v. 21: Jesus answered her that the physical/geographical location is not decisive – “neither this mountain” Gerizim “nor” Mount Zion “in Jerusalem” (cf. Acts 17.23) –, but the attitude of the worshipers327 – here and now (cf. Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 3:16) – in the “coming hour” (vv. 21c, 23a – cf. John 5:25, 28; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23; 13:1; 16:2, 4, 21, 25, 32; 17:1) in the present-eschatological sense of the end of time.
v. 22: For Jesus it is very important that all “Jewish” including328 Samaritan people should worship God YHWH together because of their covenant as the basis/foundation of the Jewish tradition and their “salvation”329 (cf. Psalm 14:7; Isaiah 2:3; 59:20). The Pontifical Biblical Commission (2001) writes that “the relationship between salvation and the Jewish people becomes an explicit object of theological reflection in John: ‘Salvation comes from the Jews’ (Jn 4:22). This saying of Jesus is found in a context of opposition between Jewish and Samaritan cults that will become obsolete with the introduction of adoration ‘in spirit and truth’ (4:23)”330.
vv. 23–24: Therefore Jesus emphasizes that “God is Spirit” (v. 24a and 2 Corinthians 3:17–18), the “Father” (v. 23d) “in spirit and truth” (vv. 23d, 24b and John 14:6) now.
v. 25: She confessed Him (cf. v. 19: “Prophet”) now as a “Messiah”331 (in Hebrew – cf. 1:41 or in Greek “Chrɩstós” in vv. 25d, 29d), which means the “anointed one”.
v. 26: As in John 9:37, Jesus confirmed her confession with a typical Johannine phrase “I am” (cf., for example, 6:20; 8:18, 24, 28, 58; 13:19; 18:5–6, 8) as an allusion to God’s proclamation of His name in Exodus 3:14: “I am who I am” (cf. Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 41:4).
+ The Second Dialogue (vv. 27–38)
# A Scenic-Dialogical Intermezzo (vv. 27–30)
v. 27: His “disciples” “came” – note the verbum simplex “érchomaı” (v. 27a) – back from their shopping (cf. v. 8) from the town “Sychar” (v. 5a), the city of the Samaritan woman, and were “wondering”/“surprised” (in Greek “thaumázo” in v. 27b and in John 3:7; 5:20, 28; 7:15, 21; 1 John 3:13) in the negative sense that Jesus – a “Jew” (v. 9b) – “(talked) with ( )” a Samaritan “woman” “in public” (cf. John 7:13). The Evangelist comments that “nobody” asked her (“What do you want”?) or Him (“What do you speak with her”?).
v. 28: However, she “ran”/“went back” – note the verbum compositum “ap-érchomaı” (v. 28b – cf. vv. 3b, 8a) into her town without her “water pot/jar” (v. 7 – cf. 2:6–7), knowing herself the moral Jewish tradition. Her main aim was to draw water, but after her talk with Jesus she became an “ambassador” who had to inform/proclaim/call the citizen of Sychar that
v. 29: Jesus is the “Christ” (cf. v. 25c, d) – therefore “come” and “see” (cf. 1:39) this prophetical (vv. 17d–18d, 19c) “man” (cf. vv. 39–42).
v. 30: The Fourth Evangelist describes their reaction that they “went out” – note the verbum compositum “ex-érchomaı” in verses 30a, 43a – “of the town” Sychar and “came to” (met) Jesus (cf. v. 40) – note the verb “érchomaı” in verse 30b as in verse 27a.
# The Dialogue between Jesus and His Disciples (vv. 31–38)
v. 31: “In the meantime/meanwhile”, that means between their walk from Sychar to the well of Jacob, Jesus’ disciples (cf. v. 8) speaks with His disciples because of their order – note the imperative “eat” in verse 31b2.
v. 32: Jesus (cf. vv. 32b–c, 34b–38d), the “rabbi”332 (v. 31b1), reflected on the “eating” of “food” (in Greek “brõsɩs” in v. 32b and 6:27, 55 or “brõma” in v. 34b) on earth (cf. vv. 31b, 33b) and the (heavenly) “food” (vv. 32b–c, 34b – cf. 6:27, 55) and the harvest of the “fruits” in the form of an agricultural example of the growing of “seeds” and the reaping of “fruits” (cf. vv. 35b–36c), a proverb (cf. v. 37a–d) and a conclusion (cf. v. 38a–d).
v. 33: Like in 16:17, His disciples did not understand His divine, spiritual, theological “words”; therefore they “said/asked to each other”: “… who brought Him to eat”?
v. 34: Jesus answered them that He has to “fulfil”333 (cf. 19:28, 30) God’s “work” (cf. 5:36; 17:4) and His “will” (cf. 6:40; 7:17; 9:31). Therefore He was “sent”334 on earth. That is the special relationship between Him and His “Father” (cf. 5:30; 6:38–39; 20:21) in the Christological/eschatological context.
vv. 35–36: He explained this eschatological335 theme with the help of an agricultural comparison/parable of the time of “four months” (in Greek “tetrámenos” in v. 35b) from the sowing – for example, wheat – (seedtime in spring) by the “sower”336 until the “harvest”337 by the farmer in the summer in verses 35–36 like in Mark 4:26–29. After the “harvest”, both – the sower and the reaper – are “rejoiced/glad”338 together (cf. Isaiah 9:2).
v. 37: Then He puts the “proverb” (in Greek “ho lógos” – literal: word) of a sower at the beginning and a reaper at the end:
“One is who sows” (vv. 36c, 37c) “and
another /is/ who reaps/harvests” (vv. 36a, 38b).
v. 38: Jesus concretizes who are the sowers and the reapers:
So the sowers are Jesus (cf. v. 38a), the Jewish fathers and prophets as well as John the Baptist (cf. v. 38c) who worked hard/“laboured”339 (vv. 6b, 38b, c – cf. v. 38d).
However, the reapers are His disciples340 (“you”) – then (and now341) (cf. Matthew 9:37) – who “Jesus sent”342 (cf., for example, John 17:18) to “reap” (vv. 36a, 37e) the “labour” of others on their behalf.
+ The Indirect Conversion of the Samaritans by Jesus (vv. 39–42)
v. 39: After the conversation between Jesus and His disciples (cf. vv. 31–38), the Samaritan people of Sychar who “believed” (vv. 21b, 39a, 41, 42b – cf. vv. 48c, 50c, 53e–f) in the Samaritan woman’s “words” (vv. 39a, 41) respectively her “testimony” (in Greek “marturéo” [verb] in vv. 39b, 44a)
v. 40: “came to Him” and “asked/requested”/invited Him “to stay with them” (v. 40b, c). The Evangelist relates that He “stayed” in Sychar “two days” (vv. 40c, 43 – cf. John 11:6) and
v. 41: plenty of them “believed” (vv. 39a, 42b) in Him because of “(His) words ( )” (cf. v. 39a).
v. 42: In this way, the Samaritans acknowledge and decide for themselves