John 4

Listen to this chapter

Jesus, departing Judaea for Galilee, passed through Samaria where he met a woman at Jacob's well. He offered her "living water," revealed her past, and declared himself the Messiah, leading her and many Samaritans to believe. Subsequently, he healed a nobleman's son in Galilee from a distance, demonstrating his authority and eliciting faith from the nobleman and his household.

Jesus Departs for Galilee 1–3

When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John

(although Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples),

he left Judæa, and departed again into Galilee.

Jesus Must Go Through Samaria 4–6

And he must needs pass through Samaria.

So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph:

and Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

The Woman at the Well 7–15

There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

For his disciples were gone away into the city to buy food.

The Samaritan woman therefore saith unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a Samaritan woman? (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: whence then hast thou that living water?

Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle?

Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw.

Jesus Reveals Her Past 16–19

Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

The woman answered and said unto him, I have no husband. Jesus saith unto her, Thou saidst well, I have no husband:

for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: this hast thou said truly.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

Worship in Spirit and Truth 20–26

Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father.

Ye worship that which ye know not: we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews.

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh (he that is called Christ): when he is come, he will declare unto us all things.

Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

The Urgent Call to Harvest 27–38

And upon this came his disciples; and they marvelled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why speakest thou with her?

So the woman left her waterpot, and went away into the city, and saith to the people,

Come, see a man, who told me all things that ever I did: can this be the Christ?

They went out of the city, and were coming to him.

In the mean while the disciples prayed him, saying, Rabbi, eat.

But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not.

The disciples therefore said one to another, Hath any man brought him aught to eat?

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his work.

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest.

He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

For herein is the saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.

I sent you to reap that whereon ye have not labored: others have labored, and ye are entered into their labor.

Many Samaritans Believe 39–42

And from that city many of the Samaritans believed on him because of the word of the woman, who testified, He told me all things thatever I did.

So when the Samaritans came unto him, they besought him to abide with them: and he abode there two days.

And many more believed because of his word;

and they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy speaking: for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.

Jesus Returns to Galilee 43–45

And after the two days he went forth from thence into Galilee.

For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honor in his own country.

So when he came into Galilee, the Galilæans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.

Healing the Nobleman’s Son 46–54

He came therefore again unto Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judæa into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.

Jesus therefore said unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will in no wise believe.

The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.

Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. The man believed the word that Jesus spake unto him, and he went his way.

And as he was now going down, his servants met him, saying, that his son lived.

So he inquired of them the hour when he began to amend. They said therefore unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.

So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judæa into Galilee.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for John 4

Verse 1

the Pharisees had heard — The report follows John 3:26, where John's disciples tell him of Jesus, 'all men come to him', and John's answer, 'He must increase, but I must decrease' (3:30). Having learned of it, the Lord leaves Judaea for Galilee (v.3).

Verse 2

Jesus himself baptized not — John 3:22 says he 'baptized'; this parenthesis shows it was done through his disciples. His own baptism is of another kind: 'he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost' (John 1:33). Paul says of himself, 'Christ sent me not to baptize' (1 Cor 1:17).

Verse 4

must needs go through Samaria — Dei, 'it is necessary'. Samaria lay between Judaea and Galilee, and Luke 17:11 has him later passing 'through the midst of Samaria and Galilee'. It is the verb of 'I must be about my Father's business' (Luke 2:49), and returns for worship in vv.20 and 24.

Verse 5

the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph — Jacob 'bought a parcel of a field' at Shechem (Gen 33:19) and gave Joseph 'one portion' (Gen 48:22), in Hebrew shekem, the same word as the place-name. Joseph's bones were buried in that parcel (Josh 24:32).

Verse 6

wearied with his journey — Kopiao, to be worn out by labour; the same verb is the 'labour' of v.38. The Son sits tired at the well: a high priest 'touched with the feeling of our infirmities' (Heb 4:15). The day having 'twelve hours' (John 11:9), the sixth is midday.

Verse 7

Give me to drink — She comes 'to draw' (antleo, to dip up water), the verb of 2:8–9 and 4:15. A stranger asking a woman at a well for water is a scene already told in Gen 24:43, where Abraham's servant says, 'Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink.'

Verse 9

no dealings — Synchraomai, to use in common; it occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The Samaritans' origin is told in 2 Kings 17:24, men brought by the king of Assyria into 'the cities of Samaria', who 'feared the LORD, and served their graven images' (17:41). The Twelve were once told to enter no 'city of the Samaritans' (Matt 10:5).

Verse 10

the gift of God — Dorea, a free gift, the word for 'the gift of the Holy Ghost' (Acts 2:38; 10:45). 'Living waters' is the LORD's own title in Jer 2:13, 'the fountain of living waters', which Israel forsook. John gives the sense at 7:38–39: the Spirit, given when Jesus was glorified.

Verse 14

springing up — Hallomai, to leap or gush; elsewhere in the New Testament only of the lame men who 'leaping' stood (Acts 3:8) and 'leaped' (Acts 14:10). 'Shall never thirst' is the strong negative ou me. The well is 'in him', set against Jacob's well of v.12.

Verse 16

Go, call thy husband — The request turns the talk from the water to her life. John says of Jesus that 'he knew what was in man' (2:25), and she carries it to the town: 'Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?' (v.29).

Verse 18

five husbands — Jesus confirms what she had said, 'in that saidst thou truly', and supplies what she left unsaid: five husbands, and a man now who is not her husband. The town hears it as 'all that ever I did' (v.39), and believes.

Verse 19

a prophet — Theoreo, to look closely and so discern. 'Prophet' is the title of Deut 18:15, 'a Prophet… like unto me', and the men who saw his miracle in 6:14 call him 'that prophet that should come into the world'. By v.25 she looks for 'Messias… which is called Christ'.

Verse 20

this mountain — Gerizim (the verse says only 'this mountain'), the mountain of 'the blessing' (Deut 11:29), above Shechem, the town where Jacob 'erected there an altar' (Gen 33:19–20). Jerusalem is the 'place which the LORD your God shall choose' (Deut 12:5). 'Ought' is dei, the verb of 'must needs' in v.4.

Verse 22

salvation is of the Jews — Soteria occurs only here in John's Gospel. 'Ye worship ye know not what' recalls 2 Kings 17:41, where the settlers 'feared the LORD, and served their graven images'. The line of salvation is named by Paul: 'of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came' (Rom 9:5).

Verse 23

in spirit and in truth — 'The hour cometh, and now is' is the form of John 5:25. Proskynetes, 'worshipper', is found only here in the New Testament, and alethinos means truthful. 'The Father seeketh' (zeteo): the Son of man likewise 'is come to seek and to save that which was lost' (Luke 19:10).

Verse 24

God is a Spirit — 'Must' is dei again (vv.4, 20), which means a requirement. 'Spirit' and 'truth' recur in Christ's own words: 'the Spirit of truth' (John 14:17; 15:26) and 'I am the way, the truth, and the life' (14:6). Paul too: 'worship God in the spirit' (Phil 3:3).

Verse 26

I that speak unto thee am he — The Greek is ego eimi, 'I am', the two words of 'Before Abraham was, I am' (John 8:58). It answers her 'Messias cometh' (v.25). Compare 'I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I' (Isa 52:6).

Verse 27

marvelled — Thaumazo, to wonder. The disciples, who had gone to buy food (v.8), return to find him talking 'with the woman', the very point she raised in v.9. Of the two questions none asked, 'What seekest thou?' uses zeteo, the verb of 'the Father seeketh' (v.23).

Verse 32

meat to eat that ye know not of — The disciples went to 'buy meat' (v.8, trophe). His word is brosis, food as eating, which John uses again: 'Labour not for the meat which perisheth' (6:27) and 'my flesh is meat indeed' (6:55). The next verse says what this food is.

Verse 34

to do the will of him that sent me — Broma, 'meat': his food is the Father's will, as in 5:30, 'I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me'. 'To finish' (teleioo, to bring to completion) looks to the end of his work: 'I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do' (17:4).

Verse 35

white already to harvest — Tetramenon, 'four months', occurs only here in the New Testament. He points from the grain to the people: the Samaritans 'went out of the city, and came unto him' (v.30). The figure is the same as 'The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few' (Matt 9:37).

Verse 38

I sent you to reap — Apostello, the verb of 'apostle'. 'Labour' (kopiao) is the verb used of Jesus in v.6, 'wearied'. Samaria's hearing is told in Acts 8:5, where Philip 'went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them', and in v.14, where Peter and John are sent.

Verse 42

the Saviour of the world — Soter with kosmos; the phrase is found only here and in 1 John 4:14, 'the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world'. The Samaritans rest it on their own hearing: 'we have heard him ourselves', after 'many more believed because of his own word' (v.41).

Verse 43

after two days — The two days are those of v.40, when the Samaritans 'besought him that he would tarry with them'. He then goes into Galilee, to Cana (v.46), the town of the first sign (2:1, 11); v.44 gives a saying, and v.45 the welcome.

Verse 44

a prophet hath no honour in his own country — Patris, native place, found only here in John. The saying is spoken at Nazareth in Luke 4:16, 24 and again in Matt 13:54, 57. 'His own country' is read of Judaea, where the prophets were refused, or of Galilee; v.45 says the Galilaeans 'received him'.

Verse 46

a certain nobleman — Basilikos, 'of the king': it is the word for 'royal' in Acts 12:21 and James 2:8, and for 'the king's country' in Acts 12:20. He seeks Jesus at Cana, 'where he made the water wine' (2:1–11), for a son who 'was sick' (astheneo) at Capernaum.

Verse 48

signs and wonders — Semeion and teras, a pair found in Acts (2:22; 4:30; 5:12) and Heb 2:4; in John it appears only here. The reproof meets a father who then 'believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him' (v.50) and went home without a sign. Compare 20:29.

Verse 50

thy son liveth — Zao, the verb of 'living water' (v.10), repeated in vv.51 and 53. The healing is by a word, at a distance: 'He sent his word, and healed them' (Ps 107:20). The man 'believed the word' (logos) and 'went his way'.

Verse 53

at the same hour — The father asks the hour his son began to amend; 'Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him' (v.52), the hour of 'Thy son liveth'. 'Himself believed, and his whole house' recalls Crispus, who 'believed on the Lord with all his house' (Acts 18:8).

Verse 54

the second miracle — 'Miracle' is semeion, 'sign', the word of v.48 and of 2:11, 'This beginning of miracles'. John numbers them: the first at Cana of Galilee (2:11), this one the second, again at Cana and again on coming 'out of Judaea into Galilee'.