John 4 - ESV Study Bible

4:4 Jesus had to pass this way because of geography (it was the shortest route), but the words may also indicate that Jesus’ itinerary was subject to the sovereign and providential plan of God (“had to” translates Gk. dei, “to be necessary,” which always indicates divine necessity or requirement elsewhere in John: 3:7,14,30; 9:4; 10:16; 12:34; 20:9). Through Samaria was the usual route taken by travelers from Judea to Galilee, though strict Jews, in order to avoid defilement, could bypass Samaria by opting for a longer route that involved crossing the Jordan and traveling on the east side. The Samaritans were a racially mixed group of partly Jewish and partly Gentile ancestry, who were disdained by both Jews and non-Jews (see Luke 10:33; 17:16; John 8:48; see also 2 Kings 17:24–31, which describes how the king of Assyria brought foreign people to settle in Samaria in 722 B.C.; over time they had intermarried with some Jews who had remained in the area). See also note on John 4:20–21. Many inhabitants of this region between Judea and Galilee were descendants of the OT northern kingdom of Israel, although from the Jewish perspective these Samaritans had assimilated strongly into non-Jewish culture and had intermarried with Mesopotamian colonists. The Samaritans had their own version of the Pentateuch, their own temple on Mount Gerizim (see 4:20), and their own rendering of Israelite history. Copies of their Pentateuch in Hebrew (and in Targumic Aramaic) remain extant, as do their basic historical narratives. Tensions often ran high between Jews and Samaritans; thus Josephus recounts fighting between Jews and Samaritans during Claudius’s reign in the first century A.D. being so intense that Roman soldiers were called in to pacify (and to crucify) many of the rebels (Jewish War 2.232–246).

4:5 The village of Sychar is usually identified with Askar, which is approximately 0.7 miles (1.2 km) from Jacob’s well and on the slope of Mount Ebal. Roman-era tombs are known in this area. The reference to the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph reflects the customary inference from Gen. 48:21–22 and Josh. 24:32 that Jacob gave his son Joseph the land at Shechem, which he had bought from the sons of Hamor (Gen. 33:18–19) and which later served as Joseph’s burial place (Ex. 13:19; Josh. 24:32).

4:6 Jacob’s well. The probable location for this well lies in modern Nablus—known in the Roman period as Flavia Neapolis and called in the OT by the name Shechem. This well was once covered with vaulted stone and a Byzantine (4th–7th century A.D.) church. It is quite deep (as described in v. 11), although measurements have varied over the years (possibly due to debris in the well). It was also at a juncture of major ancient roads and near the traditional sacred site of Joseph’s tomb. The reference to Jesus being wearied … from his journey underscores his full humanity (see also 11:35; 19:28). Jesus’ human nature could be weak and tired, though his divine nature was omnipotent (cf. 1:3,10). Sixth hour refers to noon, when it would have been hot and time to rest, and travelers would be thirsty. Normally, women would come to draw water in the morning or evening when it was cooler (Gen. 24:11; Cf. 29:7–8); the immoral woman comes at a time when no one else would be at the well.

4:7 Jesus took the initiative in speaking to a Samaritan woman—an astonishing break with culture and tradition, showing his desire to save the lost.

4:9 The comment that Jews have no dealings with Samaritans explains to John’s readers outside the land of Palestine that Samaritans were considered by many Jews to be in a continual state of uncleanness, thus they would have thought that drinking water from this woman’s water jar would make a person ceremonially unclean. The verb in the phrase rendered “have no dealings” can also have a more specific meaning of “share use of [things].”

4:10 Jesus’ words about living water again involve double meaning (see notes on 3:14; 8:24; 11:50–51; 19:19; cf. also 3:7–8). Literally, the phrase refers to fresh spring water (Gen. 26:19; Lev. 14:6), but John 7:38–39 identifies this “living water” as the Holy Spirit dwelling within a believer (cf. Jer. 2:13; Ezek. 47:1–6; Zech. 14:8; also Isa. 12:3).

4:11 The well today is still over 100 feet (31 m) deep and was probably deeper at that time.

4:12 By referring to our father Jacob the woman shows that she and her people still think of themselves as true descendants of Jacob (Israel, Gen. 32:28). Clearly the woman does not understand who Jesus is, for then she would understand that he is greater even than Jacob, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel (see Gen. 49:1–28).

4:14 The water that I will give him is the “living water” of v. 10, identified in 7:37–39 as the Holy Spirit dwelling within believers. never be thirsty again. A person’s deepest spiritual longing to know God personally will, amazingly, be satisfied forever. The phrase will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life is reminiscent of Isa. 12:3 (see also Isa. 44:3; 55:1–3).

4:15 The woman takes Jesus literally and misunderstands him, just as Nicodemus did (see 3:4). In John’s Gospel, Jesus frequently speaks in terms of the visible, physical world (birth, water, bread, his body, light) to teach about the unseen spiritual world (see chart).

4:17 no husband. While technically truthful, the woman’s curt statement is probably intended to close the subject. But Jesus, with gentleness and compassion, reveals both her sin and his omniscient knowledge of her life.

4:18 The woman had had five husbands who had either died or divorced her. When Jesus says the one you now have is not your husband, he implies that merely living together does not constitute a marriage. A marriage requires some kind of official sanction and public ceremony at which a man and woman commit to the obligations of marriage and the community then recognizes that a marriage has begun (see 2:1; also Song 3:11; Mal. 2:14; Matt. 9:15). Sexual relationships prior to marriage were without question thought to be morally wrong (Gen. 38:24; Ex. 22:16; Deut. 22:13–29; Matt. 15:19; John 8:41; Acts 15:20; 1 Cor. 6:18; 7:2,9; 1 Thess. 4:3; cf. the imagery in 2 Cor. 11:2).

4:20–21 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. Mount Gerizim (Deut. 11:29; 27:12) was the OT setting for the pronouncement of blessings for keeping the covenant. The Samaritans’ version (see note on v. 4) of Deut. 27:4 named Mount Gerizim (rather than Ebal) as the place for the altar; this is where the Samaritans had built their temple. When the woman mentioned the “fathers” who “worshiped” on Mount Gerizim, she may well have included Abraham (Gen. 12:7) and Jacob (Gen. 33:18–20), who built altars in that region. A Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim was recorded in Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 11.310, 346–347; 12.257–264; cf. 2 Macc. 6:2). It was destroyed by the Hasmonean leader John Hyrcanus during his reign (134–104 B.C.). This temple has been identified by some with a large Hellenistic-era structure made with unhewn stones atop Tel er-Ras at the northern spur of the mountain, although many have suggested that a more probable location is beneath the old Byzantine (4th–7th century A.D.) church atop the mountain itself. Despite the destruction of this temple, Samaritan sacrificial worship has continued atop Mount Gerizim even until the modern era.

4:21 neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. Jesus is inaugurating a new age in which people will not have to travel to a physical temple in one city to worship but will be able to worship God in every place, because the Holy Spirit will dwell in them, and therefore God’s people everywhere will become the new temple where God dwells (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16–17; Eph. 2:19–22).

4:22 You is plural, implying “You Samaritans.” In saying we worship what we know Jesus identifies himself as a Jew. The verse shows that John’s Gospel is not anti-Semitic. Salvation is from the Jews in the sense that the whole OT, which taught about salvation, was from the Jewish people, and the Messiah himself came from the Jews and not from the Samaritans or (by implication) from the Gentiles.

4:24 God is spirit means that God is not made of any physical matter and does not have a material body but has a more wonderful kind of existence that is everywhere present (hence worship is not confined to one place, v. 21), is not perceived by the bodily senses (cf. 3:6,8), and yet is so powerful that he brought the universe into existence (cf. 1:1–3,10; 17:5). Because “God is spirit,” the Israelites were not to make idols “in the form of anything” in creation as did the surrounding nations (Ex. 20:4).

4:25–26 Messiah … (he who is called Christ). See note on 1:38. Jesus does not often identify himself directly as the Messiah (see note on 1:41) since most would then think he had come to bring instant political deliverance, but he departs from that pattern here in Samaria, which is removed from the centers of Judaism.

4:28 The woman’s water jar was probably a large earthenware pitcher, carried either on the shoulder or the hip.

4:32–34 food to eat. Jesus again speaks in terms of the physical world to teach about different realities in the unseen spiritual world (see note on v. 15). The accomplishment of Jesus’ mission is more important to him than physical food (cf. Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4; Luke 4:4; also Matt. 6:25; Mark 3:20–21). work. See note on John 14:12.

4:35 In the physical realm, there is a period of time between sowing and harvesting. But in the spiritual realm, Jesus’ coming has already ushered in the end-time harvest in which sowing and reaping paradoxically coincide, so that the “crop” of believers is now being gathered into God’s kingdom. The immediate reference may be to the approaching Samaritans who are going to believe in Jesus (cf. vv. 39–42).

4:36 This statement is reminiscent of Amos 9:13, where the “treader of grapes” overtakes “him who sows the seed,” depicting the abundance and prosperity of the new age. Hence Jesus claims that he is ushering in the messianic age in which sowing and reaping coincide. rejoice. There is a unique joy that comes from seeing others come to faith.

4:37–38 The others who have labored are Jesus and his predecessors, especially John the Baptist and his followers, but in a broader sense all the OT writers and prophets. Jesus’ followers are the beneficiaries of their work and will bring in the harvest.

4:41–42 Savior of the world. Not just of Jews. Jesus’ large-scale harvest among the Samaritans marks the first indication of the universal scope of his saving mission (cf. 10:16; 11:51–52). The early church engaged in a Samaritan mission as well (Acts 8:4–25). Hence the pattern of Jesus’ mission according to John—from Judea (Nicodemus, John 3:1–15), to Samaria (4:1–42), to the Gentiles (4:46–54; Cf. 12:20–33)—anticipates the post-Pentecost mission of the early church (cf. Acts 1:8).

4:43 Jesus departed for and arrived in Galilee (v. 45). It is at least 49 miles (79 km) by road from Sychar to Cana (v. 46), a journey that, by foot, would have taken at least two or three days.

4:43–54 The healing of the official’s son resembles that of the Gentile centurion’s servant in Matt. 8:5–13 and Luke 7:2–10, but this is not the same incident.

4:44 For … a prophet has no honor tells the reason Jesus is now going to Galilee: he is going to minister where he does not yet have honor, so that people would then come to believe in him. The wording of the proverb is different in Matt. 13:57, Mark 6:4, and Luke 4:24, and the application there is also different.

4:46 Cana. See note on 2:1. Capernaum. See note on Mark 1:21. The official was probably a Gentile centurion, possibly in the service of Herod Antipas (cf. Mark 6:14). John shows Jesus bringing the gospel to a respected Jewish teacher (John 3:1–21), then to an outcast Samaritan woman (4:1–42), then to an official working for the Roman government (4:46–54), and thus, by implication from these examples, to everyone in the world.

4:48 Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe is a challenge not only to the royal official (Jesus said to him), but also to the Galilean people (“you” is plural). Some may become entranced with signs and wonders and fail to see that they point to Jesus and hence fail to believe in him (cf. 6:2,26,30). However, this does not mean that John views “signs” in and of themselves negatively. To the contrary, Jesus’ miracles are one of the primary means God uses to bring people to faith in him; they often lead people to follow Jesus or place their faith in him as the Messiah (2:11,23; 3:2; 4:53–54; 6:2,14; 7:31; 11:47–48; 12:11,18; 20:31).

4:49–50 Your son will live indicates not just that Jesus knew that a miracle had happened, but that Jesus himself had healed the son, for John calls this a miracle “that Jesus did” (v. 54). A similar but different incident is narrated in Matt. 8:5–13 (cf. Luke 7:1–10).

4:54 This was the second sign following the first sign done in Cana (cf. 2:11); in the interim, Jesus had also performed signs in Jerusalem (cf. 2:23; 3:2; 4:45).