879 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The woman saith unto him, Sir,.... Which was an usual, way in those countries, of addressing men, and especially strangers; and expresses no uncommon respect to Christ, of whose dignity and greatness she was, entirely ignorant; and at whom she was now scoffing; for so the following words are to be understood: thou hast nothing to draw with; no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Art thou greater than our father Jacob,.... A person of greater worth and character than he, who was content to drink of this water; or wiser and more knowing than he, who could find out no better fountain of water in all these parts? she calls Jacob the father of them, according to the common notion and boasting of these people, when it served...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him,.... Meaning, the Spirit and his grace; see John 7:38; and which he more than once speaks of, as his gift here, and in the context: of which, whoever truly partakes, shall never thirst; either after sinful lusts and pleasures, and his former vicious way of living, which he now disrelishes:...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The woman saith unto him, Sir,.... [See comments on John 4:11]; give me this water, that I thirst not. The Syriac and Persic versions add, "again": neither come hither; the Ethiopic version adds here, "again"; to draw. This she said also, in the same sneering and scoffing way, as her talking of not thirsting and coming thither to draw water,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Jesus saith unto her,.... Observing that she continued an ignorant scoffer at him, and his words, determined to take another method with her; and convince her, that he was not a common and ordinary person she was conversing with, as she took him to be; and also what a sinner she was, and what a vicious course of life she had lived; so that she...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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 neighbours; 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: Jesus said unto her, thou hast...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain,.... Mount Gerizim, which was just by, and within sight; so that the woman could point to it; it was so near to Shechem, or Sychar, that Jotham's voice was heard from the top of it thither, Judges 9:6. By the "fathers", this woman claims as theirs, are meant, not the immediate ancestors of the Samaritans, or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Jesus saith unto her, woman, believe me,.... In what I am now going to say, since you own me to be a prophet: the hour cometh; the time is at hand; it is very near; it is just coming: when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father; that is, God, whom the Jews, and so the Samaritans, knew under the character of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ye worship ye know not what,.... However, as to her question, he more directly replies by condemning the Samaritans, and their ignorance in worship, and by approving the Jews; and so manifestly gives the preference to the Jews, not only with respect to the place, and object of worship, but with respect to knowledge and salvation. As for the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers,.... The worshippers of the true God, and who worship in a right manner, whether Jews or Samaritans, or of whatsoever nation: shall worship the Father; the one true God, the Father of spirits, and of all flesh living: in spirit; in opposition to all carnal conceptions of him, as if he was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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; [See comments on John 4:23]; though the Arabic and Persic versions, and others, read as we do, "God is a spirit"; that is, God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: for taking the words in this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The woman saith unto him,.... Not knowing well what to say to these things Christ had been discoursing about, as the place, object, and manner of worship; and being undetermined in her judgment of them, by what he had said, was willing to refer them to the Messiah's coming; of which she, and the Samaritans, had some knowledge, I know that Messias...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Jesus saith unto her,.... Upon her making mention of the Messiah, of his coming, and of his work, he took the opportunity of making himself known unto her: I that speak unto thee am [he]; the Messiah; see Isaiah 52:6. This is a wonderful instance of the grace of Christ to this woman, that he should make himself known in so clear and plain a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And upon this came his disciples,.... Just as he was saying the above words, and making himself known in this full manner, his disciples, who had been into the city to buy food, came up to them: and marvelled that he talked with the woman; or with a woman; for, according to the Jewish canons, it was not judged decent, right, and proper, nor indeed...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The woman then left her water pot,.... Her pail, or bucket, she brought with her to the well to draw water in: this she left, either for Christ and his disciples to make use of; or rather through forgetfulness, her mind being greatly impressed, and her thoughts much taken up with what Christ had said to her, and she being in haste to acquaint...