's word, but will depart in the ordinary way. He has not yet fully realised Christ's power. The reply of the servants shews that the cure was instantane... [ Continue Reading ]
_himself believed_ This is the last stage in the growth of the man's faith, a growth which S. John sketches for us here as in the case of the Samaritan woman. In both cases the spiritual development is thoroughly natural, as also is the incidental way in which S. John places it before us. _and his... [ Continue Reading ]
_This is again the second_, &c. Rather, _This again as a second miracle_(or _sign) did Jesus, after He had come out of Judaea into Galilee_. Both first and second had similar results: the first confirmed the faith of the disciples, the second that of this official. The question whether this foregoi... [ Continue Reading ]