Chapter 4:39-45 The Samaritans

4:39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

Many of the Samaritans - believed on him for the saying of the woman - This woman was the first apostle of Christ in Samaria! 

She went and told her fellow citizens that the Messiah was come; and gave for proof, that He had told her the most secret things she had ever done:

4:40 So when the Samaritans were come unto Him, they besought Him that He would tarry with them: and He abode there two days.
So when the Samaritans were come unto Him -The Ethiopic version reads, all the Samaritans; they came to Him at Jacob's well, upon the woman's solicitations, and the account she gave of this extraordinary person: and after they had conversed with Him, and heard Him themselves, they were taken with His divine discourses, and being thoroughly persuaded that He was the Messiah,

4:41 And many more believed because of His own word;
Because of His own word; - which came to them, not in word only, but in power, and was the power of God unto salvation to them; and was received by them, not as the word of man, but as the word of God;

4:42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.
for we have heard Him ourselves; - not only externally with their bodily ears, but internally, having ears given them to hear, so as to understand what He said; 

--to mix it with faith, 

--and receive it in love; 

--to feel the power of it in their hearts, 

--and taste the sweetness of it, 

and be nourished by it; and so as to distinguish His voice from another's, as Christ's true sheep are capable of.

4:43 Now after two days He departed thence, and went into Galilee.
and went into Galilee; - as He first intended;

4:44 For Jesus Himself testified, that a prophet hath no honor in his own country.
Jesus Himself testified - He bore testimony to the general truth of the following proverb.

4:45 Then when He was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received Him, having seen all the things that He did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.

The Galileans received Him - They received Him as the promised Messiah, because of the miracles which they had seen Him perform at Jerusalem, at the Passover.

Chapter 4:7-38 Woman at the Well

4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give Me to drink.

There was great hatred between the Samaritans and the Jews. Christ's road from Judea to Galilee lay through Samaria. We should not go into places of temptation but when we needs must; and then must not dwell in them, but hasten through them. 

We have here our Lord Jesus under the common fatigue of travelers. Thus we see that He was truly a man. Toil came in with sin; therefore Christ, having made Himself a curse for us, submitted to it.
There cometh a woman of Samaria - Or "out of Samaria"; not out of the city of Samaria, but out of the country of Samaria; out of Sychar, a city of Samaria: her coming was not by chance, but by the providence of God. 

Jesus saith unto her, give Me to drink - that is, water to drink, out of the pot or pitcher, she brought with her, for he was athirst; which is another proof of the truth of His human nature, and of His taking it, with the sinless infirmities of it: though indeed this request was made, to introduce a discourse with the woman, 

He having a more violent thirst, and a stronger desire, 

after the welfare of her soul.

4:8 (For His disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

For His disciples were gone - Else he needed not have asked her.

4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto Him, How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Then saith the woman of Samaria unto Him - In a scoffing, jeering way, how is it, that Thou being a Jew; which she might know, by His language and His dress: askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?

4:10 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.

Jesus answered and said unto her - In a very serious manner, in a different way from hers: Living water - The Spirit and its fruits.

4:11 The woman saith unto Him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast Thou that living water?
Thou hast nothing to draw with - Ουτε αντλημα εχεις, Thou hast no bucket. and the well is deep; that which is now called Jacob's well, is by some said to be forty cubits deep, and by others thirty five yards:
from whence then hast Thou that living water? this she said in a sneering, scoffing manner.

4:12 Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

Our father Jacob - The ancient Samaritans were undoubtedly the descendants of Jacob; for they were the ten tribes that revolted in the reign of Rehoboam: but those in our Lord's time were not genuine Israelites, but a corrupted race, sprung from a mixture of different nations, sent thither by Salmanezer, king of the Assyrians. See 2 Kings 17:24.

4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Jesus answered and said unto her - In a mild and gentle manner, patiently bearing all her scoffs and flouts, and continuing to instruct and inform her, concerning this living water, showing the preferableness of it to all others.
whosoever drinketh of this water - meaning in that well called Jacob's well, or any other common water:
shall thirst again;- as this woman had often done,

4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Springing up into everlasting life - On this account he can never thirst: - for how can he lack water who has in himself a living, eternal spring? 

By this water our Lord means also his doctrine, explaining and promising the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, which proceed from Jesus Christ their fountain, dwelling in a believing heart.

4:15 The woman saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Up till now she has not imbibed a single idea from Christ. The Lord has spoken to her in parables, but she has not seen through the thin veil, so she has missed his meaning. Now he fires another shot, and deals with her in another fashion.

4:16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
Call thy husband - Our Lord appears to have spoken these words for two purposes:
1. To make the woman consider her own state.
2. To show her that He knew her heart, and the secret actions of her life; and was therefore well qualified to teach her heavenly truths.

4:17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
The woman answered and said, I have no husband - Which was a truth she would not have spoke at another time and place, or to any of her neighbors; but Christ being a stranger, and no odium incurring upon her by it; and this serving a purpose to excuse her going to call him, she declares the truth of the matter:

4:18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
For thou hast had five husbands - Which she either had had lawfully, and had buried one after another; and which was no crime, and might be.

4:19 The woman saith unto Him, Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet.
I perceive that Thou art a prophet - And therefore thought Him well qualified to decide the grand question in dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans: but she did not perceive Him to be the Messiah.

4:20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Worshipped in this mountain - Probably pointing to Mount Gerizim, at the foot of which Sychar was situated. 

The patriarchs had worshipped here-Jacob built an altar on this mountain, and worshiped the true God: This was the place where the Samaritans used to worship in opposition to Jerusalem.

4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

The hour cometh, etc. - The time was now at hand in which the spiritual worship of God was about to be established in the earth, and all the Jewish rites and ceremonies entirely abolished.

It is not the place which makes the true worship; 

it is the heart.

4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

Christ justly preferred the Jewish worship before the Samaritan, yet here He speaks of the former as soon to be done away. 

--God was about to be revealed as the Father of all believers in every nation. 

--The spirit or the soul of man, as influenced by the Holy Spirit, must worship God, and have communion with Him.


4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.
The true worshippers shall worship the Father - Not here or there only, but at all times and in all places.

4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
God is a spirit - Or "the Spirit is God"; a divine person, possessed of all divine perfections, as appears from His names, works, and worship ascribed unto Him; must worship Him in spirit and in truth; in the true and spiritual manner before described, which is suitable to His nature, and agreeably to His will.

4:25 The woman saith unto Him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things.
I know that Messias cometh - as if she had said that all the Samaritans expected the advent of the Messiah.

4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He.

Jesus saith unto her, I - am He - Our Lord never spoke in such direct terms concerning Himself to His own countrymen; nor even to His own disciples, till a little before His death.

4:27 And upon this came His disciples, and marvelled that He talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
Marveled that He talked with the woman - Because it was contrary to the custom of the eastern countries; and there are many canons, among the rabbins, against it.

So that blessed interview was broken up by Christ’s own disciples, What a set of blunderers we are! We sometimes come in between Christ and poor sinners whom He is going to bless.

4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
Left her waterpot - She was so penetrated with the great truths which Jesus had announced that she forgot her errand to the well, and returned to the city without the water for which she came out!

4:29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
Come, see a man - An uncommon, an extraordinary man, a prophet, and, who Himself says, He is the Messiah, who is now at Jacob's well; come, go along with me, and see Him and converse with Him, and judge for yourselves, who, and what He is: she does not say, "go and see"; for she proposed to go along with them herself, that she might have more conversation with Him, and knowledge of Him: so such that have tasted that the Lord is gracious, desire more communion with Him.

4:30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto Him.

And came unto Him - Or, Were coming to Him; for they did not reach Him immediately.

4:31 In the mean while His disciples prayed Him, saying, Master, eat.
Master, eat - They knew that He was greatly spent both with hunger and fatigue.

4:32 But He said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
I have meat to eat that ye know not of - meaning the conversion of the Samaritan woman, and of other Samaritans, who were flocking in great numbers to Him was as meat unto Him, delightful and refreshing; and His mind and thoughts were so taken up with these things, that He had no inclination to any corporeal food.

4:33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought Him ought to eat?
Hath any man brought Him aught to eat? - Has He got food in any preternatural way?

4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.

My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me - In these words, our blessed Lord teaches a lesson of zeal and earnestness to His apostles, and to all their successors in the Christian ministry. 

*Let the salvation of souls lie nearer your heart than life itself. 

*Let eating and drinking, labor and rest, reading, thinking, study, prayer, and all things, be directed to the accomplishment of this great work.

4:35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? - In Palestine, the harvest did not begin till after the passover, which was fixed on the 14th of the month Nisan, which answers to our March, and sometimes extends into April. The barley harvest was the first; after that the wheat; and both were finished by Pentecost. For, in the feast of Pentecost, the first fruits of all the harvest were carried to the temple, and waved before the Lord.
The fields are white already - As if He had said, The spiritual harvest is ripe already. The Samaritans, ripe for the Gospel, covered the ground round about them.

4:36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
Already the heavenly sower, Jesus Christ, becomes the reaper of the produce of the seed which He had so lately sown; and receives the wages which He desired, the high gratification of saving souls.

4:37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
One soweth, and another reapeth - Or, One is the sower, and another is the reaper.... the prophets sowed, and the apostles reaped.

4:38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.

I sent you to reap - To preach the Gospel, and gather in souls by your ministry;
While you were gone, I sowed spiritual seed in the heart of a Samaritan woman; and she is gone, and is about to return with many of her city, whom she has brought to believe.