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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 4:1-9

4:1-9 So when the Lord learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although it was not Jesus himself who was in the habit of baptizing but his disciples), he quilted Judaea and went away again to Galilee. Now he had to pass through Samaria. He came to a town of Samaria, called Sychar, which is near the piece of ground which Jacob gave to Joseph, his son, and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, tired from the journey, was sitting by the well... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - John 4:10-15

4:10-15 Jesus answered her: "If you knew the free gift that God is offering you, and if you knew who is speaking to you, and if you knew who was saying to you: 'Give me to drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him: "Sir, you have no bucket to draw with and the well is deep. Where does this living water that you have come from? Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well, and who himself drank from it with his children and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 4:9

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 ? not that the waters of Samaria were unlawful for a Jew to drink of; for as "the land of the Cuthites (or Samaritans), was pure, or clean, so, מקותיה , "their collections of water", and their habitations, and their ways were clean F13 T. Hieros. Avoda Zara, fol. 44.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 4:10

Jesus answered and said unto her ,.... In a very serious manner, in a different way from hers: if thou knewest the gift of God ; meaning, not the Holy Spirit with his gifts and graces, as some think, but himself; for the following clause is explanatory of it; and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink ; and Christ is also spoken of in the Old Testament, as the gift of God, Isaiah 9:6 and he had lately spoken of himself as such, John 3:16 and he is, by way of eminency,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 4:9

That thou, being a Jew - Probably the inhabitants of Judea distinguished themselves from those of Samaria by some peculiar mode of dress; and by this the Samaritan woman might have known Christ: but it is likely that our Lord spoke the Galilean dialect, by which we find, from Mark 14:70 , a Jew of that district might easily be known. The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans - Perhaps better, Jews have no communion with Samaritans. These words appear to be added by the evangelist... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 4:10

If thou knewest the gift of God - Δωρεαν signifies a free gift. A gift is any thing that is given, for which no equivalent has been or is to be returned: a free gift is that which has been given without asking or entreaty. Such a gift of kindness was Jesus Christ to the world, John 3:16 ; and through him comes the gift of the Spirit, which those who believe on his name were to receive. Christ was not an object of desire to the world - no man asked for him; and God, moved thereto by his... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - John 4:9

Verse 9 9.How dost thou, who art a Jew? This is a reproach, by which she retorts upon him the contempt which was generally entertained by his nation. The Samaritans are known to have been the scum of a people gathered from among foreigners. Having corrupted the worship of God, and introduced many spurious and wicked ceremonies, they were justly regarded by the Jews with detestation. Yet it cannot be doubted that the Jews, for the most part, held out their zeal for the law as a cloak for their... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - John 4:10

Verse 10 10.Jesus answered. Christ now, availing himself of the opportunity, begins to preach about the grace and power of his Spirit, and that to a woman who did not at all deserve that he should speak a word to her. This is certainly an astonishing instance of his goodness. For what was there in this wretched woman, that, from being a prostitute, she suddenly became a disciple of the Son of God? Though in all of us he has displayed a similar instance of his compassion. All the women, indeed,... 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

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