Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

John 4:44

The reason for His proceeding to Galilee is given in John 4:44. αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐμαρτύρησεν, “for Jesus Himself testified”. The evangelist would not have presumed to apply to Jesus the proverbial expression, προφήτης … οὐκ ἔχει, but Jesus Himself used it. The saying embodies a common observation. Montaigne complained that in his own country he had to purchase publishers: while elsewhere publishers purchased him. The difficulty lies in the present application of the saying. If Galilee was His “fatherland,” how can He use this proverb as a reason for His going there? To escape the difficulty Cyril, followed by Calvin, Grotius, and many more, says Nazareth was His πατρίς, and here [ἀναγκαίαν ποιεῖται τὴν ἀπολογίαν τῆς παραδρομῆς] he assigns the reason for His passing by Nazareth. πατρίς can be used of a town as in Philo's Leg. ad Caium, Agrippa says ἔστι δέ μοι Ἱεροσόλυμα πατρίς (Kypke). See also Achilles Tat., 22; Luke 4:23. But the objection is that Lk. tells us He did go to Nazareth. Origen says Judaea was the πατρίς τῶν προφητῶν; and Lücke, Westcott, Reith, and others believe that Judaea is here meant; and that Jesus, by citing the proverb, gives the reason for His rejection in Jerusalem. But this is out of place, as He had long since left Jerusalem. Meyer thinks the meaning is that Jesus left Galilee in order to substantiate His Messianic claim in Jerusalem, and this having been accomplished, He returns with His credentials to His own country. This agrees with John 4:45, “having seen the miracles which He had done in Jerusalem”. Weiss interprets the words as meaning that Jesus leaves Samaria, where honour had come unbidden, in order to evoke faith and honour where as yet He had none: thus continuing the hard work of sowing and leaving to the disciples the glad harvesting. This is ingenious; but the obvious interpretation is that which finds in the statement (John 4:43-44) a resumption of the narrative of John 4:1-3, which had been interrupted by the account of the Lord's experience in Samaria. That narrative had assigned as the reason for our Lord's leaving Judaea and making for Galilee, His own over-popularity, which threatened a collision with the Pharisees. To avoid this He goes to Galilee, where, as He Himself said, there was little risk of His being too highly honoured.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

John 4:44

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