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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - John 4:4-26

We have here an account of the good Christ did in Samaria, when he passed through that country in his way to Galilee. The Samaritans, both in blood and religion, were mongrel Jews, the posterity of those colonies which the king of Assyria planted there after the captivity of the ten tribes, with whom the poor of the land that were left behind, and many other Jews afterwards, incorporated themselves. They worshipped the God of Israel only, to whom they erected a temple on mount Gerizim, in... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - John 4:15-21

4:15-21 The woman said to him: "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not thirst, and so that I will not have to come here to draw water." Jesus said to her: "Go, call your husband, and come back here." The woman answered: "I have not got a husband." Jesus said to her: "You spoke well when you said, 'I have not got a husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. This is the truth that you have told." The woman said to him: "Sir, I see that you are a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 4:18

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: the Sadducees propose a case to Christ, in which a woman is said to have had seven husbands successively, in a lawful manner, Matthew 22:25 . Or rather, she had had so many, and had been divorced from everyone of them, for adultery; for no other cause it should seem did the Samaritans divorce; seeing that they only received the law of Moses, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 4:19

The woman saith unto him, Sir ,.... With another countenance, and a different air and gesture, with another accent and tone of speech, dropping her scoffs and jeers: I perceive that thou art a prophet ; such an one as Samuel was, who could tell Saul what was in his heart, and that his father's asses were found, and where they were, 1 Samuel 9:19 ; and as Elisha, whose heart went with his servant Gehazi, when Naaman turned to him to meet him, and give him presents; and who could tell,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 4:18

Thou hast had five husbands - It is not clear that this woman was a prostitute: she might have been legally married to those five, and might have been divorced through some misbehavior of her own, not amounting to adultery; for the adulteress was to be put to death, both by the Jewish and Samaritan law, not divorced: or she might have been cast off through some caprice of her husband; for, in the time of our Lord, divorces were very common among the Jews, so that a man put away his wife for... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 4:19

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. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - John 4:19

Verse 19 19.Sir, I perceive that thou art a Prophet. The fruit of the reproof now becomes evident; for not only does the woman modestly acknowledge her fault, but, being ready and prepared to listen to the doctrine of Christ, which she had formerly disdained, she now desires and requests it of her own accord. Repentance, therefore, is the commencement of true docility, as I have already said, and opens the gate for entering into the school of Christ. Again, the woman teaches us by her example,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 4:1-42

7. The ministry and revelation of the Lord to those beyond the strict compass of the theocracy. This passage describes an incident of consummate interest, and records a specimen of our Lord's intercourse with individuals, and the reaction of that instruction upon the disciples. The event is a solitary chink through which the light of historical fact falls upon an otherwise darkened and unknown period of the Saviour's life. When we skirt a forest we see at intervals, where by some... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 4:7-26

(2) The revelations and misunderstandings comprised in the interview with the Samaritaness. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 4:15-20

A serious turn to the conversation. I. THE ARRESTED ATTITUDE OF THE SAMARITAN WOMAN . "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither pass this way to draw." She is still ignorant of the meaning of his words, but she begins to have a dim apprehension of something behind them profoundly touching her life. We cannot otherwise understand the next phase of the conversation. II. OUR LORD LIFTS THE VEIL FROM HER PAST LIFE , AND THUS REVEALS ... read more

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