John 4 John 4:1–26 Christ talketh with a woman of Samaria, and revealeth himself unto her. John 4:27–30 His disciples marvel; the woman calleth the men of her city to see him.

Our Saviour knew as God, from that omniscience which is inseparable from the Divine nature, or as man, by the relation of others, that the Pharisees, (who had the greatest stroke in the sanhedrim), and the government of the church of the Jews, had received an information concerning him, that he…

For he himself did not personally baptize any, but left it to his disciples, himself attending to the greater work of preaching the gospel, by which men and women were made fit for the ordinance of baptism.

He left the province of Judea, which was near to Jerusalem, where the Pharisees had their chief residence and greatest power; and went the second time into Galilee, whither he went once before, John 1:43, where he found Philip and Nathanael.

Josephus tells us that Samaria is seated between Judea and Galilee, and begins at a town called Ginea: see Luke 9:51–52, Luke 17:11. There were two passages from Judea into Galilee; the one was through the midst of Samaria, Luke 9:51; the other through the eastern parts, by the royal valley, by…

The most valuable interpreters agree, that this Sychar is the city called Shechem; it was originally a parcel of a field bought by Jacob of Hamor, the father of Shechem, Gen. 33:19. Jeroboam built the city there, called Shechem, 1 Kings 12:25. It was in the lot of Mount Ephraim.

It was called Jacob’s, either because he digged it, (as we read of Abraham’s digging a well), Gen. 21:30, and Isaac, or because he and his family used it, as John 4:12.

It is uncertain whether this woman was a citizen of Samaria, which city is said to be at two miles distance from this place, or one of that country, which went by that name (for Samaria was the name of that region, as well as of a city).

This is added, lest any should say, How came our Saviour in this discourse with the woman of Samaria? They were travelling upon the road, and came near to Sichem.

There was a great estrangement of the Jews from the Samaritans, the Samaritans having a peculiar temple built upon Mount Gerizim, in opposition to that at Jerusalem.

Many by the gift of God here understand Christ, whom God gave to the world, John 3:16; and who is the greatest gift that God ever gave to the world; so as the latter words, who it is, &c., expound the former.

Ver. 11 What our Saviour spake metaphorically, comparing his grace, or his Spirit, or the doctrine of his gospel, to living water, this poor woman understandeth literally; and knowing that the well was very deep, (some say forty cubits), and seeing him, as a traveller, not provided with any thing…

She asks him if he judged himself wiser than Jacob, whom she calleth their father? It is often observed, that the Samaritans would ordinarily claim kindred with the Jews when the Jews were in prosperity; but in their adversity constantly disowned any relation to them.

Our Saviour in his reply justifieth the excellency of that living water, which he had before declared to be in his power to give, and his readiness to have given to this woman, if she had asked it of him, from the perishing virtue of the water of this well, and the continuing virtue of his grace,…

But he who receiveth the Holy Spirit, and the grace thereof, though he will be daily saying, Give, give, and be continually desiring further supplies of grace, yet he shall never wholly want, never want any good thing that shall be necessary for him; the seed of God shall abide in him, and this…

I am not of their mind, who think that this woman understood our Saviour speaking about spiritual water, only she had a mind to talk; and indeed it is hard to conceive how a woman of her education, and way of life, should understand any such thing; but it is plain that she did not understand him in…

Not that Christ did not know, what she afterward confessed, that she lived in whoredom, and had no legitimate husband; but he said this probably to check her petulancy, and mocking at what he spake about the living water, and to bring her to a sense of her sin, that she might be more fit to receive…

I have no husband; that is, none who is my lawful husband she denieth not that she had one whom she used and lived with as a husband, but that she had any legal husband, to whom she clave, and to no other: still she goeth on, thinking to deceive Christ, and to put tricks upon him.

He tells her, that she had had five husbands; whether successively, the former being dead, and she marrying another, or five from whom she had been divorced for adultery, is not agreed; the best modern interpreters judge, that she had had five men to whom she had been in marriage, but so behaved…

Whose office is to reveal the will of God, and to whom God revealeth secret things; one to whom the Lord maketh known himself in a vision, and speaketh in a dream, Num. 12:6. The woman’s reply seemeth to signify both.

Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; the mount Gerizim, which was an exceeding high mountain, and near unto Sichem. Jacob made an altar thereabouts, which he called El-elohe-Israel, Gen. 33:20. Some say that it was upon this, mountain that Abraham should have offered up Isaac, Gen.

Woman, thou ownest me as a prophet, whose office it is to reveal the will of God unto men; it is therefore thy duty to give credit to what I shall reveal to time about the true and right way of worshipping God.

You have no certain rule for your worship, but only do things which your fathers did, without any revelation of the Divine will, by which you may be assured that what you do is acceptable to God.

Under the gospel, and the kingdom of the Messiah, which is yet further coming, and is already began in the world, the true worshippers of God shall not worship him, as you Samaritans, who worship you know not what, without any rule or prescript of the word; nor yet as the hypocritical Jews, who…

God is not a corporeal being, made up of blood, and flesh, and bones, having senses as bodies have, to be pleased with sensible things; but he is a spiritual Being, the Father of spirits, and requireth a spiritual service proportioned to his being; and therefore those that pay a religious homage to…

The woman by this reply, though a woman of Samaria, showeth herself to be a Jew, for she was one of them who lived in an expectation of one whom the Jews called the Messiah, prophesied of by Daniel under this notion, Dan. 9:25–26, and by the psalmist, Ps.

The same Messiah, of whom thou declarest thyself to have some expectation, and from whom thou expectest to hear all things necessary to salvation. Some here inquire, why our Saviour maketh to this woman such a plain discovery of himself, whereas we find in the Gospel so cautious, and so often…

The disciples, as we heard before, were gone into the city Sichem to buy food, and were kept there by the providence of God till our Saviour had finished this discourse with the woman of Samaria, but came after the discourse was done.

She had no sooner tasted of the living water spoken of by Christ, but she left her water pot: thus Peter tells our Saviour, that they had left all and followed him.

She invites them to him under the notion of a man, who had told her all things that she ever did. Christ doubtless had told her, and spoken to her, much more than John hath left us upon sacred record; yet not all things she ever did, but all things (as often) signifies many things, and those such…

Sitting still at the well, they (many of them at least) did not contemn the news as the relation of a woman, but went (possibly but out of curiosity) to see and to hear this man.

While the woman was fetching her citizens to come and see and hear Christ, his disciples, knowing that he must be weary and hungry with his journey, and having brought him some food out of the city, where they had been to fetch it, put him upon refreshing himself with the food they had brought.

But our blessed Lord was more intent upon gospelizing the Samaritans, than satisfying his hunger: what this meat was, he opens himself, (see John 4:34).

His disciples, being yet carnal, did not understand him, but thought that he had spoken of bodily nourishment. See the like instances, Matt. 16:7, Matt. 11:13.

Our Lord, without any reproof of them for their dulness in understanding, and having compassion on their infirmity and ignorance, tells them what he meant by his former words; telling them, that the doing of his Father’s will, and the finishing of his work, was that which he more hungered after,…

There was in those countries but four months’ space betwixt seed time and harvest; yet they fed themselves (as soon as they had sown) with the expectation of it.

You that are the Lord’s instruments, to reap what the prophets of old, and John Baptist lately, have sown, shall not lose your labour, you shall receive wages; and your wages shall not be small, it shall be no less than eternal life: They that turn man, to righteousness, shall shine as the stars…

It was a proverbial expression, most commonly used with reference to those who unjustly invaded the rights and possessions of other men; but as applicable unto those who, by the disposing providence of God, rightly inherit the fruit of other men’s labours, as the Jews inherited the land of Canaan;…

I have sent you to reap that which you did not first labour for; the prophets, and John the Baptist, and myself, have sown the seed, and by their doctrine prepared for the Lord a people; you enter upon their labours, gathering them into a gospel church.

That city was Sichem, or Sychar, but it was within the province of Samaria, from whence it is that they had the name of Samaritans as well as Sichemites.

The Sichemites being come to Christ, had some discourse with him, as appeareth from John 4:41–42. What the subject matter of their discourse was we are not told; we may know that it was spiritual, and something proper to excite faith in them, for believing was the effect of it.

Believing seemeth here to be taken in a different sense from what it was taken in John 4:39, from what followeth, John 4:42. There it seemeth only to signify a lower degree of assent, that he was a prophet, upon the woman’s saying that he had told her all she had done; here it signifieth a giving…

Several things may be the occasion of faith, which are neither the principal efficient causes, nor the proper instrumental cause of it. The principal efficient cause of the faith of these Samaritans was, undoubtedly, the finger of God upon their souls, enlightening their minds with the saving…

Christ (as we heard before, John 4:3) was upon his journey into Galilee, only he stopped two days at Sichem to gratify the desires of the Samaritans of that city; which two days being now spent, he keepeth on in his journey. But here ariseth a question, viz.

Christ spake those words more than once, Matt. 13:57, Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24. But the question is, what force of reason this hath why he went into Galilee, whereas Nazareth, which was in Galilee, was his own country; for though he was born in Bethlehem, yet he was educated at Nazareth; upon which…

When he came not to Nazareth, but to some parts of Galilee, the Galilaeans entertained him hospitably; and this they did because of those miracles they had seen wrought by him at the passover feast, where Christ was, John 2.

Our Saviour, coming into Galilee, made choice of Cana, the place where, being at a marriage feast, he turned water into wine, John 2, first to fix in: the reason is not expressed, and therefore vainly guessed at by interpreters.

Christ had been in Galilee before, and in this town, and wrought a miracle, and if this courtier were a disciple of John, (as some think, but it is hard to prove), it is probable he had been at the passover, and seen the miracles he wrought there, or at least might have heard of them from some who…

It may seem strange to such as do not well weigh all circumstances, that our Saviour, who at other times went without asking, showed himself so hard to be entreated by this courtier, and answereth him so roughly; but we must not take ourselves to be able to give a certain account of all Christ’s…

The courtier, though probably of spirit enough to have shown some discontent at our Saviour’s no kinder answer to him before, yet was so intent upon his son’s life, that he takes no notice of it, but renews his request, still discovering the weakness of his faith, as thinking that Christ’s personal…

Our Saviour would neither discourage the weak faith of this nobleman, nor yet encourage his weakness: he healeth his son for the encouragement of his faith; he doth it by his word, without going down to him, that he might not gratify his weakness, thinking his personal presence was necessary; he…

The servants that met him to bring the acceptable news of his son’s recovery, knew nothing of the passages that had been betwixt Christ and their master, but merely came to tell their master what they knew would be acceptable to him.

He inquires the precise time; they tell him it was about the seventh hour. The miracle appeared in the suddenness of the recovery, and also that it was without the application of means, at least any that could have produced so sudden an effect.

The circumstance of the time when his son recovered agreeing with the very hour when Christ had said unto him, Thy son liveth, was a mighty confirmation to him, that he was beholden to Christ for his cure, and consequently that Christ was no ordinary man, more than a prophet, even the Son of God.

His turning water into wine John 2 was the first, this was the second, and so in order of time before any of those miracles which he wrought in Galilee, of which we read, Matt. 4:23.