Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

¹ When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, ² (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) ³ He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. ⁴ And he must needs go through Samaria. ⁵ Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. ⁷ There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. ⁸ (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) ⁹ Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. ¹¹ The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? ¹² Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? ¹³ Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: ¹⁴ But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. ¹⁵ The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. ¹⁶ Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. ¹⁷ The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: ¹⁸ For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. ¹⁹ The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. ²⁰ Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. ²¹ Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. ²² Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. ²³ But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. ²⁴ God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. ²⁵ The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. ²⁶ Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. ²⁷ And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? ²⁸ The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, ²⁹ Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? ³⁰ Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. ³¹ In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. ³² But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. ³³ Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? ³⁴ Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. ³⁵ Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. ³⁶ And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. ³⁷ And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. ³⁸ I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. ³⁹ And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of his own word; ⁴² And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. ⁴³ Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. ⁴⁴ For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. ⁴⁵ Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast. ⁴⁶ So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. ⁴⁹ The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. ⁵⁰ Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. ⁵¹ And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. ⁵² Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. ⁵³ So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. ⁵⁴ This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

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[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:1

" Well, but who is the man of sin, the son of perdition," who must first be revealed before the Lord comes; "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; who is to sit in the temple of God, and boast himself as being God? " According indeed to our view, he is Antichrist; as it is taught us in both the ancient and the new prophecies, and especially by the Apostle John, who says that "already many false prophets are gone out into the world," the fore-runners of Antichrist, who deny that Christ is come in the flesh, and do not acknowledge Jesus (to be the Christ), meaning in God the Creator.

Source: Against Marcion Book V

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:1

If, however, the Lord, by His deeds withal, issued any such proclamation in favour of sinners; as when He permitted contact even with his own body to the "woman, a sinner,"-washing, as she did, His feet with tears, and wiping them with her hair, and inaugurating His sepulture with ointment; as when to the Samaritaness-not an adulteress by her now sixth marriage, but a prostitute-He showed (what He did show readily to any one) who He was; -no benefit is hence conferred upon our adversaries, even if it had been to such as were already Christians that He (in these several cases) granted pardon.

Source: On Modesty

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:1

He indeed baptized not, but they who carried the news, desiring to excite their hearers to envy, so reported. Wherefore then 'departed' He? Not from fear, but to take away their malice, and to soften their envy. He was indeed able to restrain them when they came against Him, but this He would not do continually, that the Dispensation of the Flesh might not be disbelieved. For had He often been seized and escaped, this would have been suspected by many; therefore for the most part, He rather orders matters after the manner of a man. And as He desired it to be believed that He was God, so also that, being God, He bore the flesh; therefore even after the Resurrection, He said to the disciple, Handle Me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones Luke 24:39; therefore also He rebuked Peter when he said, Be it far from You, this shall not be unto you. Matthew 16:22 So much was this matter an object of care to Him.

2. For this is no small part of the doctrines of the Church; it is the chief point of the salvation wrought for us; by which all has been brought to pass, and has had success, for it was thus that the bonds of death were loosed, sin taken away, and the curse abolished, and ten thousand blessings introduced into our life. And therefore He especially desired that the Dispensation should be believed, as having been the root and fountain of innumerable goods to us.

Yet while acting thus in regard of His Humanity, He did not allow His Divinity to be overcast. And so, after His departure He again employed the same language as before. For He went not away into Galilee simply, but in order to effect certain important matters, those among the Samaritans; nor did He dispense these matters simply, but with the wisdom that belonged to Him, and so as not to leave to the Jews any pretense even of a shameless excuse for themselves. And to this the Evangelist points when he says,

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:1

[Christ acted] not from fear but to take away their malice and soften their envy. He was indeed able to restrain them when they came against him, but he did not want to be found doing this all the time. Otherwise people might not believe his incarnation in the flesh was real. For if he was always being seized, only to then escape, this would have raised a lot of suspicion. Therefore, for the most part, he did things in a human way instead.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.1

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:1-6

(Hom. xxxi. 1) He did it too to pacify the envy of men, and perhaps to avoid bringing the dispensation of the incarnation into suspicion. For had he been taken and escaped, the reality of His flesh would have been doubted.

(Hom. xxxi. 1) Christ Himself did not baptize, but those who reported the fact, in order to raise the envy of their hearers, so represented it as to appear that Christ Himself baptized. (non occ.). The reason why He baptized not Himself, had been already declared by John, He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. (Luke 3:16) Now He had not yet given the Holy Spirit: it was therefore fitting that He should not baptize. But His disciples baptized, as an efficacious mode of instruction; better than gathering up believers here and there, as had been done in the case of Simon and his brother. Their baptism, however, had no more virtue than the baptism of John; both being without the grace of the Spirit, and both having one object, viz. that of bringing men to Christ.

(Hom. xxxi. 2) Christ on withdrawing from Judæa, joined those whom He was with before, as we read next, And departed again into Galilee. As the Apostles, when they were expelled by the Jews, went to the Gentiles, so Christ goes to the Samaritans. But, to deprive the Jews of all excuse, He does not go to stay there, but only takes it on His road, as the Evangelist implies by saying, And he must needs go through Samaria. Samaria receives its name from Somer, a mountain there, so called from the name of a former possessor of it. The inhabitants of the country were formerly not Samaritans, but Israelites. But in process of time they fell under God's wrath, and the king of Assyria transplanted them to Babylon and Media; placing Gentiles from various parts in Samaria in their room. God however, to show that it was not for want of power on His part that He delivered up the Jews, but for the sins of the people themselves, sent lions to afflict the barbarians. This was told the king, and he sent a priest to instruct them in God's law. But not even then did they wholly cease from their iniquity, but only half changed. For in process of time they turned to idols again, though they still worshipped God, calling themselves after the mountain, Samaritans.

(xxxi. 2) It was the place where Simeon and Levi made a great slaughter for Dinah.

(Hom. xxxi. 3) Christ prefers labour and exercise to ease and luxury, and therefore travels to Samaria, not in a carriage but on foot; until at last the exertion of the journey fatigues Him; a lesson to us, that so far from indulging in superfluities, we should often even deprive ourselves of necessaries: Jesus therefore being wearied with His journey, &c.

(Hom. xxx. 3) As if to say, not on a seat, or a couch, but on the first place He saw—upon the ground. He sat down because He was wearied, and to wait for the disciples. The coolness of the well would be refreshing in the midday heat: And it was about the sixth hour.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:1

Certainly, if the Pharisees’ knowledge that our Lord was making more disciples and baptizing more than John had been such as to lead them wholeheartedly to follow him and desire baptism by him, he would not have left Judea; rather, he would have remained for their sake. But seeing, as he did that this knowledge about him was coupled with envy, making them persecutors instead of followers, he left. He also could have stayed among them, if he had wanted to, and escaped their hands.… But he wanted to provide himself as an example for believers in time to come, that it was no sin for a servant of God to seek refuge from the fury of persecutors.… He did it like a good teacher, not out of fear for himself but for our instruction.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.2

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:1

It may perhaps surprise you that it is said, “Jesus baptized more than John,” and after this was added, “although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples did.” What then? Was the statement made false, and then corrected by this addition? … Or are both true, that is, that Jesus both did and also did not baptize? He did in fact baptize, because it was he who cleansed. And he also did not baptize, because it was not he who touched. The disciples supplied the ministry of the body; he afforded the aid of his majesty. Now, when could he cease from baptizing, so long as he did not cease from cleansing? In fact, John the Baptist said about him, “This is he that baptizes.” Jesus, therefore, is still baptizing. And so long as we continue to be baptized, Jesus baptizes. Let a person come without fear to the minister below, for he has a master above.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.3

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:1-6

(Tr. xv. c. 2) Truly had the Pharisees' knowledge that our Lord was making more disciples, and baptizing more than John, been such as to lead them heartily to follow Him, He would not have left Judæa, but would have remained for their sake: but seeing, as He did, that this knowledge of Him was coupled with envy, and made them not followers, but persecutors, He departed thence. He could too, had He pleased, have stayed amongst them, and escaped their hands; but He wished to show His own example to believers in time to come, that it was no sin for a servant of God to fly from the fury of persecutors. He did it like a good teacher, not out of fear for Himself, but for our instruction.

(Tr. xv. c. 3) It may perplex you, perhaps, to be told that Jesus baptized more than John, and then immediately after, Though Jesus Himself baptized not. What? Is there a mistake made, and then corrected?

(Tr. xv. c. 3) Or, both are true; for Jesus both baptized, and baptized not. He baptized, in that He cleansed: He baptized not, in that He dipped not. The disciples supplied the ministry of the body, He the aid of that Majesty of which it was said, The Same is He which baptizeth. (ver. 33)

(Ad Seleuciam Ep. xviii.) But we must believe that the disciples of Christ were already baptized themselves, either with John's baptism, or, as is more probable, with Christ's. For He who had stooped to the humble service of washing His disciples' feet, had not failed to administer baptism to His servants, who would thus be enabled in their turn to baptize others.

(Tr. xv. c. 5) It was a well. Every well is a spring, but every spring is not a well. Any water that rises from the ground, and can be drawn for use, is a spring: but where it is ready at hand, and on the surface, it is called a spring only; where it is deep and low down, it is called a well, not a spring.

(Tr. xv, c. 6) Jesus, we see, is strong and weak: strong, because in the beginning was the Word; weak, because the Word was made flesh. Jesus thus weak, being wearied with his journey, sat on the well.

(Tr. xv. c. 7) His journey is His assumption of the flesh for our sake. For whither doth He go, Who is every where present? What is this, except that it was necessary for Him, in order to come to us, to take upon Him visibly a form of flesh? So then His being wearied with His journey, what meaneth it, but that He is wearied with the flesh? And wherefore is it the sixth hour? Because it is the sixth age of the world. Reckon severally as hours, the first age from Adam to Noah, the second from Noah to Abraham, the third from Abraham to David, the fourth from David unto the carrying away into Babylon, the fifth from thence to the baptism of John; on this calculation the present age is the sixth hour.

(1. lxxxiii. Quæst. qu. 64) At the sixth hour then our Lord comes to the well. The black abyss of the well, methinks, represents the lowest parts of this universe, i. e. the earth, to which Jesus came at the sixth hour, that is, in the sixth age of mankind, the old age, as it were, of the old man, which we are bidden to put off, (Col. 3:9.) that we may put on the new. For so do we reckon the different ages of man's life: the first age is infancy, the second childhood, the third boyhood, the fourth youth, the fifth manhood, the sixth old age. Again, the sixth hour, being the middle of the day, the time at which the sun begins to descend, signifies that we, who are called by Christ, are to check our pleasure in visible things, that by the love of things invisible refreshing the inner man, we may be restored to the inward light which never fails. By His sitting is signified His humility, or perhaps His magisterial character; teachers being accustomed to sit.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 735] Bede on John 4:1-6

He must needs pass through Samaria; because that country lay between Judea and Galilee. Samaria was the principal city of a province of Palestine, and gave its name to the whole district connected with it. The particular place to which our Lord went is next given: Then cometh He to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 4:1-6

The question is often asked, whether the Holy Ghost was given by the baptism of the disciples; when below it is said, The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (c. 7) We reply, that the Spirit was given, though not in so manifest a way as he was after the Ascension, in the shape of fiery tongues. For, as Christ Himself in His human nature ever possessed the Spirit, and yet afterwards at His baptism the Spirit descended visibly upon Him in the form of a dove; so before the manifest and visible coming of the Holy Spirit, all saints might possess the Spirit secretly.

Our Lord left Judæa also mystically, i. e. He left the unbelief of those who condemned Him, and by His Apostles, went into Galilee, i. e. into the ficklenessa of the world; thus teaching His disciples to pass from vices to virtues. The parcel of ground I conceive to have been left not so much to Joseph, as to Christ, of whom Joseph was a type; whom the sun, and moon, and all the stars truly adore. To this parcel of ground our Lord came, that the Samaritans, who claimed to be inheritors of the Patriarch Israel, might recognise Him, and be converted to Christ, the legal heir of the Patriarch.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:1

When God, the Lover of man, became flesh for our sake, the purpose of His every action was to bring benefit to us. So it is here: when He perceived that the Pharisees had heard of His fame and knew that this would incite them to envy, He departed into Galilee, thereby teaching us two things. First, that we should spare our enemies and try every means not to give cause for offense or envy; and second, that we should not throw ourselves into temptation foolishly and needlessly, but instead withdraw for a while until the anger of our enemies has abated. Although He had the power to withstand those who hated Him, even if they had rushed to attack, yet He withdrew from them so that His human nature and flesh would not seem to be an illusion. If He had continuously escaped from their midst, how much scope would this have given to the Docetists, the Manichees, Valentine, and the accursed Eutyches [heretics who denied the fulness of Christ's human nature]? The Evangelist alludes to the slander induced by envy when he says, "Though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, He was falsely accused of baptizing by envious men who wished to stir up the Pharisees against Him." It was necessary that He go through Samaria. The Evangelist describes Samaria as place to pass through, not a destination. Note that he did not say, "It was necessary that He go to Samaria." He wished to forestall any accusation by the Jews that Christ left them in order to go to the Gentiles, whom the Jews abhorred. It was only when the Jews drove Him away that the Lord approached the Gentiles; and even then, He did not go to them on purpose, but only in passing.

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:1-6

But after the sons of Jacob had desolated the city, by the slaughter of the Sychemites, Jacob annexed it to the portion of his son Joseph, as we read in Genesis, I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword, and with my bow. (Gen. 48:22) This is referred to in what follows, Near to the place of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Now Jacob's well was there.

But why does the Evangelist make mention of the parcel of ground, and the well? First, to explain what the woman says, Our father Jacob gave us this well: secondly, to remind you that what the Patriarchs obtained by their faith in God, the Jews had lost by their impiety. They had been supplanted to make room for Gentiles. And therefore there is nothing new in what has now taken place, i. e. in the Gentiles succeeding to the kingdom of heaven in the place of the Jews.

He mentions our Lord's sitting and resting from His journey, that none might blame Him for going to Samaria Himself, after He had forbidden the disciples going.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1274] Glossa Ordinaria on John 4:1-6

GLOSS.1 The Evangelist, after relating how John checked the envy of his disciples, on the success of Christ's teaching, comes next to the envy of the Pharisees, and Christ's retreat from them. When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard, &c.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:2

John, moreover, brands that man as "a liar" who "denieth that Jesus is the Christ; "whilst on the other hand he declares that "every one is born of God who believeth that Jesus is the Christ." Wherefore he also exhorts us to believe in the name of His (the Father's, ) Son Jesus Christ, that "our fellowship may be with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Source: Against Praxeas

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:2

"But behold, "say some, "the Lord came, and baptized not; for we read, `And yet He used not to baptize, but His disciples!' " As if, in truth, John had preached that He would baptize with His own hands! Of course, his words are not so to be understood, but as simply spoken after an ordinary manner; just as, for instance, we say, "The emperor set forth an edict," or, "The prefect cudgelled him.

Source: On Baptism

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:2

You are not better than John, but the baptism given through you is better than that of John, seeing that the one is Christ’s but the other is that of John. And that which was given by Paul and that which was given by Peter is Christ’s. And if baptism was given by Judas, it was Christ’s too. Judas baptized, and after Judas baptism was not repeated. John baptized, and baptism was repeated after John. Because, if Judas baptized, it was the baptism of Christ. But when John baptized, it was only John’s baptism. We do not prefer Judas to John. But the baptism of Christ, even when given by the hand of Judas, is preferred over the baptism of John, even though John rightly administered it. For it was said of the Lord, before he suffered, that he baptized more than John. Then it was added: “Although Jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples.” He, and not he: he by power, they by ministry. They performed the service of baptizing. The power of baptizing remained in Christ. His disciples, then, baptized, and Judas was still among his disciples. And were those, then, whom Judas baptized not baptized again and those whom John baptized were baptized again? Plainly there was a repetition, but not a repetition of the same baptism. For those whom John baptized, John baptized; those whom Judas baptized, Christ baptized. In a similar way, then, those whom a drunk baptized, those whom a murderer baptized, those whom an adulterer baptized, if it was the baptism of Christ, they were baptized by Christ. I do not fear the adulterer, the drunk or the murderer because I pay attention to the dove through whom it is said to me, “This is he who baptizes.”

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.18

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:2

But we must believe that the disciples of Christ were already baptized themselves, either with John’s baptism or, as is more probable, with Christ’s. For he who had stooped to the humble service of washing his disciples’ feet had not failed to administer baptism to his servants, who would thus be enabled in their turn to baptize others.

Source: LETTER 265.5

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:2

Whence our history proceeds to this point, or from what commencement the order of the narrative progressing, introduces the Lord as knowing that the Pharisees had learnt what they enquired, it will not be amiss (it appears) to say. For in that the holy Evangelist saith When therefore the Lord knew, it clearly brings forth a certain declaration of a subject previously under consideration. For He knew all things, without any one telling Him, of Himself, as God, and not at their first coming into existence, but even before they be, as the prophet testified. But He awaiteth the right season for each, and yields rather to the order of things, than to His foreknowledge: for this too was worthy of God-befitting ceconomy.

There being then a question between some of John's disciples and a Jew about purifying, there was much disputing on both sides. For the one taking the part of their own master, were contending that his Baptism was far superior to the legal sprinklings and typical purifications of the others. And indeed probably they were adducing as a proof of this, that many came to him, and very gladly left the more ancient and older customs. These again on the other hand, when the argument was being borne down headlong by the opposite party, and the force of truth rushing down like waters, was overwhelming the feeble mind of its opponents, go against their own opinion, and against their own will say that the baptism bestowed through Christ is far more excellent. And now they begin to have the upper hand, using like arguments for their proof, and rising up against their conquerors with the same arguments. For they were affirming that many more are seen going to Christ, and that all men hasten to Him rather than to John. Whence I suppose the disciples of John kindled with grief go to their master and say, Rabbi, He That was with thee beyond Jordan, to Whom thou barest witness, behold, the Same baptizeth, and all men come to Him. The propositions or arguments of the Jews put forth out of strife, they put forward interrogatively. Hence therefore the Evangelist says that the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made more disciples than John, then that He shunning their lawless jealousy, and keeping His Passion for its own time, retreats from the land of the Jews, and withdraws again into Galilee.

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:3

But in his epistle he especially designates those as "Antichrists" who "denied that Christ was come in the flesh," and who refused to think that Jesus was the Son of God.

Source: The Prescription Against Heretics

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:3

Well, but who is the man of sin, the son of perdition," who must first be revealed before the Lord comes; "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; who is to sit in the temple of God, and boast himself as being God? " According indeed to our view, he is Antichrist; as it is taught us in both the ancient and the new prophecies, and especially by the Apostle John, who says that "already many false prophets are gone out into the world," the fore-runners of Antichrist, who deny that Christ is come in the flesh, and do not acknowledge Jesus (to be the Christ), meaning in God the Creator.

Source: Against Marcion Book V

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:3

In like manner, in the passage, "If even an angel of heaven preach unto you any other gospel than that which we have preached unto you, let him be anathema," he calls attention to the artful influence of Philumene, the virgin friend of Apelles. Surely he is antichrist who denies that Christ has come in the flesh. By declaring that His flesh is simply and absolutely true, and taken in the plain sense of its own nature, the Scripture aims a blow at all who make distinctions in it.

Source: On the Flesh of Christ

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:3

No one has as yet fallen in with Elias; no one has as yet escaped from Antichrist; no one has as yet had to bewail the downfall of Babylon.

Source: On the Resurrection of the Flesh

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:3

The three Evangelists have not made any statement opposed to the Evangelist John but only left unrecorded the Lord’s first advent in Galilee after his baptism. On this occasion he turned the water into wine there. For at that period John had not yet been cast into prison. And we are also to understand that these three Evangelists have introduced into the context of these narratives an account of another journey of his into Galilee that took place after John’s imprisonment, regarding which return into Galilee the Evangelist John himself furnishes the following notice: “When, therefore, Jesus knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus makes and baptizes more disciples than John (though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples), he left Judea and departed again into Galilee.” So, then, we perceive that by this time John had been already cast into prison, and further, that the Jews had heard that he was making and baptizing more disciples than John had made and baptized.

Source: HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.18.42

[AD 258] Cyprian on John 4:4

I gladly rejoice and am thankful, most brave and blessed brethren, at hearing of your faith and virtue, wherein the Church, our Mother, glories. Lately, indeed, she gloried, when, in consequence of an enduring confession, that punishment was undergone which drove the confessors of Christ into exile; yet the present confession is so much the more illustrious and greater in honour as it is braver in suffering. The combat has increased, and the glory of the combatants has increased also. Nor were you kept back from the struggle by fear of tortures, but by the very tortures themselves you were more and more stimulated to the conflict; bravely and firmly you have returned with ready devotion, to contend in the extremest contest. Of you I find that some are already crowned, while some are even now within reach of the crown of victory; but all whom the danger has shut up in a glorious company are animated to carry on the struggle with an equal and common warmth of virtue, as it behoves the soldiers of Christ in the divine camp: that no allurements may deceive the incorruptible stedfastness of your faith, no threats terrify you, no sufferings or tortures overcome you, because "greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world; " nor is the earthly punishment able to do more towards casting down, than is the divine protection towards lifting up. This truth is proved by the glorious struggle of the brethren, who, having become leaders to the rest in overcoming their tortures, afforded an example of virtue and faith, contending in the strife, until the strife yielded, being overcome.

Source: Epistle VIII

[AD 258] Cyprian on John 4:4

That injuries and penalties of persecutions are not to be feared by us, because greater is the Lord to protect than the devil to assault. John, in his epistle, proves this, saying: "Greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world." Also in the cxviith Psalm: "I will not fear what man can do unto me; the Lord is my helper." And again: "These in chariots, and those in horses; bat we will glory in the name of the Lord our God. They themselves are bound, and they have fallen; but we have risen up, and stand upright." And even more strongly the Holy Spirit, teaching and showing that the army of the devil is not to be feared, and that, if the foe should declare war against us, our hope consists rather in that war itself; and that by that conflict the righteous attain to the reward of the divine abode and eternal salvation,-lays down in the twenty-sixth Psalm, and says: "Though an host should be arrayed against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise up against me, in that will I put my hope. One hope have I sought of the Lord, this will I require; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." Also in Exodus, the Holy Scripture declares that we are rather multiplied and increased by afflictions, saying: "And the more they afflicted them, so much the more they became greater, and waxed stronger." And in the Apocalypse, divine protection is promised to our sufferings. "Fear nothing of these things," it says, "which thou shalt suffer." Nor does any one else promise to us security and protection, than He who also speaks by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name: thou art mine. And if thou passest through the water, I am with thee, and the rivers shall not overflow thee. And if thou passest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, and the flame shall not burn thee; for I, the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, am He who maketh thee safe." Who also promises in the Gospel that divine help shall not be wanting to God's servants in persecutions, saying: "But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak. For it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaketh in you." And again: "Settle it in your hearts not to meditate before how to answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which your adversaries shall not be able to resist." As in Exodus God speaks to Moses when he delayed and trembled to go to the people, saying: "Who hath given a mouth to man? and who hath made the stammerer? and who the deaf man? and who the seeing, and the blind man? Have not I, the Lord God? And now go, and I will open thy mouth, and will instruct thee what thou shall say." Nor is it difficult for God to open the mouth of a man devoted to Himself, and to inspire constancy and confidence in speech to His confessor; since in the book of Numbers He made even a she-ass to speak against the prophet Balaam. Wherefore in persecutions let no one think what danger the devil is bringing in, but let him indeed consider what help God affords; nor let human mischief overpower the mind, but let divine protection strengthen the faith; since every one, according to the Lord's promises and the deservings of his faith, receives so much from God's help as he thinks that he receives. Nor is there anything which the Almighty is not able to grant, unless the failing faith. of the receiver be deficient and give way.

Source: Treatise XI Exhortation to Martyrdom Addressed to Fortunatus

[AD 258] Cyprian on John 4:4

That we must trust in God only, and in Him we must glory. In Jeremiah: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the strong man glory in his strength, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understands and knows that I am the Lord, who do mercy, and judgment, and righteousness upon the earth, because in them is my pleasure, saith the Lord." Of the same thing in the fifty-fourth Psalm: "In the Lord have I hoped; I will not fear what man can do unto me." Also in the same place: "To none but God alone is my soul subjected." Also in the cxviith Psalm: "I will not fear what man can do unto me; the Lord is my helper." Also in the same place: "It is good to trust in the Lord rather than to trust in man; it is good to hope in the Lord rather than to hope in princes." Of this same thing in Daniel: "But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, there is no need to answer thee concerning this word. For God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the furnace of burning fire; and He will deliver us from thine hand, O king. And if not, be it known unto thee that we serve not thy gods, and we adore not the golden image which thou hast set up." Likewise in Jeremiah: "Cursed is the man who hath hope in man; and blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and his hope shall be in God." Concerning this same thing in Deuteronomy: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Of this same thing to the Romans: "And they worshipped and served the creature, forsaking the Creator. Wherefore also God gave them up to ignominious passions." Of this thing also in John: "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in this world."

Source: Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:4

Showing that He made this the by-work of the journey. Which also the Apostles did; for just as they, when persecuted by the Jews, came to the Gentiles; so also Christ, when the Jews drove Him out, then took the Samaritans in hand, as He did also in the case of the Syrophenician woman. And this was done that all defense might be cut away from the Jews, and that they might not be able to say, He left us, and went to the uncircumcised. And therefore the disciples excusing themselves said, It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken unto you; but seeing ye judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. Acts 13:46 And He says again Himself, I am not come but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel Matthew 15:24; and again, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to give it to dogs. But when they drove Him away, they opened a door to the Gentiles. Yet not so did He come to the Gentiles expressly, but in passing. In passing then,

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:4

Jesus only takes up Samaria along the way, as the evangelist implies by saying, “He had to pass through Samaria.” As the apostles, when expelled by the Jews went to the Gentiles, so Christ, when the Jews drove him out, goes to the Samaritans.… He did this in order to deprive the Jews of any excuse and so that they might not be able to say, “He left us and went to the uncircumcised.”

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.2

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 4:4

This necessity to go [through Samaria] gave the opportunity and the beginning to his narrative. John did not report this fact in vain. He does not say “as he went to Judea” or “as he returned to Galilee from Judea,” so he also came to the Samaritans. Because of the Samaritans’ separation from the Jews he certainly avoided giving an occasion for the Jews’ just complaint. And so, he did all this as though he were passing through, so that those who were worthy among the Jews might not be deprived of his benefit. He acted for their benefit so that it might be thought that he did what he did there by happenstance. In this way also he appeared to extend good will to the Samaritans, for whom a mere passing through [of the Lord] was sufficient to recognize the truth, while for the Jews not even his long stay among them brought about any results.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.4

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:4

O great readiness of mind and deep prudence! He prevents by his answers the things that would have been asked of him. For some one would straightway have said, either speaking to another, or secretly reasoning, Why did our Lord Jesus Christ, in not fit season, give illumination to the Samaritans? For once there came to Him the Syrophenician woman, with tears entreating mercy for her wretched daughter; and what said the Compassionate to her? It is not meet, saith He, to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. For He did not think it right, I suppose, to pour forth upon the Gentiles before the time the grace assigned to them of Israel. And this Himself made clearer by saying, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. How then (will one say) did He Who was sent to Israel alone begin to instruct the race of the Samaritans, albeit Israel had not yet wholly spurned the grace? To such things does he introduce the reply persuasive with power, to wit, that He must needs go through Samaria. For not for this reason alone did He arrange His sojourn with the Samaritans, that He might preach the word among them, and wholly transfer the whole blessing from Israel: but since He must needs pass through, therefore doth He teach, fulfilling the work of wisdom.

For as fire will never cease from its inherent natural operation of burning; so I deem it wholly impossible, that the Wisdom of all should not work what befits wisdom. And as, while saying that it is not meet to take the children's bread and to cast it unto dogs, yet to the woman who wept and entreated for pity with many words, He cast the grace, not admonished by another of the season for giving it, but Himself with the Father being Appointer of it, as Son and God and Lord: so did He pity the Samaritans too, and unveiling the Ineffable Might of His God-befitting Authority, He made the illumination of a whole country the bye-work of a journey.

It were besides strange, that Israel, who was already mad in folly, and imagining slaughter against the Lord, should be perfectly loved. But since they do not yet thoroughly persecute Him, but as yet only in measure, therefore our Lord Jesus the Christ also doth not yet wholly strip them of His grace, but doth nevertheless draw off the blessing by little and little to others. But His departing wholly from the country of the Jews, and hasting to go into that of aliens, by reason of the cruelty of His persecutors, was a threat, depicted on the nature of the thing as in a type, that they should endure the total loss of grace, and should dismiss unto others their own good, that is, the Christ, unless they abstained from their violence against Him.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:5

Why is the Evangelist so exact about this place? It is so that when you hear the woman say, “Jacob our father gave us this well,” you will not think it strange. For Sychar was the place where Simeon and Levi brought about a great slaughter because of their anger over what happened to Dinah.… And from where did the Samaritans get their name? Samaria receives its name from Somer, a mountain there, so called from the name of a former possessor of it. … The inhabitants of the country were formerly not Samaritans but Israelites. But in due time, they fell under God’s wrath and the [king of Assyria] … transplanted them to Babylon and Media, placing Gentiles from various parts in Samaria in their place.… God, however, sent lions to afflict the barbarians in order to show that it was not for lack of power on his part that he delivered up the Jews, but rather for the sins of the people themselves. The king was told this, and he sent a priest to instruct them in God’s law. But not even then did they entirely discontinue their iniquity but only effected a half-hearted change. In due time, they abandoned their idols and worshiped God. At this point, the Jews returned but were always jealous toward them as strangers and enemies, naming them “Samaritans” after the mountain.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.2

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:5

It would be worthwhile to explain the origins of the Samaritans and how they got their name. There was a mountain, Somor, named after the man who owned it, as Isaiah also says, And the head of Ephraim is Somoron.[Is. 7:9] Those who lived by this mountain were not at first called Samaritans, but Israelites. When they sinned against God, they were given into the hands of the Assyrians on various occasions.[See IV King 17:6-7} At last the Assyrian king [Tiglath-pileser III] set upon them as they were plotting a rebellion, took them captive, and fearing continuous revolt, no longer permitted them to remain there. He exiled them among the Babylonians and Medes, and from there brought back Gentiles from various places and settled them in Samaria. After this was done, God demonstrated to the barbarians that He had given the Jews into their hands because the Jews had sinned, and not because He was weak. Therefore He caused lions to set upon the barbarians in Samaria and devour them. When this was reported to the king, he sent for certain elders of the Jews in captivity, and asked them what could be done to prevent the lions from again assailing the occupants of Samaria. The elders explained that the God of Israel watched over that place and would not allow any one ignorant of His laws to dwell there. Therefore, if he felt sorrow for those barbarians, he should send Jewish priests to teach them the laws of God, and in this manner God would be appeased. The king did as they had said, and sent a certain priest to teach the law of God to the barbarians in Samaria. However, they did not accept all the divine books, but only the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Neither did they completely abandon their impiety; but in later years they gave up their idols and worshiped God. When the Jews finally returned from captivity, they always were suspicious of the Samaritans, considering them to be Assyrian by race, and calling them "Samaritans" after the name of the mountain. But the Samaritans called themselves the descendants of Abraham and Jacob. For Abraham was a Chaldean like themselves, and Jacob they considered to be their own because of his well which they possessed. To the Jews, then, the Samaritans were an abomination, together with all Gentiles. This is why they reviled the Lord by saying, Thou art a Samaritan, [Jn. 8:48] and even the Lord Himself said to His disciples, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. [Mt. 10:5] Why does the Evangelist give such details about Jacob's ground and well? First of all, so that you would not be surprised to hear the words of the woman, Our father, Jacob, gave us this well. For that place was Sykima [Shechem], where Simeon and Levi, the sons of Jacob, committed their savage slaughter to avenge the ravishing of their sister, Dinah, by the son of the ruler of the Sykimites. [Gen. 34] We also learn from the Evangelist's mention of the ground and the well that the rejection of the Jews began long ago on account of their sins. Having sinned against God, the Gentiles took possession of their land, and what the patriarchs had acquired through their faith in Christ, their descendants, the Jews, lost through their impiety. So it is nothing new if now the Gentiles have entered into the kingdom of heaven instead of the Jews. The ground which Jacob gave to Joseph was called Sykima. For it was there that the sons of Jacob slew the Sykimites and left desolate their city, which Jacob gave as an inheritance to his son, Joseph.

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 4:6

Her? Still further, if He had taken nothing of Mary, He would never have availed Himself of those kinds of food which are derived from the earth, by which that body which has been taken from the earth is nourished; nor would He have hungered, fasting those forty days, like Moses and Elias, unless His body was craving after its own proper nourishment; nor, again, would John His disciple have said, when writing of Him, "But Jesus, being wearied with the journey, was sitting

[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on John 4:6

Wherefore He is introduced in the Gospel "wearied"

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:6

Never is Christ without water: if, that is, He is Himself baptized in water; inaugurates in water the first rudimentary displays of His power, when invited to the nuptials; invites the thirsty, when He makes a discourse, to His own sempiternal water; approves, when teaching concerning love, among works of charity, the cup of water offered to a poor (child); recruits His strength at a well; walks over the water; willingly crosses the sea; ministers water to His disciples. Onward even to the passion does the witness of baptism last: while He is being surrendered to the cross, water intervenes; witness Pilate's hands: when He is wounded, forth from His side bursts water; witness the soldier's lance!

Source: On Baptism

[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on John 4:6

If we do not understand the mystery of his tears, hunger and thirst, let us remember that … he who thirsted gave from himself rivers of living water.… When he ate and drank, it was a concession not to his own necessities but to our habits.

Source: ON THE TRINITY 10.24

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on John 4:6

Many things we read and believe, in the light of the sacrament of the incarnation. Even in the very affections of our human nature we behold the divine majesty. Jesus is wearied with his journey, that he may refresh the weary. He desires to drink when about to give spiritual drink to the thirsty; he was hungry, when about to supply the food of salvation to the hungry.

Source: Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.4.53

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:6

Hence we learn His activity in journeying, His carelessness about food, and how He treated it as a matter of minor importance. And so the disciples were taught to use the like disposition themselves; for they took with them no provisions for the road. And this another Evangelist declares, saying, that when He spoke to them concerning the leaven of the Pharisees Matthew 16:6, they thought that it was because they carried no bread; and when he introduces them plucking the ears of grain, and eating Matthew 12:1, and when he says that Jesus came to the fig-tree by reason of hunger Matthew 21:18, it is for nothing else but only to instruct us by all these to despise the belly, and not to deem that its service is anxiously to be attended to. Observe them, for instance, in this place neither bringing anything with them, nor because they brought not anything, caring for this at the very beginning and early part of the day, but buying food at the time when all other people were taking their meal. Not like us, who the instant we rise from our beds attend to this before anything else, calling cooks and butlers, and giving our directions with all earnestness, applying ourselves afterwards to other matters, preferring temporal things to spiritual, valuing those things as necessary which we ought to have deemed of less importance. Therefore all things are in confusion. We ought, on the contrary, making much account of all spiritual things, after having accomplished these, then to apply ourselves to the others.

And in this place it is not His laboriousness alone that is shown, but also His freedom from pride; not merely by His being tired, nor by His sitting by the way-side, but by His having been left alone, and His disciples having been separated from Him. And yet it was in His power, if He had willed it, either not to have sent them all away, or when they departed to have had other ministers. But He would not; for so He accustomed His disciples to tread all pride beneath their feet.

And what marvel, says one, if they were moderate in their wishes, since they were fishermen and tentmakers? Yes! Fishermen and tentmakers they were; but they had in a moment mounted even to the height of heaven, and had become more honorable than all earthly kings, being deemed worthy to become the companions of the Lord of the world, and to follow Him whom all beheld with awe. And ye know this too, that those men especially who are of humble origin, whenever they gain distinction, are the more easily lifted up to folly, because they are quite ignorant how to bear their sudden honor. Restraining them therefore in their present humblemindedness, He taught them always to be moderate, and never to require any to wait upon them.

"He therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus at the well"

Do you see that His sitting was because of weariness? Because of the heat? Because of his waiting for His disciples? He knew, indeed, what should take place among the Samaritans, but it was not for this that He came principally; yet, though He came not for this, it behooved not to reject the woman who came to Him, when she manifested such a desire to learn. The Jews, when He was even coming to them, drove Him away; they of the Gentiles, when He was proceeding in another direction, drew Him to them. They envied, these believed on Him. They were angry with, these revered and -->worshipped--> Him. What then? Was He to overlook the salvation of so many, to send away such noble zeal? This would have been unworthy of His lovingkindness. Therefore He ordered all the matter in hand with the Wisdom which became Him. He sat resting His body and cooling It by the fountain; for it was the very middle of the day, as the Evangelist has declared, when he says, It was about the sixth hour.

He sat thus. What means thus? Not upon a throne, not upon a cushion, but simply, and as He was, upon the ground.

"There comes a woman of Samaria to draw water"

4. Observe how he declares that the woman came forth for another purpose, in every way silencing the shameless gainsaying of the Jews, that none might say that He acted in opposition to His own command, bidding (His disciples) not to enter into any city of the Samaritans, yet conversing with Samaritans. Matthew 10:5 And therefore the Evangelist has put,

"For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy meat"

Bringing in many reasons for His conversation with her. What does the woman? When she heard, Give Me to drink, she very wisely makes the speech of Christ an occasion for a question, and says,

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:6

He came wearied, because he carried weak flesh. At the sixth hour, because he was in the sixth age of the world. To a well, because he came to the depth of this our habitation. For this reason it is said in the psalm, “From the depth have I cried to you, O Lord.” He sat, as I said, because he was humbled.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.9

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:6

it was about the sixth hour.

He shows that opportunely did Jesus rest upon the well. For the sun pouring down its strongest rays from the mid-vault on those upon the earth, and consuming bodies with its unmitigated strokes, it would not have been without hurt to have gone further, but was more convenient to rest a little, especially when He would easily have thrust away the charge of luxuriousness, if the fitness of the season had agreed thereto.

He does not say that it was the sixth hour precisely, but about the sixth hour, that we too may learn not to be indifferent even about the least things, but rather to try and practise truth in common things.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:6

Having crossed the borders of Judea and being now among strangers, the Savior rests at Jacob’s well. He shows us again as in a type and darkly that the preaching of the gospel should depart from Jerusalem and the divine word in time would extend to the Gentiles. However, this does not signify that the patriarchs are to be any less revered. Christ shall embrace them again and shall again be refreshed and rest, as in his saints, preserving to them the pristine unfading grace.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.4

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on John 4:6

The prophet Isaiah has said about the divine nature, “He will not be hungry, nor will he grow weary,” and so on, and the Evangelist says, “Jesus grew weary from the journey and therefore sat down by the well.” Now the phrase “he will not grow weary” is the opposite of growing weary. The prophecy therefore [appears to] contradict the account of the Gospels. But they are not really contradictory since they both come from one God. Not growing weary pertains, therefore, to the infinite nature, because it fills all things. But movement is proper to the body that is finite. And when that which moves is forced to walk, it becomes subject to the weariness of the journey. It was the body, therefore, that walked and grew weary. For the union did not mix the natures together.

Source: DIALOGUES, EPILOGUE 1.7

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on John 4:6

Our Lord Jesus Christ came to the field that holy Jacob had left to his son, Joseph. I do not think that this field was left to Joseph as much as to Christ, whom holy Joseph the patriarch prefigured, for truly the sun and moon adore him, while all the stars bless him. For this reason the Lord came to this field in order that the Samaritans, who were longing to claim for themselves the inheritance of the patriarch of Israel, might recognize their owner and be converted to Christ who became the legitimate heir of the patriarch.

Source: SERMON 170.1

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on John 4:6

Could the power of God be exhausted? Certainly not. But he was wearied because he could not find the people faithful. Christ was wearied, then, because he recognized no virtue in his people. Today, too, our disobedience wearies him, as does also our weakness. For we are weak when we do not pursue the things that are strong and enduring but follow what is temporal and fleeting.

Source: SERMON 170.2

[AD 555] Romanos the Melodist on John 4:6

Christ, … the source of the breath of life for all, when He was
Weary from a journey, sat down near a spring of Samaria.
And it was the season of burning heat. It was the sixth hour, as the Scripture says,
It was the middle of the day when the Messiah came to illumine those in darkness.
The Spring came upon the spring, not to drink but to cleanse.
The fountain of immortality was near the stream of the wretched woman as though it were in need.
He is tired from walking, He who tirelessly walked on the sea,
He who furnishes
Exceeding great joy and redemption.

Source: KONTAKION ON THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA 9.4

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 4:7

First, then, from the wind-that is, from the serpent-has resulted the originating principle of generation in the manner declared, all things having simultaneously received the principle of generation. After, then, the light and the spirit had been received, he says, into the polluted and baneful (and) disordered womb, the serpent-the wind of the darkness, the first-begotten of the waters-enters within and produces man, and the impure womb neither loves nor recognises any other form. The perfect Word of supernal light being therefore assimilated (in form) to the beast, (that is,) the serpent, entered into the defiled womb, having deceived (the womb) through the similitude of the beast itself, in order that (the Word) may loose the chains that encircle the perfect mind which has been begotten amidst impurity of womb by the primal offspring of water, (namely,) serpent, wind, (and) beast. This, he says, is the form of the servant, and this the necessity of the Word of God coming down into the womb of a virgin. But he says it is not sufficient that the Perfect Man, the Word, has entered into the womb of a virgin, and loosed the pangs which were in that darkness. Nay, more than this was requisite; for after his entrance into the foul mysteries of the womb, he was washed, and drank of the cup of life-giving bubbling water. And it was altogether needful that he should drink who was about to strip off the servile form, and assume celestial raiment.

Source: The Refutation of All Heresies - Book 5

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:7-12

(tom. xiv. in Joan) For it is as it were a doctrine, that no one receives a divine gift, who seeks not for it. Even the Saviour Himself is commanded by the Father to ask, that He may give it Him, as we read, Require of Me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance. (Ps. 2:8) And our Saviour Himself says, Ask, and it shall be given you. (Luke 11:9) Wherefore He says here emphatically, Thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee.

(t. xiii. 6) In the mystical sense, Jacob's well is the Scriptures. The learned then drink like Jacob and his sons; the simple and uneducated, like Jacob's cattle.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:7-12

(Hom. xxxi. 4) That this conversation might not appear a violation of His own injunctions against talking to the Samaritans, the Evangelist explains how it arose; viz. for He did not come with the intention beforehand of talking with the woman, but only would not send the woman away, when she had come. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Observe, she comes quite by chance.

(Hom. xxxi. 3) This shows us too not only our Lord's strength and endurance as a traveller, but also his carelessness about food; for His disciples did not carry about food with them, since it follows, His disciples were gone away into the city to buy food. Herein is shown the humility of Christ; He is left alone. It was in His power, had He pleased, not to send away all, or, on their going away, to leave others in their place to wait on Him. But He did not choose to have it so: for in this way He accustomed His disciples to trample upon pride of every kind. However some one will say, Is humility in fishermen and tent-makers so great a matter? But these very men were all on a sudden raised to the most lofty situation upon earth, that of friends and followers of the Lord of the whole earth. And men of humble origin, when they arrive at dignity, are on this very account more liable than others to be lifted up with pride; the honour being so new to them. Our Lord therefore to keep His disciples humble, taught them in all things to subdue themselves. The woman on being told, Give Me to drink, very naturally asks, How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a woman of Samaria? She knew Him to be a Jew from His figure and speech. Here observe her simpleness. For even had our Lord been bound to abstain from dealing with her, that was His concern, not hers; the Evangelist saying not that the Samaritans would have no dealings with the Jews, but that the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. The woman however, though not in fault herself, wished to correct what she thought a fault in another. The Jews after their return from the captivity entertained a jealousy of the Samaritans, whom they regarded as aliens, and enemies; and the Samaritans did not use all the Scriptures, but only the writings of Moses, and made little of the Prophets. They claimed to be of Jewish origin, but the Jews considered them Gentiles, and hated them, as they did the rest of the Gentile world.

But why did Christ ask what the law allowed not? It is no answer to say that He knew she would not give it, for in that case, He clearly ought not to have asked for it. Rather His very reason for asking, was to show His indifference to such observances, and to abolish them for the future.

(Hom. xxxii) In Scripture the grace of the Holy Spirit is sometimes called fire, sometimes water, which shows that these words are expressive not of its substance, but of its action. The metaphor of fire conveys the lively and sin-consuming property of grace; that of water the cleansing of the Spirit, and the refreshing of the souls who receive Him.

(Hom. xxxi. 4) These words raised the woman's notions of our Lord, and make her think Him no common person. She addresses Him reverentially by the title of Lord; The woman saith unto Him, Lord, Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast Thou that living water?

(Hom. xxxi. 4) As if she said, Thou canst not say that Jacob gave us this spring, and used another himself; for he and they that were with him drank thereof, which would not have been done, had he had another better one. Thou canst not then give me of this spring; and Thou hast not another better spring, unless Thou confess Thyself greater than Jacob. Whence then hast Thou the water, which Thou promisest to give us?

(Hom. xxxi. 4) See how she thrusts herself upon the Jewish stock. The Samaritans claimed Abraham as their ancestor, on the ground of his having come from Chaldea; and called Jacob their father, as being Abraham's grandson.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:7-12

(Tract. xv. c. 10) The woman here is the type of the Church, not yet justified, but just about to be. And it is a part of the resemblance, that she comes from a foreign people. The Samaritans were foreigners, though they were neighbours; and in like manner the Church was to come from the Gentiles, and to be alien from the Jewish race.

(1. lxxxiii. Quæst. qu. 64) Jesus also thirsted after that woman's faith? He thirsteth for their faith, for whom He shed His blood.

(Tract. xiii) The Jews would not even use their vessels. So it would astonish the woman to hear a Jew ask to drink out of her vessel; a thing so contrary to Jewish rule.

(Tract. xv) He who asked to drink, however, out of the woman's vessel, thirsted for the woman's faith: Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, or Who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.

(1. lxxxiii. Quæst. qu. 64) He lets her know that it was not the water, which she meant, that Ho asked for; but that knowing her faith, He wished to satisfy her thirst, by giving her the Holy Spirit. For so must we interpret the living water, which is the gift of God; as He saith, If thou knewest the gift of God.

(Tr. xv) Living water is that which comes out of a spring, in distinction to what is collected in ponds and cisterns from the rain. If spring water too becomes stagnant, i. e. collects into some spot, where it is quite separated from its fountain head, it ceases to be living water.

(Tr. xv. c. 13.) She understands the living water to be the water in the well; and therefore says, Thou wishest to give me living water; but Thou hast nothing to draw with as I have: Thou canst not then give me this living water; Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:7

It is pertinent to the image of the reality that this woman, who bore the type of the church, comes from strangers, for the church was to come from the Gentiles, an alien from the race of the Jews. In that woman, then, let us hear ourselves, and in her acknowledge ourselves and in her give thanks to God for ourselves.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.10

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:7

His “drink” was to do the will of him that sent him. That was why he said, “I thirst; give me to drink,” namely, to work faith in her and to drink of her faith and transplant her into his own body, for his body is the church.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.31

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:7

The Saviour was not ignorant of the woman's coming. For right well did He know being Very God, that she would forthwith be there to draw the cold stream from the fountain. But when she was now come, He began to get His prey within the toils, and straightway holding forth the word of teaching, made His discourse from what was before Him.

The Law appointed for the Jews that they must not be defiled in any way, and therefore ordered them to withdraw from every unclean thing, and not to mix themselves up with strangers, or uncircumcised. But they, carrying forward the force of the commandment to something more, and following most empty observances, ratter than the exactness of the Law, nor venturing so much as to touch the flesh of any alien, used to think that they would incur all uncleanness, if they were found having to do with the Samaritans in anything. To so great an extent did their disagreement at length advance, that they recoiled from tasting water or food brought to them by the hand of aliens. In order then that the woman may exclaim, and that His unwonted conduct may invite her to ask Who He is, and whence, and how He despises the Jewish customs; and so at length the conversation may come to His aim, He makes as though thirsty, saying, Give Me to drink. But she said,

[AD 465] Maximus of Turin on John 4:7

The Savior asks for water from the woman, then, and feigns thirst so that he might give eternal grace to the thirsty. For the source was not able to be thirsty, nor was he in whom there is living water able to draw water full of earthly sediment. Did Christ thirst, then? He thirsted, to be sure, but for salvation and not [merely] for human drink. He was thirsty not for the water of this world but for the redemption of the human race. In a wonderful way, therefore, the source sitting by the well produces streams of mercy in that very place, and with flowing, living water he purifies the woman who is fornicating with a sixth man, not her husband but an adulterer. And in a new kind of miracle the woman who had come to the well of Samaria as a prostitute returned chaste from the source of Christ. She who had come to look for water brought back chastity. As soon as the Lord points her sins out to her she acknowledges them, confesses Christ and announces the Savior. Abandoning her pitcher she brings not water but grace back to the city. She seems, indeed, to return without a burden, but she returns full of holiness. She returns full, I say, because she who had come as a sinner goes back as a proclaimer, and she who had left her pitcher behind brought back the fullness of Christ, without the slightest loss to her city. For even if she did not bring water to the townspeople, still she brought in the source of salvation. Sanctified, then, by faith in Christ, the woman goes back home.

Source: SERMON 22.2

[AD 735] Bede on John 4:7-12

Or she calls Jacob their father, because she lived under the Mosaic law, and possessed the farm which Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:7-12

The argument with the woman arises naturally from the occasion: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. As man, the labour and heat He had undergone had made Him thirsty.

The grace of the Holy Spirit then He calls living water; i. e. lifegiving, refreshing, stirring. For the grace of the Holy Spirit is ever stirring him who does good works, directing the risings of his heart.

The addition, and his cattle, shows the abundance of the water; as if she said, Not only is the water sweet, so that Jacob and his sons drank of it, but so abundant, that it satisfied the vast multitude of the Patriarchs' cattle.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:7

By saying that the Lord was weary from the journey, the Evangelist shows us His humility and simplicity, for He rode not even a donkey on His journey, but walked on foot, teaching us also to need less, not more. The Evangelist also demonstrates that the Lord did not journey leisurely, but with intensity, from which we too may learn to do God's work with zeal and attention. The words, He sat thus, indicate that He sat simply, as He was, not on a chair, and without pretension rested His body on the ground and refreshed it by the well. Then the Evangelist gives another reason why He sat by the well: it was high noon, about the sixth hour, and the Lord needed rest and refreshment from the oppressive heat. Lest anyone accuse the Lord of a double standard in forbidding His disciples to go near the Gentiles while He Himself went to the Samaritans, the Evangelist says that He sat in that place because He was tired, showing that his thirst justified His conversation with the woman. In accordance with His human nature, He became thirsty and needed to drink. To the One asking for drink, the woman speaks with words which show her eagerness to learn. What should He have done? Shun this woman so eager to learn, who thirsted to learn the answer to her perplexity? Of course not! That is not the way of God, the Lover of man. We also see here the utter simplicity of the Lord. He is left all alone on the road, while His disciples have gone into the city to buy food. They gave so little attention to the demand of the stomach that at the very time when most people are nearly asleep after dinner they were out buying food, that is, loaves of bread only, from which we may also learn to limit the variety of what we eat. Notice the exactitude of the Evangelist. He did not assert, "It was the sixth hour," but instead, It was about the sixth hour, so careful was he to preserve the truthfulness of every word of his Gospel.

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on John 4:8

Our Lord came to the spring of water like a hunter. He asked for water in order to give water, with water as a pretext. He sought something to drink, like a thirsty person, so that the way could be opened for him to quench thirst. He asked from her in order to teach her, and she in turn would ask from him. He was not ashamed as a rich person to ask like one in need, to teach poverty how to make a petition. He was not afraid of reproach because he was speaking to a woman by herself, in order to teach me that whoever keeps to the truth will not be shaken. “They were indeed amazed that he was standing and talking with a woman.” He had dismissed his disciples from his presence so that they would not chase his prey away. He had cast bait for the dove so that by means of her he might capture the entire flock. He asked her in a way that was opposite to the real situation, so that she could answer honestly. “Give me water to drink.” Here was the beginning of the meeting. He asked for water, and he made a promise about living water. He made a request, and he ceased from his request, even as she also left her pitcher. He ceased pretexts because she came to the truth, for the sake of which the pretexts [had arisen].

Source: COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 12.16

[AD 311] Methodius of Olympus on John 4:9

Forefather, who was honourably entertained, in the delightful abode of Paradise, despised Thy divine and saving commandment, and was judged unworthy of that life-giving place, and mingling his seed with the bastard off-shoots of sin, he rendered it very weak;-but Thou, O Lord, of Thine own self, and of Thine ineffable love toward the creature of Thine hands, hast confirmed Thy mercy toward us, and, pitying our estrangement from Thee, hast moved Thyself at the sight of our degradation

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:9

And whence did she suppose Him to be a Jew? From His dress, perhaps, and from His dialect. Observe, I pray you, how considerate the woman was. If there was need of caution, Jesus needed it, not she. For she does not say, The Samaritans have no dealings with the Jews, but, The Jews do not admit the Samaritans. Yet still, although free herself from blame, when she supposed that another was falling into it she would not even so hold her peace, but corrected, as she thought, what was done unlawfully. Perhaps some one may ask how it was that Jesus asked drink of her, when the law did not permit it. If it be answered that it was because He knew beforehand that she would not give it, then for this very reason He ought not to have asked. What then can we say? That the rejecting such observances as these was now a matter of indifference to Him; for He who induced others to do them away, would much more Himself pass them by. Not that which goes in, says He, defiles a man, but that which goes out. Matthew 15:11 And this conversation with the woman would be no slight charge against the Jews. For often did He draw them to Himself, both by words and deeds, but they would not attend; while observe how she is detained by a simple request. For He did not as yet enter on the prosecution of this business, nor the way, yet if any came to Him He did not prevent them. And to the disciples also He said thus, Into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. He did not say, And when they come to you, reject them; that would have been very unworthy of His lovingkindness. And therefore He answered the woman, and said,

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:9

After the Jews returned from their captivity, they were jealous of the Samaritans whom they regarded as outsiders and enemies.… The Samaritans did not use all the Scriptures, but only the writings of Moses, and made little use of the prophets. They were eager to claim their Jewish origin and prided themselves on Abraham, whom they called their forefather since he was from Chaldea, and also Jacob since they were his descendants. But the Jews considered them Gentiles and thought they were as much an abomination as the rest of the Gentile world.… And so the woman, on being told, “Give me a drink,” very naturally asks, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” … She knew he was a Jew from his appearance and speech. Observe how considerate she is here. For even if our Lord had been bound to abstain from dealing with her, that was his concern, not hers. The Evangelist does not say that the Samaritans would have no dealings with the Jews but that the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. The woman, however, though not at fault herself, wished to correct what she thought was done unlawfully.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.2, 4

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:9

But why did Christ ask for a drink when the law did not permit it? It is no answer to say that he knew ahead of time that she would not give it, for in that case, he clearly should not have asked for it. Rather, his very reason for asking was to show his indifference to such observances since, if he was going to induce others to abolish them, then it was even more important for him to pass them by.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.4

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 4:9

It is evident that the blessed John wanted to reveal the virtue of the woman through this story. This request for water was not to be taken lightly. She instead first brings up the rules of the law. With great honesty she did not tolerate this infringement of the law even with strangers, even though it could have happened easily and almost necessarily [because of the thirst needing to be quenched]. Therefore, in order that it might not appear that the woman did not want to give water to the foreigner out of meanness or hostility, the Evangelist added these words: “Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans,” so that we might know that she refused to give him water not as to someone who was a stranger to her religion but because she wanted to warn him not to transgress the rules of the law by being led by his thirst. At this stage our Lord took this answer of the woman as the right opportunity for his teaching.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.9

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:9

The Jews would not even use [the Samaritans’] vessels. And as the woman brought with her a vessel to draw the water, it made her wonder that a Jew sought a drink from her—something Jews were not accustomed to do.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.11

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:9

Perhaps by His appearance, dress, manner, and speech, the Samaritan woman judged the Lord to be a Jew, which is why she says to Him, How is it that Thou, being a Jew, asketh drink of me? See how circumspect she is. If there were need of caution, the Lord needed it, not her. For it was not that the Samaritans had no dealings with the Jews, but, as she says, that the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. None the less, the woman did not keep silent, but out of her concern that the Lord was doing something unlawful for Him to do, she attempted to correct Him. The Lord does not show Who He is until the woman's virtue, prudence, and conscientiousness have first been revealed. Then He begins to speak to her of more profound things. If thou knewest, He says, the gift of God, which means, if you knew what eternal and incorruptible things God gives, and if you also knew that I am God, Who is able to give you these things, you would have asked for and received living water. The Lord calls the gift of the Holy Spirit water because it cleanses and refreshes those who receive it. It is not stagnant, fetid water like that in ponds and wells, but living water, ceaselessly bubbling and gushing upwards. For the grace of the Holy Spirit makes the soul constantly active in doing good, and always ready for spiritual ascents. Of such living and ever active water did the Apostle Paul drink, causing him to forget those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those which are before. [Phil. 3:13] Then the woman sayeth unto Him, Sir. Do you see how at once she abandons her perception of Him as a man of low rank, and instead adopts great reverence, calling Him "Sir"? However, she has not yet perceived the depth of Christ's words; while He means one thing by the word water, she understands something quite different.

[AD 175] Heracleon on John 4:10

[Heracleon] is not wrong when he says that “the water that the Savior gives is of his spirit and power.” And he has explained the statement “But he shall not thirst forever” as follows with these very words: “For the life he gives is eternal and never perishes, as, indeed, does the first life that comes from the well; the life he gives remains. For the grace and the gift of our Savior is not to be taken away, nor is it consumed, nor does it perish, when one partakes of it.” … Now [Heracleon’s] interpretation of the “leaping water” is not unconvincing. He takes it to refer “to those who partake of that which is richly supplied to them from above and who themselves cause what is supplied to them to gush out for the eternal life of others.” But he also praises the Samaritan woman “because she demonstrated a faith that was unhesitating and appropriate to her nature, when she had no doubt about what he said to her.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.59-60, 62-63

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 4:10

They assert, however, that Edem is the brain, as it were, bound and tightly fastened in encircling robes, as if (in) heaven. But they suppose that man, as far as the head only, is Paradise, therefore that "this river, which proceeds out of Edem," that is, from the brain, "is divided into four heads, and that the name of the first river is called Phison; this is that which encompasseth all the land of Havilath: there is gold, and the gold of that land is excellent, and there is bdellium and the onyx stone." This, he says, is the eye, which, by its honour (among the rest of the bodily organs), and its colours, furnishes testimony to what is spoken. "But the name of the second river is Gihon: this is that which compasseth the land of Ethiopia." This, he says, is hearing, since Gihon is (a tortuous stream), resembling a sort of labyrinth. "And the name of the third is Tigris. This is that which floweth over against (the country of) the Assyrians." This, he says, is smelling, employing the exceedingly rapid current of the stream (as an analogy of this sense). But it flows over against (the country of) the Assyrians, because in every act of respiration following upon expiration, the breath drawn in from the external atmosphere enters with swifter motion and greater force. For this, he says, is the nature of respiration. "But the fourth river is Euphrates." This, they assert, is the mouth, through which are the passage outwards of prayer, and the passage inwards of nourishment. (The mouth) makes glad, and nurtures and fashions the Spiritual Perfect Man. This, he says, is "the water that is above the firmament," concerning which, he says, the Saviour has declared, "If thou knewest who it is that asks, thou wouldst have asked from Him, and He would have given you to drink living, bubbling water." Into this water, he says, every nature enters, choosing its own substances; and its peculiar quality comes to each nature from this water, he says, more than iron does to the magnet, and the gold to the backbone of the sea falcon, and the chaff to the amber.

Source: The Refutation of All Heresies - Book 5

[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on John 4:10

And in that day it says, “Living water shall come forth out of Jerusalem.” This is that spiritual, sweet, life-giving and saving drink of the teaching of Christ. He speaks of it in the Gospel according to John, when instructing the Samaritan woman.… What was this drink, then, that came forth from Jerusalem? For it was there that its gospel went forth and its heralds filled the world. This is what is meant by the words “The living water shall go forth to the first sea and the last sea,” by which is meant the bounds of the whole world. That which is toward the eastern ocean is called “the first sea,” that toward the west is meant by “the last sea,” which, indeed, the living water of the saving gospel teaching has filled. He also taught about this when he said, “Whosoever shall drink of the water, which I shall give him, shall never thirst.”

Source: PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 6.18.48-49

[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on John 4:10

And in them too the rest of the prophecy was fulfilled, when on the day of our Savior’s coming living water came forth from Jerusalem. The fruitful living word of Jerusalem, yes, from Jerusalem itself, and was spread over all the earth, even to the utmost bounds of the world. The Lord and Savior himself speaks of this water to the Samaritan woman.… And he goes on to teach what advantage would accrue to everyone who tastes of the living spiritual spring. Those that drink of it, denying the many evil demons who ruled them of old, will confess their one Lord and King, and that the Lord, who once was known only to the Hebrews, will become King of all nations that believe in him from all the earth, and that his name will be one, encircling all the earth and the wilderness. And who is not struck at seeing this fulfilled? For the Christian name, derived from the name of Christ (and Christ was indeed the Lord) has encircled every place and city and land and the very nations that dwell in the wilderness and at the ends of the earth, as the prophecy foretold.

Source: PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 10.7.7-8

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:10

First, He shows that she is worthy to hear and not to be overlooked, and then He reveals Himself. For she, as soon as she had learned who He was, would straightway hearken and attend to Him; which none can say of the Jews, for they, when they had learned, asked nothing of Him, nor did they desire to be informed on any profitable matter, but insulted and drove Him away. But when the woman had heard these words, observe how gently she answers:

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:10

He asks for a drink and promises to give a drink. He longs as one about to receive; he abounds as one about to satisfy. “If you knew,” he says, “the gift of God.” The gift of God is the Holy Spirit.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.12

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:10

Is it shown in the sacred books that the Holy Spirit is called the “gift of God”? If people look for this too, we have in the Gospel according to John the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who says, “If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink: he that believes on me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” And the Evangelist has gone on further to add, “And this he spoke of the Spirit, which they should receive who believe in him.” And hence Paul the apostle also says, “And we have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” The question then is whether that water is called the gift of God, which is the Holy Spirit. But as we find here that this water is the Holy Spirit, so we find elsewhere in the Gospel itself that this water is called the gift of God. For when the same Lord was talking with the woman of Samaria at the well, to whom he had said, “Give me to drink,” and she had answered that the Jews “have no dealings” with the Samaritans, Jesus answered and said to her, “If you had known the gift of God and who it is that says to you, ‘Give me to drink,’ you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.” … Because this living water, then, as the Evangelist has explained to us, is the Holy Spirit, without doubt the Spirit is the gift of God, of which the Lord says here, “If you had known the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, ‘Give me to drink,’ you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.” For that which is in the one passage, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,” is in the other, “shall be in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

Source: ON THE TRINITY 15.19.33

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:10

Water issuing from a spring is what is commonly called living water. Water collected from rain in pools and cisterns is not called living water. It may have originally flowed from a spring; yet if it collects in some place and is left to stand without any connection to its source, separated, as it were, from the channel of the spring. It is not called “living water.” Water is designated as “living” when it is taken as it flows. This is the kind of water that was in that fountain.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.12

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:10

Enquiry is the beginning of learning, and to those who are ignorant upon any subject, doubt concerning it is the root of understanding. This commencement the discourse aims at: wherefore the Saviour wisely hints, that He accounts of no value the customs of the Jews.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:10

Jesus calls the quickening gift of the Spirit “living water” because mere human nature is parched to its very roots, now rendered dry and barren of all virtue by the crimes of the devil. But now human nature runs back to its pristine beauty, and drinking in that which is life-giving, it is made beautiful with a variety of good things and, budding into a virtuous life, it sends out healthy shoots of love toward God.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.4

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on John 4:10

Not everyone knows the gift of God, because not all desire the living water, for if they did desire it they would never postpone the sacrament of baptism.… Do not delay the remedies of your salvation because you do not know when your soul may be demanded of you.

Source: SERMON 170.4

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:11

The Scriptures, therefore, are introductions, and are called Jacob’s well. Once they have now been accurately understood, one must go up from them to Jesus, that he may freely give us the fountain of water that leaps into eternal life. But everyone does not draw water from Jacob’s well in the same way.… Some who are wise in the Scriptures drink as Jacob and his sons. But others who are simpler and more innocent, the so-called sheep of Christ, drink as Jacob’s livestock. And others, misunderstanding the Scriptures and maintaining certain irreverent things on the pretext that they have apprehended the Scriptures, drink as the Samaritan woman drank before she believed in Jesus.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.37-39

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on John 4:11

This well is clearly the grace of the Spirit, a stream proceeding from the living fountain. The Holy Spirit, then, is also the fountain of eternal life.… This water, the grace of the Spirit, is so refreshing. Who will give this fountain to my breast? Let it spring up in me, let what gives eternal life flow on me. Let that fountain overflow on us and not flow away.… How shall I keep this water so that it does not flow or glide away?

Source: On the Holy Spirit 1.16.180-81

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:11

Already He has raised her from her low opinion of Him, and from deeming that He is a common man. For not without a reason does she here call Him, Lord; but assigning to Him high honor. That she spoke these words to honor Him, is plain from what is said afterwards, since she did not laugh nor mock, but doubted for a while. And wonder not if she did not at once perceive all, for neither did Nicodemus. What says he? How can these things be? and again, How can a man be born when he is old? and again, Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? But this woman more reverently: Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; from whence then have you that living water? Christ said one thing, and she imagined another, hearing nothing beyond the words, and as yet unable to form any lofty thought. Yet, had she spoken hastily, she might have said, If you had had that living water, you would not have asked of me, but wouldest rather have provided for yourself. You are but a boaster. But she said nothing like this; she answers with much gentleness, both at first and afterwards. For at first she says, How is it that thou, being a Jew, ask drink of me? she says not, as though speaking to an alien and an enemy, Far be it from me to give to you, who art a foe and a stranger to our nation. And afterwards again, when she heard Him utter great words, a thing at which enemies are most annoyed, she did not mock nor deride ; but what says she?

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:11

Already, our Lord raises the woman’s low opinion of him, making her realize that he was no common person. She addresses him reverentially by the title of “Lord.”

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.4

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 4:11

However, since the woman did not yet understand these words and did not know what “living water” was, she said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” The tone of her conversation changed. Above she had said daringly, “How is it that you, a Jew”; now she conveniently set the appellation “sir” before her words. Before she talked to him, suspecting that he would have transgressed the law because of his strong thirst. Then, when she understood from his answer and his peaceful words that he had not asked for water because he was oppressed by thirst, she attributed the right honor to his words. “From where do you give me, [she says], that living water? You have no bucket, and the well is deep.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.11

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:11

If thou knewest the gift of God, and Who It is That saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto Him,

Not knowing the Essence of the Only Begotten, surpassing earth and heaven, yea rather being wholly ignorant of the Incarnate Word, the woman was calling Him a Jew. And profitably is He silent to this, that the foundation of His discourse with her may be kept. Yet does He uplift her to a higher conception of Himself, saying that she knows not Who It is Who asked drink, or how great grace Divine gifts have, insomuch that if she had had knowledge of it, she would not have endured to be behindhand, for she would have prevented the Lord in asking. He rouses her then by these things to a very earnest wish to learn. Observe how now too fashioning His discourse skillfully and free from boast, He says that He is God, even though the woman be slow to understand. For inducing her to marvel at the gift of God, He introduces Himself as the Giver of it. For if (says He,) thou knewest the gift of God and Who It is That saith to thee, thou wouldest have asked of Him. But whom would it befit to give the things of God? would it not Him Who is by Nature God?

But He calls the quickening gift of the Spirit living water, whereby alone human nature, albeit well nigh parched to its very roots, rendered now dry and barren of all virtue by the villainies of the devil, runneth back to its pristine beauty of nature, and drinking in the life-giving grace, is adorned with varied forms of good things, and shooting forth into a virtuous habit puts forth most thriving shoots of love towards God. Some such thing as this God says to us by the Prophet Isaiah also, The beast of the field shall honour Me, the dragons and the owls, because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen, whom I have formed for Myself to declare Mine excellencies. And another of the Saints says that the soul of the righteous shall be as a fruitful tree, and shall spring up as grass among the waters, and shall appear as the willow by running water.

We might heap up, besides those already quoted, many other testimonies also from the Divine Scripture, whence it would be very easy to show, that under the name of water, the Divine Spirit is often named. But it is no time to linger here. Wherefore we will swim to other places, pressing on upon the great and wide sea of Divine meditations.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:11

Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast Thou that living water?

The woman imagines nothing more than what she is accustomed to; and by no means understands the force of what is said, but supposes that like some of those who are accustomed to work wonders by means of charms and devilish deceit, without a line or other contrivance He will draw up the water to her from the depths of the well. But she calls that living water, according to her own meaning, which has fresh flowed from the breasts of the fountain.

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on John 4:11

Before the coming of the Lord, the well was also deep, and without a pail no one could draw water for himself. Our Lord, the living fountain, came to cleanse the hearts of all people, to quench their thirst and to satisfy their souls. Moreover, he did not look for a pail to draw the water, but of his own accord he poured himself into the minds of each one.

Source: SERMON 170.4

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:12

; and again, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; but ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Accordingly, He who said, "Woe unto them that trust in the mountain of Samaria," vouchsafing now to restore that very region, purposely requests the men "to go and show themselves to the priests," because these were to be found only there where the temple was; submitting the Samaritan to the Jew, inasmuch as "salvation was of the Jews," whether to the Israelite or the Samaritan.

Source: Against Marcion Book IV

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:12

"And we have seen His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father; " that is, of course, (the glory) of the Son, even Him who was visible, and was glorified by the invisible Father.

Source: Against Praxeas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:12

Observe how she thrusts herself into the noble stock of the Jews. For what she says is somewhat of this kind: Jacob used this water, and had nothing better to give us. And this she said showing that from the first answer (of Christ) she had conceived a great and sublime thought; for by the words, he drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle, she implies nothing else, than that she had a notion of a better Water, but that she never found it, nor clearly knew it. More clearly to explain what she means to say, the sense of her words is this: You can not assert that Jacob gave us this well, and used another himself; for he and his children drank of this one, which they would not have done if they had had another and a better. Now of the water of this well it is not in your power to give me, and you can not have another and a better, unless thou dost confess that you are greater than Jacob. Whence then have you that water which you promise that you will give us? The Jews did not converse with Him thus mildly, and yet He spoke to them on the same subject, making mention of the like water, but they profited nothing; and when He made mention of Abraham, they even attempted to stone Him. Not so does this woman approach Him; but with much gentleness, in the midst of the heat, at noon, she with much patience says and hears all, and does not so much as think of what the Jews most probably would have asserted, that This fellow is mad, and beside himself: he has tied me to this fount and well, giving me nothing, but using big words; no, she endures and perseveres until she has found what she seeks.

5. If now a woman of Samaria is so earnest to learn something profitable, if she abides by Christ though not as yet knowing Him, what pardon shall we obtain, who both knowing Him, and being not by a well, nor in a desert place, nor at noon-day, nor beneath the scorching sunbeams, but at morning-tide, and beneath a roof like this, enjoying shade and comfort, yet cannot endure to hear anything that is said, but are wearied by it. Not such was that woman; so occupied was she by Jesus' words, that she even called others to hear them. The Jews, on the contrary, not only did not call, but even hindered and impeded those who desired to come to Him, saying, See, have any of the rulers believed on him? But this people, which knows not the Law, are cursed. Let us then imitate this woman of Samaria; let us commune with Christ. For even now He stands in the midst of us, speaking to us by the Prophets and Disciples; let us hear and obey. How long shall we live uselessly and in vain? Because, not to do what is well-pleasing to God is to live uselessly, or rather not merely uselessly, but to our own hurt; for when we have spent the time which has been given us on no good purpose, we shall depart this life to suffer severest punishment for our unseasonable extravagance. For it can never be that a man who has received money to trade with, and then has eaten it up, shall have it required at his hands by the man who entrusted it to him; and that one who has spent such a life as ours to no purpose shall escape punishment. It was not for this that God brought us into this present life, and breathed into us a soul, that we should make use of the present time only, but that we should do all our business with a regard to the life which is to come. Things irrational only are useful for the present life; but we have an immortal soul, that we may use every means to prepare ourselves for that other life. For if one enquire the use of horses and asses and oxen, and other such-like animals, we shall tell him that it is nothing else but only to minister to the present life; but this cannot be said of us; our best condition is that which follows on our departure hence; and we must do all that we may shine there, that we may join the choir of Angels, and stand before the King continually, through endless ages. And therefore the soul is immortal, and the body shall be immortal too, that we may enjoy the never-ending blessings. But if, when heavenly things are proffered you, you remain nailed to earth, consider what an insult is offered to your Benefactor, when He holds forth to you things above, and thou, making no great account of them choosest earth instead. And therefore, as despised by you, He has threatened you with hell; that you may learn hence of what great blessings you deprive yourself. God grant that none make trial of that punishment, but that having been well-pleasing to Christ, we may obtain everlasting blessings, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ; to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory, now and ever, and world without end. Amen.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:12

When the woman objects, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?” Jesus does not reply, “Actually, I am greater,” which would make him sound like he is boasting since there was no proof at this point. Nonetheless, his answer implies it.… It is as if he said, If Jacob is honored because he gave you this water, what would you say if I give you far better water than this?… He makes the comparison, however, not to put Jacob down but to honor himself. Notice, Jesus does not say that the water is inferior or vile. Rather, he asserts a simple fact of nature: whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.1

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:12

It is as if she said, you cannot say that Jacob gave us this spring and then used another for himself. For he and his descendants drank from it, which they would not have done if they had another well that was better. Therefore, you cannot then give me water from this spring. And you do not have a better spring, unless you confess that you are greater than Jacob. Where then does the water come from then that you promise to give us?

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.4

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:12

The Samaritans then were aliens (for they were colonists of the Babylonians), but they call Jacob their father for two reasons. They inhabited a country bordering on Jewish land and so, as neighbors, they were influenced by their worship and were accustomed to boast of the Jews’ ancestors. Besides, it was really true that the greater number of the inhabitants of Samaria were sprung from the root of Jacob. For Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, having gathered together ten tribes of Israel and the half-tribe of Ephraim, departed from Jerusalem in the time of the kingdom of the son of Solomon, and took Samaria and built houses and cities there.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.4

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:12

She claims Jacob as her father, inserting herself into the noble lineage of the Jews. Do you see the intelligence of the woman? From the difference between the two kinds of water, she at once infers the difference between the two who give these waters. "If," she says, "You can give such water of which you speak, certainly You would be greater than Jacob who gave us this water." Her words, and drank thereof himself, are in praise of the sweetness of the water in Jacob's well. The patriarch was so pleased by the water in this spring that both he and his sons drank of it. Her words, and his cattle, indicate the abundance of the water. Not only was the water so sweet that Jacob himself drank of it, the supply was so plentiful that it watered his multitude of cattle. When the woman said, Surely Thou art not greater than our father Jacob, the Lord does not reply openly, "Yes, I am greater!" lest He appear to boast, not yet haven given any sign of His own power. But by His answer this is exactly what He implies. "He who drinks of this water will thirst again, but he who drinks of My water will never thirst. If you marvel at Jacob who gave you this water, much more should you be amazed at Me. For I give you a far superior water, which becomes a spring of water continuously multiplied." The saints do not receive a portion from God and preserve that same quantity until the end, but instead accept their portion as the seeds and the beginnings of good, which they themselves use up entirely, making it multiply. The Lord teaches this very thing in His parables of the talents and of the innkeeper. The man who had been given two talents earned another two by laboring and putting them to work; and to the innkeeper who received the man wounded by thieves the Lord promised, "Whatever more you have spent of your own, I will give back to you." [See Mt. 25:20-30 and Lk. 10:35] Therefore, this is what the Lord implies here: "I too give water to the thirsty, but what I give does not remain the same quantity that was given, but overflows and becomes a spring." The Lord gave Paul a small amount of water, that is, the catechesis imparted to him by Ananias, but Paul showed this small gift of instruction to be a fountain pouring out torrents of preaching that reached from Jerusalem to Illyria. How then did the woman react to these words? Still in a lowly manner, for she thought that His words were about actual water, yet she also shows signs of spiritual advance. Before, when she could not understand, she had asked dubiously, Whence then hast Thou that living water? Now she accepts His words without doubt and says, Give me this water. She appears wiser than Nicodemus, who received a much lengthier explanation from the Lord and still responded, How can these things be? [Jn. 3:9] But she already begins to look down on Jacobâ€™s well. For she says, "If You have such water, give it to me, and I will no longer come here to draw." Do you see that she now holds the Lord in higher esteem than she does Jacob?

[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on John 4:13

Sick, we truly stand in need of the Saviour; having wandered, of one to guide us; blind, of one to lead us to the light; thirsty, "of the fountain of life, of which whosoever partakes, shall no longer thirst; "

Source: Clement of Alexandria The Instructor Book I

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:13

One must investigate what is meant by “will thirst” in the statement “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again.” … What is meant in the first place would be something like this: he who partakes of supposedly profound thoughts, even if he is satisfied for a little while and accepts the ideas that are drawn out and that he thinks he has discovered to be most profound, will, however, when he has reconsidered them, raise new questions.… But [the Word] says, I have the teaching that becomes a fountain of living water in the one who has received what I have declared. And he who has received of my water will receive so great a benefit that a fountain capable of discovering everything that is investigated will gush forth within him. The waters will leap upward. His understanding also will spring up and fly as swiftly as possible in accordance with this briskly flowing water, the springing and leaping itself carrying him to that higher life that is eternal.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OFJOHN 13.13, 15-16

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:13-18

(t. xiii. 6) In the mystical sense, Jacob's well is the Scriptures. The learned then drink like Jacob and his sons; the simple and uneducated, like Jacob's cattle.

(tom. xiii. in Joan. c. 5, 6) May not Jacob's well signify mystically the letter of Scripture; the water of Jesus, that which is above the letter, which all are not allowed to penetrate into? That which is written was dictated by men, whereas the things which the eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, cannot be reduced to writing, but are from the fountain of water, that springeth up unto everlasting life, i. e. the Holy Ghost. These truths are unfolded to such as carrying no longer a human heart within them, are able to say with the Apostle, We have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 11:16) Human wisdom indeed discovers truths, which are handed down to posterity; but the teaching of the Spirit is a well of water which springeth up into everlasting life. The woman wished to attain, like the angels, to angelic and super-human truth without the use of Jacob's water. For the angels have a well of water within them, springing from the Word of God Himself. She says therefore, Sir, give me this water. But it is impossible here to have the water which is given by the Word, without that which is drawn from Jacob's well; and therefore Jesus seems to tell the woman that He cannot supply her with it from any other source than Jacob's well; If we are thirsty, we must first drink from Jacob's well. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. (Rom. 7:1) According to the Apostle, the Law is the husband of the soul.

(tom. xiii. c. 8) And what more proper place than Jacob's well, for exposing the unlawful husband, i. e. the perverse law? For the Samaritan woman is meant to figure to us a soul, that has subjected itself to a hind of law of its own, not the divine law. And our Saviour wishes to marry her to a lawful husband, i. e. Himself; the Word of truth which was to rise from the dead, and never again to die.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 258] Cyprian on John 4:13

But as often as water is named alone in the Holy Scriptures, baptism is referred to, as we see intimated in Isaiah: "Remember not," says he, "the former things, and consider not the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, which shall now spring forth; and ye shall know it. I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the dry place, to give drink to my elected people, my people whom I have purchased, that they might show forth my praise." There God foretold by the prophet, that among the nations, in places which previously had been dry, rivers should afterwards flow plenteously, and should provide water for the elected people of God, that is, for those who were made sons of God by the generation of baptism. Moreover, it is again predicted and foretold before, that the Jews, if they should thirst and seek after Christ, should drink with us, that is, should attain the grace of baptism. "If they shall thirst," he says, "He shall lead them through the deserts, shall bring forth water for them out of the rock; the rock shall be cloven, and the water shall flow, and my people shall drink; " which is fulfilled in the Gospel, when Christ, who is the Rock, is cloven by a stroke of the spear in His passion; who also, admonishing what was before announced by the prophet, cries and says, "If any man thirst, let him come and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." And that it might be more evident that the Lord is speaking there, not of the cup, but of baptism, the Scripture adds, saying, "But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive." For by baptism the Holy Spirit is received; and thus by those who are baptized, and have attained to the Holy Spirit, is attained the drinking of the Lord's cup. And let it disturb no one, that when the divine Scrip-lure speaks of baptism, it says that we thirst and drink, since the Lord also in the Gospel says, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; " because what is received with a greedy and thirsting desire is drunk more fully and plentifully. As also, in another place, the Lord speaks to the Samaritan woman, saying, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst for ever." By which is also signified the very baptism of saving water, which indeed is once received, and is not again repeated. But the cup of the Lord is always both thirsted for and drunk in the Church.

Source: Epistle LXII

[AD 330] Arnobius of Sicca on John 4:13

, does not He free all alike who invites all alike? or does He thrust back or repel any one from the kindness of the Supreme who gives to all alike the power of coming to Him,-to men of high rank, to the meanest slaves, to women, to boys? To all, He says, the fountain of life is open,

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:13

1. Scripture calls the grace of the Spirit sometimes Fire, sometimes Water, showing that these names are not descriptive of its essence, but of its operation; for the Spirit, being Invisible and Simple, cannot be made up of different substances. Now the one John declares, speaking thus, He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with Fire Matthew 3:11: the other, Christ, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:38 But this, says John, spoke He of the Spirit, which they should receive. So also conversing with the woman, He calls the Spirit water; for, Whosoever shall drink of the water which I shall give him, shall never thirst. So also He calls the Spirit by the name of fire, alluding to the rousing and warming property of grace, and its power of destroying transgressions; but by that of water, to declare the cleansing wrought by it, and the great refreshment which it affords to those minds which receive it. And with good reason; for it makes the willing soul like some garden thick with all manner of trees fruitful and ever-flourishing, allowing it neither to feel despondency nor the plots of Satan, and quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

And observe, I pray you, the wisdom of Christ, how gently He leads on the woman; for He did not say at first, If you knew who it is that says to you, Give Me to drink, but when He had given her an occasion of calling Him a Jew, and brought her beneath the charge of having done so, repelling the accusation He says, If you knew who it is that says to you, Give Me to drink, you would have asked of Him; and having compelled her by His great promises to make mention of the Patriarch, He thus allows the woman to look through, and then when she objects, Are you greater than our father Jacob? He says not, Yea, I am greater, (for He would have seemed but to boast, since the proof did not as yet appear,) but by what He says He effects this. For He said not simply, I will give you water, but having first set that given by Jacob aside, He exalts that given by Himself, desiring to show from the nature of the things given, how great is the interval and difference between the persons of the givers, and His own superiority to the Patriarch. If, says He, you admire Jacob because he gave you this water, what will you say if I give you Water far better than this? You have yourself been first to confess that I am greater than Jacob, by arguing against Me, and asking, 'Are you greater than Jacob, that you promise to give me better water?' If you receive that Water, certainly you will confess that I am greater. Do you see the upright judgment of the woman, giving her decision from facts, both as to the Patriarch, and as to Christ? The Jews acted not thus; when they even saw Him casting out devils, they not only did not call Him greater than the Patriarch but even said that He had a devil. Not so the woman, she draws her opinion whence Christ would have her, from the demonstration afforded by His works. For by these He justifies Himself, saying, If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not; but if I do, if you believe not Me, believe the works. c. x. 37, 38 And thus the woman is brought over to the faith.

Wherefore also He, having heard, Are you greater than our father Jacob, leaves Jacob, and speaks concerning the water, saying, Whosoever shall drink of this water, shall thirst again; and He makes His comparison, not by depreciating one, but by showing the excellence of the other; for He says not, that this water is naught, nor that it is inferior and contemptible, but what even nature testifies that He says: Whosoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever shall drink of the Water which I shall give him, shall never thirst. The woman before this had heard of living Water John 4:10, but had not known its meaning. Since because that water is called living which is perennial and bubbles up unceasingly from uninterrupted springs, she thought that this was the water meant. Wherefore He points out this more clearly by speaking thus, and establishing by a comparison the superiority (of the water which He would give). What then says He? Whosoever shall drink of the Water that I shall give him, shall never thirst. This and what was said next especially showed the superiority, for material water possesses none of these qualities. And what is it that follows? It shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. For as one that has a well within him could never be seized by thirst, so neither can he that has this Water.

The woman straightway believed, showing herself much wiser than Nicodemus, and not only wiser, but more manly. For he when he heard ten thousand such things neither invited any others to this hearing, nor himself spoke forth openly; but she exhibited the actions of an Apostle, preaching the Gospel to all, and calling them to Jesus, and drawing a whole city forth to Him. Nicodemus when he had heard said, How can these things be? And when Christ set before him a clear illustration, that of the wind, he did not even so receive the Word. But the woman not so; at first she doubted, but afterwards receiving the Word not by any regular demonstration, but in the form of an assertion, she straightway hastened to embrace it. For when Christ said, It shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting Life, immediately the woman says,

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:13-18

(Hom. xxxii. 1) To the woman's question, Art Thou greater than our father Jacob? He does not reply, I am greater, lest He should seem to boast; but His answer implies it; Jesus answered and said to her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; as if He said, If Jacob is to be honoured because he gave you this water, what wilt thou say, if I give thee far better than this? He makes the comparison however not to depreciate Jacob, but to exalt Himself. For He does not say, that this water is vile and counterfeit, but asserts a simple fact of nature, viz. that whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.

(Hom. xxxii. 1) The excellence of this water, viz. that he that drinketh of it never thirsts, He explains in what follows, But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. As a man who had a spring within him, would never feel thirst, so will not he who has this water which I shall give him.

(Hom. xxxii. 1) See how the woman is led by degrees to the highest doctrine. First, she thought He was some lax Jew. Then hearing of the living water, she thought it meant material water. Afterwards she understands it as spoken spiritually, and believes that it can take away thirst, but she does not yet know what it is, only understands that it was superior to material things: The woman saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Observe, she prefers Him to the patriarch Jacob, for whom she had such veneration.

(Hom. xxxii. 2) The woman then being urgent in asking for the promised water, Jesus saith unto her, Go call thy husband; to show that he too ought to have a share in these things. But she was in a hurry to receive the gift, and wished to conceal her guilt, (for she still imagined she was speaking to a man:) The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Christ answers her with a seasonable reproof; exposing her as to former husbands, and as to her present one, whom she had concealed; Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 4:13

There is a great difference, he says, between that water [in the well] and the water I promise to give. That [water], after they have drunk it, extinguishes their thirst for a short time. But then, when it has been consumed according to its nature, it leaves the one who shortly before had drunk it thirsty again. The water that I give is such in its nature that not only is it not consumed and does not leave the one who drinks it oppressed by thirst, but on the contrary, it becomes in him like a spring gushing up forever. The water from a spring does not run out, nor does it need to be brought from another place or to be introduced, but it constantly offers perpetual nourishment to those who want it. In a similar way also the virtue of this water provides the one who receives it with perpetual help and will always preserve him and not allow him to perish. Therefore the one who receives this grace will never reach death. He said what he did for good reason, because this is what the virtue of the Spirit is. And so we also receive from him the firstfruits of the Spirit with the hope of the future resurrection. Since now this operation is performed symbolically, we hope then to receive the perfect grace when, through his participation, we will remain imperishable.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 24

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:13

Let us not overlook the fact that it is something spiritual that the Lord was promising. What does he mean when he says, “Whoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again”? It is true both for this water and what the water signified. Since the water in the well is the pleasure of the world in its dark depth: from this people draw it with the vessel of lusts. Stooping forward, they let down the lust to reach the pleasure fetched from the depth of the well, and they enjoy the pleasure and the preceding lust that they let down to fetch it. For he who has not dispatched his lust in advance cannot get to the pleasure. Consider lust, then, as the vessel and pleasure as the water from the depth of the well. When one has gotten into the pleasure of this world, whether it be food or drink, a bath, a show, an affair, is there any way he or she will not thirst again? Therefore, “whoever shall drink of this water,” he said “will thirst again.” But if he receives water from me, “he shall never thirst.” “We shall be satisfied,” it says, “with the good things of your house.” Of what water, then, is [Jesus] to give except of which it is said, “With you is the fountain of life”? For how shall they thirst who “shall be drunk with the fatness of your house”?

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.16

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:13-18

(Tr. xv. c. 16) Which is true indeed both of material water, and of that of which it is the type. For the water in the well is the pleasure of the world, that abode of darkness. Men draw it with the waterpot of their lusts; pleasure is not relished, except it be preceded by lust. And when a man has enjoyed this pleasure, i. e. drunk of the water, he thirsts again; but if he have received water from Me, he shall never thirst. For how shall they thirst, who are drunken with the abundance of the house of God? (Ps. 36:8.) But He promised this fulness of the Holy Spirit.

(Tr. xv. c. 15-18) Or thus; The woman as yet understands Him of the flesh only. She is delighted to be relieved for ever from thirst, and takes this promise of our Lord's in a carnal sense. For God had once granted to His servant Elijah, that he should neither hunger nor thirst for forty days; and if He could grant this for forty days, why not for ever? Eager to possess such a gift, she asks Him for the living water; The woman saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Her poverty obliged her to labour more than her strength could well bear; would that she could hear, Come unto Me, all that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. (Mat. 11:28) Jesus had said this very thing, i. e. that she need not labour any longer; but she did not understand Him. At last our Lord was resolved that she should understand: Jesus saith unto her, Go call thy husband, and come hither. What meaneth this? Did He wish to give her the water through her husband? Or, because she did not understand, did He wish to teach her by means of her husband? The Apostle indeed saith of women, If they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home. (1 Cor. 14:35) But this applies only where Jesus is not present. Our Lord Himself was present here; what need then that He should speak to her through her husband? Was it through her husband that He spoke to Mary, who sat at His feet?

(Tr. xv. c. 20) Understand, that the woman had not a lawful husband, but had formed an irregular connection with some one. He tells her, Thou hast had fire husbands, in order to show her His miraculous knowledge.

(lib. lxxxiii. Quæst. qu. 64) The five husbands some interpret to be the five books which were given by Moses. And the words, He whom thou now hast is not thy husband, they understand as spoken by our Lord of Himself; as if He said, Thou hast served the five books of Moses, as five husbands; but now he whom thou hast, i. e. whom thou hearest, is not thy husband; for thou dost not yet believe in him. But if she did not believe in Christ, she was still united to those five husbands, i. e. five books, and therefore why is it said, Thou hast had five husbands, as if she no longer had them? And how do we understand that a man must have these five books, in order to pass over to Christ, when he who believes in Christ, so far from forsaking these books, embraces them in this spiritual meaning the more strongly? Let us turn to another interpretation.

(Tr. xv. c. 19) Jesus seeing that the woman did not understand, and wishing to enlighten her, says, Call thy husband; i. e. apply thine understanding. For when the life is well ordered, the understanding governs the soul itself, pertaining to the soul. For though it is indeed nothing else than the soul, it is at the same time a certain part of the soul. And this very part of the soul which is called the understanding and the intellect, is itself illuminated by a light superior to itself. Such a Light was talking with the woman; but in her there was not understanding to be enlightened. Our Lord then, as it were, says, I wish to enlighten, and there is not one to be enlightened; Call thy husband, i. e. apply thine understanding, through which thou must be taught, by which governed. The five former husbands may be explained as the five senses, thus: a man before he has the use of his reason, is entirely under the government of his bodily senses. Then reason comes into action; and from that time forward he is capable of entertaining ideas, and is either under the influence of truth or error. The woman had been under the influence of error, which error was not her lawful husband, but an adulterer. Wherefore our Lord says, Put away that adulterer which corrupts thee, and call thy husband, that thou mayest understand Me.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:13-18

For the water which I give him is ever multiplying. The saints receive through grace the seed and principle of good; but they themselves make it grow by their own cultivation.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 108] Ignatius of Antioch on John 4:14

Has been crucified, and there is no fire in me that loves anything; but there is living water springing up in me,

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 4:14

Himself: thus does Jesus now give to His believing people power to drink spiritual waters, which spring up to life eternal.

Source: Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 4:14

Since the Son of God is always one and the same, He gives to those who believe on Him a well of water

Source: Against Heresies Book IV

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 4:14

Hence also, in the first book inscribed "Baruch," has been written the oath which they compel those to swear who are about to hear these mysteries, and be initiated with the Good One. And this oath, (Justinus) says, our Father Elohim sware when He was beside the Good One, and having sworn He did not repent (of the oath), respecting which, he says, it has been written, "The Lord sware, and will not repent." Now the oath is couched in these terms: "I swear by that Good One who is above all, to guard these mysteries, and to divulge them to no one, and not to relapse from the Good One to the creature." And when he has sworn this oath, he goes on to the Good One, and beholds "whatever things eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man; " and he drinks from life-giving water, which is to them, as they suppose, a bath, a fountain of life-giving, bubbling water. For there has been a separation made between water and water; and there is water, that below the firmament of the wicked creation, in which earthly and animal men are washed; and there is life-giving water, (that) above the firmament, of the Good One, in which spiritual (and) living men are washed; and in this Elohim washed Himself. and having washed did not repent. And when, he says, the prophet affirms, "Take unto yourself a wife of whoredom, since the earth has abandoned itself to fornication, (departing) from (following) after the Lord; " that is, Edem (departs) from Elohim. (Now) in these words, he says, the prophet clearly declares the entire mystery, and is not hearkened unto by reason of the wicked machinations of Naas. According to that same manner, they deliver other prophetical passages in a similar spirit of interpretation throughout numerous books. The volume, however, inscribed "Baruch," is pre-eminently to them the one in which the reader will ascertain the entire explanation of their legendary system (to be contained). Beloved, though I have encountered many heresies, yet with no wicked (heresiarch) worse than this (Justinus) has it been my lot to meet. But, in truth, (the followers of Justinus) ought to imitate the example of his Hercules, and to cleanse, as the saying is, the cattle-shed of Augias, or rather I should say, a ditch, into which, as soon as the adherents of this (heresiarch) have fallen, they can never be cleansed; nay, they will not be able even to raise their heads.

Source: The Refutation of All Heresies - Book 5

[AD 382] Apollinaris of Laodicea on John 4:14

He says that visible water can quench one’s thirst for a little while, but the unseen water cures one of thirst altogether because there is no longer a thirst for life when immortality is gushing forth on you. What follows clearly demonstrates that the Holy Spirit is what is freely being promised here, as the spiritual water spoken of here corresponds with the physical water spoken of.… The Spirit of wisdom, whose presence is unceasing, gives of its abundance freely.

Source: FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 17

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:14

Sometimes Scripture calls the grace of the Spirit “fire,” other times it calls it “water.” In this way, it shows that these names are not descriptive of its essence but of its operation. For the Spirit, which is invisible and simple, cannot be made up of different substances.… In the same way that he calls the Spirit by the name of “fire,” alluding to the rousing and warming property of grace and its power of destroying sins, he calls it “water” in order to highlight the cleansing it does and the great refreshment it provides those minds that receive it. For it makes the willing soul like a kind of garden, thick with all kinds of fruitful and productive trees, allowing it neither to feel despondency nor the plots of Satan. It quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.1

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:14

The woman immediately believed, showing that she was not only much wiser than Nicodemus but also more courageous. For when he heard ten thousand things like this, he neither invited any others to hear what he heard, nor did he himself speak openly [about his encounter]. But she exhibited the actions of an apostle, preaching the gospel to everyone she could and calling them to Jesus. She even drew out a whole city to hear him. When Nicodemus heard Jesus, his reaction was, “How can these things be?” And when Christ set before him a clear illustration utilizing “the wind,” even then he did not receive the Word. But this is not the case with the woman. At first she doubted, but afterwards, receiving the Word not by any regular demonstration but in the form of an assertion, she immediately hurried to embrace it. For when Christ said, “It shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” immediately the woman said, “Give me this water so that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.1

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:14

The woman of Samaria proposing, as a hard question and difficult to cope with. Art Thou greater than our father Jacob; the Saviour most skilfully avoids all boasting, not saying clearly that He is greater, yet from the nature of the actions does He persuade her to approve Him who excels. Therefore He shows that incomparable is the difference between the spiritual waters, and the sensible and grosser ones, saying, Whosoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again, but he that is filled (saith He) with My water, shall not only be shown to be superior to thirst henceforth, but he shall have in him a well of water able to nourish him to eternal life. Therefore He that giveth the greater, is greater (saith He) than he that hath the less, and the worsted will not carry off the same glory as the conqueror.

We must know again, that the Saviour here calls the grace of the Holy Ghost water, whereof if any be partaker, he shall have the gift of the Divine teaching evermore flowing up within him, so as no more to be in need of admonition from others, yea rather, readily to suffice to exhort those who thirst after the Divine and heavenly Word, such as were some yet living in this present life and upon earth, the holy Prophets and Apostles, and the heirs of their ministrations, of whom it was written, And ye shall draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:14

We must know again that the Savior here calls the grace of the Holy Spirit water. If anyone drinks of this water, he will have the gift of the divine teaching constantly welling up from within him. He needs no admonition from others. Rather, it is enough to exhort those who thirst after the divine and heavenly Word that they are yet living in this present life and on earth along with the holy prophets and apostles. They are heirs of their ministrations of whom it was written, “And you shall draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.4

[AD 465] Maximus of Turin on John 4:14

Frequently indeed we see that water poured out extinguishes a fire. But sometimes we see the opposite—that huge balls of fire consume streams of water and that the flames grow more vehement, drawing strength from the water as if from food, so that the water does not seem to put out the burning but to aggravate it. What, then, is that water that consumes flames but is not itself consumed? It is, I think, that which, flowing in the bath from the fountain of Christ is not consumed by sins but consumes the fires of Gehenna, and which, once poured out on people in baptism, itself both lives in them and puts out the fire of hell. It is clear that it lives in people from what the Lord says [here].… But in a wonderful way the water of Christ both vivifies and extinguishes by one and the same operation. For it vivifies souls and extinguishes sins. The souls are renewed by the refreshment of its bath; the sins are consumed by its surging stream. And as far as the higher grace of baptism is concerned, in the heavens a mystery is celebrated and in hell Gehenna is extinguished. In the one the waters flow; in the other the fire grows cold. In the one we are submerged in the bath; in the other we are set free from the underworld. Yet there is nothing astonishing if hell is opened by the sacrament of baptism since heaven is also unlocked. For these places are opened so that freedom and grace might come together in the bath of Christ—grace from heaven and freedom from hell.

Source: SERMON 22A.3

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:15

But "whosoever shall confess that (Jesus) Christ is the Son of God" (not the Father), "God dwelleth in him, and he in God. " We believe not the testimony of God in which He testifies to us of His Son.

Source: Against Praxeas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:15

Do you see how little by little she is led up to the highest doctrines? First she thought Him some Jew who was transgressing the Law; then when He had repelled that accusation, (for it was necessary that the person who was to teach her such things should not be suspected,) having heard of living water, she supposed that this was spoken of material water; afterwards, having learned that the words were spiritual, she believed that the water could remove the necessity caused by thirst, but knew not yet what this could be; she still doubted, deeming it indeed to be above material things, but not being exactly informed. But here having gained a clearer insight, but not yet fully perceiving the whole, (for she says, Give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw,) she for the time preferrs Him to Jacob. For (says she) I need not this well if I receive from you that water. Do you see how she sets Him before the Patriarch? This is the act of a fairly-judging soul. She had shown how great an opinion she had of Jacob, she saw One better than he, and was not held back by her prepossession. Thus this woman was neither of an easy temper, (she did not carelessly receive what was said, how can she have done so when she enquired with so great exactness? ) nor yet disobedient, nor disputatious, and this she showed by her petition. Yet to the Jews once He said, Whosoever shall eat of My flesh shall never hunger, and he that believes in Me shall never thirst John 6:35; but they not only did not believe, but were offended at Him. The woman had no such feeling, she remains and petitions. To the Jews He said, He that believes in Me shall never thirst; not so to the woman, but more grossly, He that drinks of this Water shall never thirst. For the promise referred to spiritual and unseen things. Wherefore having raised her mind by His promises, He still lingers among expressions relating to sense, because she could not as yet comprehend the exact expression of spiritual things. Since had He said, If you believe in Me you shall not thirst, she would not have understood His saying, not knowing who it could be that spoke to her, nor concerning what kind of thirst He spoke. Wherefore then did He not this in the case of the Jews? Because they had seen many signs, while she had seen no sign, but heard these words first. For which reason He afterwards reveals His power by prophecy, and does not directly introduce His reproof, but what says He?

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:15

See how the woman is led step by step to a higher understanding. First, she thought Jesus was some lax Jew who was transgressing the law.… Then, when she heard about the living water, she thought it meant material water. Afterwards, she understands it as spoken spiritually and believes that it can take away thirst. However, she does not yet know what it is, only understanding that it was superior to material things … “The woman says to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst nor come here to draw.’ ” Observe how she prefers him to the patriarch Jacob for whom she previously had had such veneration.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.1

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:15

The woman is still focused on her bodily needs. She is delighted with the idea that she will never thirst again and takes this promise of our Lord in this way. And this too will be the case, although she will have to wait until the resurrection of the dead. But she wanted this now. God had indeed once allowed Elijah to neither hunger nor thirst for forty days, and if he could grant this for forty days, why not forever? This is what she longed for, to lack nothing and to be spared her hard labor, because she was coming to that fountain day after day, burdened with that heavy weight on her shoulders that was supposed to supply what she lacked.… Her poverty obliged her to work beyond what her strength could handle. If only she could hear the invitation, “Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you!” This is, in fact, what Jesus was saying to her. He was telling her that she did not need to work like this any longer, but she did not yet understand.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.15, 17

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:16

But further, if Christ reproves the scribes and Pharisees, sitting in the official chair of Moses, but not doing what they taught,68 what kind of (supposition). is it that He Himself withal should set upon His own official chair men who were mindful rather to enjoin-(but) not likewise to practise-sanctity of the flesh, which (sanctity) He had in all ways recommended to their teaching and practising?-first by His own example, then by all other arguments; while He tells (them) that "the kingdom of heavens" is "children's; " while He associates with these (children) others who, after marriage, remained (or became)virgins; " while He calls (them) to (copy) the simplicity of the dove, a bird not merely innocuous, but modest too, and whereof one male knows one female; while He denies the Samaritan woman's (partner to be) a husband, that He may show that manifold husbandry is adultery; while, in the revelation of His own glory, He prefers, from among so many saints and prophets, to have with him Moses and Elias -the one a monogamist, the other a voluntary celibate (for Elias was nothing else than John, who came "in the power and spirit of Elias" ); while that "man gluttonous and toping," the "frequenter of luncheons and suppers, in the company of publicans and sinners," sups once for all at a single marriage, though, of course, many were marrying (around Him); for He willed to attend (marriages) only so often as (He willed) them to be.

Source: On Monogamy

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:16

She already had, as it were, something of the water that leaps into eternal life since she had said … “I have no husband,” having condemned herself on the basis of her association with such a husband.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.50

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:16

2. O how great the wisdom of the woman! How meekly does she receive the reproof! How should she not, says some one? Tell me, why should she? Did He not often reprove the Jews also, and with greater reproofs than these? (for it is not the same to bring forward the hidden thoughts of the heart, as to make manifest a thing that was done in secret; the first are known to God alone, and none other knows them but he who has them in his heart; the second, all who were sharers in it know;) but still when reproved did not bear it patiently. When He said, Why do you seek to kill me? John 7:19, they not only did not admire as the woman did but even mocked at and insulted Him; yet they had a demonstration from other miracles, she had only heard this speech. Still they not only did not admire, but even insulted Him, saying, You have a demon, who seeks to kill you? While she not only does not insult but admires, and is astonished at Him, and supposes Him to be a Prophet. Yet truly this rebuke touched the woman more than the other touched them; for her fault was hers alone, theirs was a general one; and we are not so much stung by what is general as by what is particular. Besides they thought they should be gaining a great object if they could slay Christ, but that which the woman had done was allowed by all to be wicked; yet was she not indignant, but was astonished and wondered. And Christ did this very same thing in the case of Nathanael. He did not at first introduce the prophecy, nor say, I saw you under the fig-tree, but when Nathanael said, Whence do you know me? then He introduced this. For He desired to take the beginnings of His signs and -->prophecies--> from the very persons who came near to Him, so that they might be more attached by what was done, and He might escape the suspicion of vainglory. Now this He does here also; for to have charged her first of all that, You have no husband, would have seemed burdensome and superfluous, but to take the reason (for speaking) from herself, and then to set right all these points, was very consistent, and softened the disposition of the hearer.

And what kind of connection, says some one, is there in the saying, 'Go, call your husband'? The discourse was concerning a gift and grace surpassing mortal nature: the woman was urgent in seeking to receive it. Christ says, Call your husband, showing that he also must share in these things; but she, eager to receive (the gift), and concealing the shamefulness of the circumstances, and supposing that she was conversing with a man, said, I have no husband. Christ having heard this, now seasonably introduces His reproof, mentioning accurately both points; for He enumerated all her former husbands, and reproved her for him whom she now would hide. What then did the woman? She was not annoyed, nor did she leave Him and fly, nor deem the thing an insult, but rather admired Him, and persevered the more. I perceive, says she, that You are a Prophet. Observe her prudence; she did not straightway run to Him, but still considers Him, and marvels at Him. For, I perceive, means, Thou appearest to me to be a Prophet. Then when she suspected this, she asks Him nothing concerning this life, not concerning bodily health, or possessions, or wealth, but at once concerning doctrines. For what says she?

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:16

Since the woman demonstrates some urgency in asking for the promised water, Jesus says to her, “Go, call your husband,” to show that he too ought to have a share in these things. But she was in a hurry to receive the gift and wanted to conceal her guilt (for she still imagined she was speaking to a man). “The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’ ” Christ answers her with a timely rebuke, exposing her in regard to her former husbands and as to her present one whom she had concealed.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.2

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:16

Go call thy husband, and come hither.

Well and not untruly might one say, that the minds of woman are womanish, and that an effeminate soul is in them, never having the power of understanding readily. But the nature of man somehow is apter for learning, and far more ready for reasoning, having a mind awake to wisdom, and (so to say) warm, and of matured manhood. For this reason (I suppose) did He bid the woman call her husband, secretly convicting her as having a heart most slow to learn, not practised in the words of wisdom; yet He is at the same time contriving something else most beautiful.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:16

Give me this water, that I thirst not neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her,

Again does she both speak and imagine only ordinary things, and of the things that were said understands no whit; but she supposes that in being released from petty toils, will consist all the aim of our Saviour, and to thirsting no more does she bound the measure of the grace of God, not so much as in bare idea receiving things above the world.

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:16

Go, call thy husband. Seeing her eager to receive what He offered and insistent that He give it, He says, Call thy husband, as if to point out, "You should share My gift with him as well." She answered, I have no husband, striving at once to hide her sin and receive the gift without delay. The Lord now reveals through prophesy His own power. He enumerates her former husbands and rebukes the man with whom she is now living secretly. Did the woman become vexed at His rebuke? Did she flee from Him in shame? No, she marveled and cleaved to Him all the more, saying Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet, and questioned Him about divine doctrines and not such worldly things as bodily health and money, so inclined was her soul to the love of wisdom and virtue. What does she ask? Our fathers worshipped in this mountain. Here she refers to Abraham and those with him. For it was on this mountain, they say, that Isaac was led up to be sacrificed. [Gen.22] And how is it, she says, ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship? Do you see how much more lofty her thoughts have become? Only moments earlier her concern was how to avoid the daily labor of satisfying one's thirst; now she asks questions concerning dogmas. Christ sees her capacity to understand spiritual thing, yet does not answer her question (for it was not an important matter), but instead reveals a greater teaching, greater than what He had disclosed to Nicodemus or to Nathaniel. The time is coming, He says, when God will be worshiped neither here nor in Jerusalem. You are striving, He says, to show that the worship of the Samaritans is superior to that of the Jews. But I say to you, that neither here nor there has the first place of honor: there will be another way, superior to both. Yet I also declare to you that the worship of the Jews is more holy than that of the Samaritans. For ye worship ye know not what: we, the Jews, know what we worship. Christ counts Himself as one of the Jews, speaking in terms of the woman's understanding. She thinks of Him as a Jewish prophet, and so He says, We worship. In what way did the Samaritans not know what they worshiped? They thought that God was limited to one location [their holy mountain]. This is why, when the lions were devouring them as was related above, they sent word to the king of the Assyrians that the God of that place did not accept them. This is also why they continued for a long time to worship idols, and not God Himself. But the Jews were free of this misconception and knew God to be the God of all, although not all the Jews understood this. For salvation is of the Jews. This has two meanings for us. First, that the good things that are in the world came from the Jews. The knowledge of God and the rejection of idols took its beginning from the Jews; and all other teachings, and even your own Samaritan worship (though it is not correct), began with the Jews. Secondly, the Lord names His own Advent, which was from the Jews, "salvation." For the Lord, Who came from the Jews according to the flesh, is Himself Salvation.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:17-18

Understand that the woman did not have a lawful husband but had rather formed an illicit union with someone who was not her lawful husband.… And, just in case the woman might suppose that the Lord knew about this because he had learned this from someone—and not because he knew it by his own divinity—[he says], Listen to something that you have not said, “For you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband.”

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.20

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:17-18

The Savior was not ignorant that she had no lawful husband, and his inquiry about her husband was not the plea of one who needed hidden things revealed.… He had full knowledge of her circumstances and helpfully affirms her comment that she has no husband, although she had had so many. For it is not the union of pleasure but the approval of the law and the bond of pure love that makes marriage blameless.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.4

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:17

To whom is it not now evident that the Saviour was not ignorant that she was bereft of any rightful husband and that He made the enquiry about her husband who was not, a plea for making known hidden things? For He was, He was thus with difficulty able to help her no longer marvelling at Him as one of us, but as now above man, by reason of His wondrous knowledge of her circumstances. And profitably does He approve her saying she has no husband, although she had had so many; for not the coming together out of pleasure, but the approval of the law and bond of pure love make marriage blameless.

[AD 555] Romanos the Melodist on John 4:17-18

[Jesus says] “If you wish that I give you the streams of pure water,
Go, and call your husband; I shall not imitate your reproach;
I shall not say: ‘You are a woman of Samaria, and how is it that you ask for water?’
I do not increase your thirst; for I have brought you to thirst through thirst.
I exaggerated being thirsty and I was tormented by thirst in order that I might reveal you as thirsty.
Go, then, and call your husband and return.”
The woman said, “I think that I have no husband,” and the Creator said to her:
“Truly do you have none? You have five, the sixth you do not possess,
So that you may receive
Exceeding great joy and redemption.”

O wise enigmas! O wise characteristics!
In the faith of the holy woman is pictured
All the features of the church in true colors which do not grow old;
For the way in which the woman denied a husband when she had many,
Is just the way the church denied many gods, like husbands,
And left them and became betrothed to one Master in coming forth from the water.
She had five husbands and the sixth she did not have; and leaving the five
Husbands of impiety, she now takes Thee, as the sixth, as she comes
From the water,
Exceeding great joy and redemption.…

The espoused church of the nations, then, left these things,
And she hurries here to the well of the baptismal font
And denies the things of the past, just as the woman of Samaria did;
For she did not conceal what had formerly been true from Him who knows all in advance,
But she said, “… Even if I formerly had husbands, I do not now wish to have
These husbands which I did have; for I now possess Thee who hast now taken me in Thy net;
And I am by faith rescued from the filth of my sins
That I may receive
Exceeding great joy and redemption.”

Source: KONTAKION ON THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA 9.11-12, 14

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:18

John, in fact, exhorts us to lay down our lives even for our brethren, affirming that there is no fear in love: "For perfect love casteth out fear, since fear has punishment; and he who fears is not perfect in love." What fear would it be better to understand (as here meant), than that which gives rise to denial? What love does he assert to be perfect, but that which puts fear to flight, and gives courage to confess? What penalty will he appoint as the punishment of fear, but that which he who denies is about to pay, who has to be slain, body and soul, in hell? And if he teaches that we must die for the brethren, how much more for the Lord,-he being sufficiently prepared, by his own Revelation too, forgiving such advice! For indeed the Spirit had sent the injunction to the angel of the church in Smyrna: "Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried ten days.

Source: Scorpiace

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:18

"There is no fear," says he, "in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear has torment"-the fire of the lake, no doubt. "He that feareth is not perfect in love" -to wit, the love of God.

Source: On Flight in Persecution

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:18

But the man who does not fear to suffer, he will be perfect in love-in the love, it is meant, of God; "for perfect love casteth out fear." "And therefore many are called, but few chosen.

Source: On Flight in Persecution

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 4:19

But after a time, there being in that place other martyrs, Marcia, a concubine of Commodus, who was a God-loving female, and desirous of performing some good work, invited into her presence the blessed Victor, who was at that time a bishop of the Church, and inquired of him what martyrs were in Sardinia. And he delivered to her the names of all, but did not give the name of Callistus, knowing the acts he had ventured upon. Marcia, obtaining her request from Commodus, hands the letter of emancipation to Hyacinthus, a certain eunuch, rather advanced in life. And he, on receiving it, sailed away into Sardinia, and having delivered the letter to the person who at that time was governor of the territory, he succeeded in having the martyrs released, with the exception of Callistus. But Callistus himself, dropping on his knees, and weeping, entreated that he likewise might obtain a release. Hyacinthus, therefore, overcome by the captive's importunity, requests the governor to grant a release, alleging that permission had been given to himself from Marcia (to liberate Callistus), and that he would make arrangements that there should be no risk in this to him. Now (the governor) was persuaded, and liberated Callistus also. And when the latter arrived at Rome, Victor was very much grieved at what had taken place; but since he was a compassionate man, he took no action in the matter. Guarding, however, against the reproach (uttered) by many,-for the attempts made by this Callistus were not distant occurrences,-and because Carpophorus also still continued adverse, Victor sends Callistus to take up his abode in Antium, having settled on him a certain monthly allowance for food. And after Victor's death, Zephyrinus, having had Callistus as a fellow-worker in the management of his clergy, paid him respect to his own damage; and transferring this person from Antium, appointed him over the cemetery.

Source: Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book IX

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:19-24

(tom. xiii. c. 8) And what more proper place than Jacob's well, for exposing the unlawful husband, i. e. the perverse law? For the Samaritan woman is meant to figure to us a soul, that has subjected itself to a hind of law of its own, not the divine law. And our Saviour wishes to marry her to a lawful husband, i. e. Himself; the Word of truth which was to rise from the dead, and never again to die.

(tom. xiii. c. 13) Or thus; The Samaritans regarded Mount Gerizim, near which Jacob dwelt, as sacred, and worshipped upon it; while the sacred place of the Jews was Mount Sion, God's own choice. The Jews being the people from whom salvation came, are the type of true believers; the Samaritans of heretics. Gerizim, which signifies division, becomes the Samaritans; Sion, which signifies watch-tower, becomes the Jews.

(tom. xiii. c. 17) Ye, literally refers to the Samaritans, but mystically, to all who understand the Scriptures in an heretical sense. We again literally means the Jews, but mystically, I the Word, and all who conformed to My Image, obtain salvation from the Jewish Scriptures.

(tom. xiii. c. 14) Twice it is said, The hour cometh, and the first time without the addition, and now is. The first seems to allude to that purely spiritual worship which is suited only to a state of perfection; the second to earthly worship, perfected as far as is consistent with human nature. When that hour cometh, which our Lord speaks of, the mountain of the Samaritans must be avoided, and God must be worshipped in Sion, where is Jerusalem, which is called by Christ the city of the Great King. And this is the Church, where sacred oblations and spiritual victims are offered up by those who understand the spiritual law. So that when the fulness of time shall have come, the true worship, we must suppose, will no longer be attached to Jerusalem, i. e. to the present Church: for the Angels do not worship the Father at Jerusalem: and thus those who have obtained the likeness of the Jews, worship the Father better than they who are at Jerusalem. And when this hour is come, we shall be accounted by the Father as sons. Wherefore it is not said, Worship God, but, Worship the Father. But for the present the true worshippers worship the Father in spirit and in trutha.

(tom. xiii. c. 20) But if the Father seeks, He seeks through Jesus, Who came to seek and to save that which was lost, and to teach men what true worship was. God is a Spirit; i. e. He constitutes our real life, just as our breath (spirit) constitutes our bodily life.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on John 4:19-24

(ii. de Trin. c. 31) Or, by saying that God being a Spirit ought to be worshipped in spirit, He indicates the freedom and knowledge of the worshippers, and the uncircumscribed nature of the worship: according to the saying of the Apostle, Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Cor. 3:17)

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on John 4:19

Or, by saying that God being a Spirit ought to be worshipped in spirit, He indicates the freedom and knowledge of the worshipers, and the uncircumscribed nature of the worship: according to the saying of the Apostle, Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:19-24

(Hom. xxxii) The woman is not offended at Christ's rebuke. She does not leave Him, and go away. Far from it: her admiration for Him is raised: The woman saith unto Him, Sir, I perceive that Thou art a Prophet: as if she said, Thy knowledge of me is unaccountable, Thou must be a prophet.

(Hom. xxxii. 2) And having come to this belief she asks no questions relating to this life, the health or sickness of the body: she is not troubled about thirst, she is eager for doctrine.

(Hom. xxxii. 2) By, our fathers, she means Abraham, who is said to have offered up Isaac here.

(Hom. xxxii. 3) Christ however does not solve this question immediately, but leads the woman to higher things, of which He had not spoken till she acknowledged Him to be a prophet, and therefore listened with a more full belief: Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. He says, Believe me, because we have need of faith, the mother of all good, the medicine of salvation, in order to obtain any real good. They who endeavour without it, are like men who venture on the sea without a boat, and, being able to swim only a little way, are drowned.

(Hom. xxxiii. 1) There was no necessity for Christ to show why the fathers worshipped in the mountain, and the Jews in Jerusalem. He therefore was silent on that question; but nevertheless asserted the religious superiority of the Jews on another ground, the ground not of place, but, of knowledge; Ye worship ye know not what, we know what we worship; for salvation if of the Jews.

(Hom. xxxiii. 1) The Samaritans worshipped they knew not what, a local, a partial God, as they imagined, of whom they had the same notion that they had of their idols. And therefore they mingled the worship of God with the worship of idols. But the Jews were free from this superstition: indeed they knew God to be the God of the whole world; wherefore He says, We worship what we know. He reckons Himself among the Jews, in condescension to the woman's idea of Him; and says as if He were a Jewish prophet, We worship, though it is certain that He is the Being who is worshipped by all. The words, For salvation is of the Jews, mean that every thing calculated to save and amend the world, the knowledge of God, the abhorrence of idols, and all other doctrines of that nature, and even the very origin of our religion, comes originally from the Jews. In salvation too He includes His own presence, which He says is of the Jews, as we are told by the Apostle, Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came. (Rom. 9:5) See how He exalts the Old Testament, which He shows to be the root of every thing good; thus proving in every way that He Himself is not opposed to the Law.

(Hom. xxxiii. 1) The Jewish worship then was far higher than the Samaritan; but even it shall be abolished; The hour cometh, and now is, when, the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. He says, and now is, to show that this was not a prediction, like those of the ancient Prophets, to be fulfilled in the course of ages. The event, He says, is now at hand, it is approaching your very doors. The words, true worshippers, are by way of distinction: for there are false worshippers who pray for temporal and frail benefits, or whose actions are ever contradicting their prayers.

(Hom. xxiii. 2) Or by saying, true, he excludes the Jews together with the Samaritans. For the Jews, though better than the Samaritans, were yet as much inferior to those who were to succeed them, as the type is to the reality. The true worshippers do not confine the worship of God to place, but worship in the spirit; as Paul saith, Whom I serve with my spirit. (Rom. 1:9)

(Hom. xxxiii. 2) He speaks here of the Church; wherein there is true worship, and such as becometh God; and therefore adds, For the Father seeketh such to worship Him. For though formerly He willed that mankind should linger under a dispensation of types and figures, this was only done in condescension to human frailty, and to prepare men for the reception of the truth.

(Hom. xxxii. 2) Or it signifies that God is incorporeal; and that therefore He ought to be worshipped not with the body, but with the soul, by the offering up a pure mind, i. e. that they who worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The Jews neglected the soul, but paid great attention to the body, and had various kinds of purification. Our Lord seems here to refer to this, and to say, not by cleansing of the body, but by the incorporeal nature within us, i. e. the understanding, which He calls the spirit, that we must worship the incorporeal God.

(Hom. xxxii. 2) And that we are to worship in truth, means that whereas the former ordinances were typical; that is to say, circumcision, burnt offerings, and sacrifices; now, on the contrary, every thing is real.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:19

The woman is not offended at Christ’s rebuke. She does not leave him and go away—far from it. Her admiration for him is raised: “The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.’ ” … “I perceive” means “You appear to me to be a prophet.” And having come to this belief [that Jesus was a prophet], she does not ask any questions relating to life, health or sickness of the body.… She is not troubled about thirst; rather, she is eager to be taught.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.2-3

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:19-24

(Tr. xv. c. 23) The husband was beginning to come to her, though He had not yet fully come. She thought our Lord a prophet, and He was a prophet: for He says of Himself, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country. (Mat. 13:57)

(Tr. xv. c. 23) And she begins enquiries on a subject that perplexed her; Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. This was a great dispute between the Samaritans and the Jews. The Jews worshipped in the temple built by Solomon, and made this a ground of boasting over the Samaritans. The Samaritans replied, Why boast ye, because ye have a temple which we have not? Did our fathers, who pleased God, worship in that temple? Is it not better to pray to God in this mountain, where our fathers worshipped?

(Tr. xv. c. 24) Believe Me, our Lord says with fitness, as the husband is now present. For now there is one in thee that believes, thou hast begun to be present in the understanding; but if ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. (Isa. 7:9)

(in Joan. Tr. xv. c. 26) It is saying much for the Jews, to declare in their name, We worship what we know. But He does not speak for the reprobate Jews, but for that party from whom the Apostles and the Prophets came. Such were all those saints who laid the prices of their possessions at the Apostle's feet.

(Tr. xv. c. 25) O for a mountain to pray on, thou criest, high and inaccessible, that I may be nearer to God, and God may hear me better, for He dwelleth on high. Yes, God dwelleth on high, but He hath respect unto the humble. Wherefore descend that thou mayest ascend. "Ways on high are in their heart," (Ps. 74:7.) it is said, "passing in the valley of tears," and in "tears" is humility. Wouldest thou pray in the temple? pray in thyself; but first do thou become the temple of God.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:19

With difficulty does she brighten up to apprehension, and that again not yet perfect. For she still calls the Lord of Prophets a Prophet. But she has by degrees shown herself better than before, in no way ashamed at reproof, seizing to her own profit the force of the sign and so going forth from her effeminate understanding, attaining to some extent to a vigorous mind, and stretching forth the eye of her heart to an unwonted view of things. Wherein we must chiefly admire alike the forbearance and power of our Saviour, who easily remodels our untutored understanding to an admirable condition.

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 4:19-24

In saying, the hour cometh, He refers to the Gospel dispensation, which was now approaching; under which the shadows of types were to withdraw, and the pure light of truth was to enlighten the minds of believers.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:19-24

Or, because many think that they worship God in the spirit, i. e. with the mind, who yet held heretical doctrines concerning Him, for this reason He adds, and in truth. May not the words too refer to the two kinds of philosophy among us, i. e. active and contemplative; the spirit standing for action, according to the Apostle, As many as are led by the Spirit of God; (Rom. 8:14) truth, on the other hand, for contemplation. Or, (to take another view,) as the Samaritans thought that God was confined to a certain place, and ought to be worshipped in that place; in opposition to this notion, our Lord may mean to teach them here, that the true worshippers worship not locally, but spiritually. Or again, all being a type and shadow in the Jewish system, the meaning may be that the true worshippers will worship not in type, but in truth. God being a Spirit, seeketh for spiritual worshippers; being the truth, for true ones.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:20

On the statement “our fathers” and what follows one must understand the disagreement between the Samaritans and the Jews over the place they considered holy. For the Samaritans worship God on the mountain called Gerizim, because they consider it to be holy. Moses refers to this mountain in Deuteronomy when he says, “And Moses commanded the people in that day saying, ‘These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed the Jordan.’ ” … The Jews, on the other hand, because they think Zion is divine and God’s dwelling place, think it has been chosen by the Father of all. For this reason they say Solomon built the temple on Zion, and all the levitical and priestly service is performed there. As a consequence of these assumptions, each nation has considered its fathers to have worshiped God, but one on this mountain and one on the other.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.77-79

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:20

3. Do you see how much more elevated in mind she has become? She who was anxious that she might not be troubled for thirst, now questions concerning doctrines. What then does Christ? He does not resolve the question, (for to answer simply to men's words was not His care, for it was needless, ) but leads the woman on to the greater height, and does not converse with her on these matters, until she has confessed that He was a Prophet, so that afterwards she might hear His Word with abundant belief; for having been persuaded of this, she could no longer doubt concerning what should be said to her.

Let us now after this be ashamed, and blush. A woman who had had five husbands, and who was of Samaria, was so eager concerning doctrines, that neither the time of day, nor her having come for another purpose, nor anything else, led her away from enquiring on such matters; but we not only do not enquire concerning doctrines, but towards them all our dispositions are careless and indifferent. Therefore everything is neglected. For which of you when in his house takes some Christian book in hand and goes over its contents, and searches the Scriptures? None can say that he does so, but with most we shall find draughts and dice, but books nowhere, except among a few. And even these few have the same dispositions as the many; for they tie up their books, and keep them always put away in cases, and all their care is for the fineness of the parchments, and the beauty of the letters, not for reading them. For they have not bought them to obtain advantage and benefit from them, but take pains about such matters to show their wealth and pride. Such is the excess of vainglory. I do not hear any one glory that he knows the contents, but that he has a book written in letters of gold. And what gain, tell me, is this? The Scriptures were not given us for this only, that we might have them in books, but that we might engrave them on our hearts. For this kind of possession, the keeping the commandments merely in letter, belongs to Jewish ambition; but to us the Law was not so given at all, but in the fleshy tables of our hearts. And this I say, not to prevent you from procuring Bibles, on the contrary, I exhort and earnestly pray that you do this, but I desire that from those books you convey the letters and sense into your understanding, that so it may be purified when it receives the meaning of the writing. For if the devil will not dare to approach a house where a Gospel is lying, much less will any evil spirit, or any sinful nature, ever touch or enter a soul which bears about with it such sentiments as it contains. Sanctify then your soul, sanctify your body, by having these ever in your heart, and on your tongue. For if foul speech defiles and invites devils, it is clear that spiritual reading sanctifies and draws down the grace of the Spirit. The Scriptures are divine charms, let us then apply to ourselves and to the passions of our souls the remedies to be derived from them. For if we understand what it is that is read, we shall hear it with much readiness. I am always saying this, and will not cease to say it. Is it not strange that those who sit by the market can tell the names, and families, and cities of charioteers, and dancers, and the kinds of power possessed by each, and can give exact account of the good or bad qualities of the very horses, but that those who come hither should know nothing of what is done here, but should be ignorant of the number even of the sacred Books? If you pursue those worldly things for pleasure, I will show you that here is greater pleasure. Which is sweeter, tell me, which more marvelous, to see a man wrestling with a man, or a man buffering with a devil, a body closing with an incorporeal power, and him who is of your race victorious? These wrestlings let us look on, these, which also it is seemly and profitable to imitate, and which imitating, we may be crowned; but not those in which emulation brings shame to him who imitates them. If you behold the one kind of contest, you behold it with devils; the other, with Angels and Archangels, and the Lord of Archangels. Say now, if you were allowed to sit with governors and kings, and to see and enjoy the spectacle, would you not deem it to be a very great honor? And here when you are a spectator in company with the King of Angels, when you see the devil grasped by the middle of the back, striving much to have the better, but powerless, do you not run and pursue after such a sight as this? And how can this be? says some one. If you keep the Bible in your hands; for in it you shall see the lists, and the long races, and his grasps, and the skill of the righteous one. For by beholding these things you shall learn also how to wrestle so yourself, and shall escape clear of devils; the performances of the heathen are assemblies of devils, not theaters of men. Wherefore I exhort you to abstain from these Satanic assemblies; for if it is not lawful to enter into an idol's house, much less to Satan's festival. I shall not cease to say these things and weary you, until I see some change; for to say these things, as says Paul, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Philippians 3:1 Be not then offended at my exhortation. If any one ought to be offended, it is I who often speak and am not heard, not you who are always hearing and always disobeying. God grant that you be not always liable to this charge, but that freed from this shame you be deemed worthy to enjoy the spiritual spectacle, and the glory which is to come, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:20

By “our fathers,” she means Abraham, who is said to have offered up Isaac here.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.2

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:20

Conceiving that the Lord is in truth a Prophet and a Jew, she boasts exceedingly of the customs of her country, and asserts that the Samaritans are far superior in wisdom to the Jews. For the Jews admitting too gross notions of the Divine and Incorporeal Nature, contended that in Jerusalem alone, or its neighbour Sion, ought the God over all to be worshipped, as though the whole Ineffable and Incomprehensible Nature had once for all there taken abode, and was enclosed in temples made with hands. Wherefore they were convicted of being utterly without understanding, by the voice of the Prophets, God saying, Heaven is My Throne and earth is My Footstool, what house will ye build Me, saith the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? The Samaritans again little remote from the folly of the Jews, bordering both in country alike and uninstructedness, supposing that in the mount called Gerizim they ought both to pray and worship, rightly escape not being laughed at. But the plea to them also of their senselessness was, that the blessing was given in Mount Gerizim, as we find written in Deuteronomy. This question the woman proposes to the Saviour, as some great and difficult problem, saying, Our fathers worshipped in this mountain,

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 4:21

The Phrygians, however, further assert that the father of the universe is "Amygdalus," not a tree, he says, but that he is "Amygdalus" who previously existed; and he having in himself the perfect fruit, as it were, throbbing and moving in the depth, rent his breasts, and produced his now invisible, and nameless, and ineffable child. respecting whom we shall speak. For the word "Amyxai" signifies, as it were, to burst and sever through, as he says (happens) in the case of inflamed bodies, and which have in themselves any tumour; and when doctors have cut this, they call it "Amychai." In this way, he says, the Phrygians call him "Amygdalus," from which proceeded and was born the Invisible (One), "by whom all things were made, and nothing was made without Him." And the Phrygians say that what has been thence produced is "Syrictas" (piper), because the Spirit that is born is harmonious. "For God," he says, "is Spirit; wherefore," he affirms, "neither in this mountain do the true worshippers worship, nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit. For the adoration of the perfect ones," he says, "is spiritual, not carnal." The Spirit, however, he says, is there where likewise the Father is named, and the Son is there born from this Father. This, he says, is the many-named, thousand-eyed Incomprehensible One, of whom every nature-each, however, differently-is desirous. This, he says, is the word of God, which, he says, is a word of revelation of the Great Power. Wherefore it will be sealed, and hid, and concealed, lying in the habitation where lies the basis of the root of the universe, viz. Aeons, Powers, Intelligences, Gods, Angels, delegated Spirits, Entities, Nonentities, Generables, Ingenerables, Incomprehensibles, Comprehensibles, Years, Months, Days, Hours, (and) Invisible Point from which what is least begins to increase gradually. That which is, he says, nothing, and which consists of nothing, inasmuch as it is indivisible-(I mean) a point-will become through its own reflective power a certain incomprehensible magnitude. This, he says, is the kingdom of heaven, the grain of mustard seed, the point which is indivisible in the body; and, he says, no one knows this (point) save the spiritual only. This, he says, is what has been spoken: "There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard."

Source: The Refutation of All Heresies - Book 5

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:21

The Jews stand for those who think intelligently and salvation is from them. The Samaritans represent the heterodox. So they deify Gerizim, which means “separation” or “division.” The Jews, on the other hand, revere Zion, which signifies “watchtower.” … Inasmuch, then, as the hour mentioned by the Lord has not yet come when they worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, one must flee the mountain of the Samaritans and worship God on Zion, where Jerusalem lies. Christ calls this Jerusalem the city of the great king. And what else would the city of the great king, the true Jerusalem, be than the church that is built of living stones? This is the place of the holy priesthood, the place where spiritual sacrifices are offered to God by people who are spiritual and who have understood the spiritual law. But when the fullness of time is imminent, when one is no longer in the flesh but is in the Spirit and everyone is no longer still in the type but is in truth, then one must no longer bring true worship and perfect piety to Jerusalem to be offered. Such a person has been prepared so that he is like those whom God seeks to worship him.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.81, 83, 85

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:21

Everywhere, beloved, we have need of faith. Faith is the mother of all good, the medicine of salvation in order to obtain any real good. Without it, it is impossible to possess any of the great doctrines. Those who try anything without it are like those who venture on the sea without a boat and are drowned because they can barely swim.… Similarly, those who try to figure things out before they have learned anything are prone to suffer shipwreck.… To insure that this does not happen to us, let us hold fast to the sacred anchor by which Christ brings over the Samaritan woman now.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 33.1, 2

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:21

He condemns alike the folly of all, saying that the mode of worship of both shall be transformed to the more truthful. For no longer (saith He) shall a place be sought, wherein they shall deem that God properly dwells, but as filling and able to contain all things, shall they worship the Lord every one from his place, as one of the holy Prophets says. He says that His own sojourn in the world with a Body is the time and season for a change of such customs.

Observe how with most gentle leading of discourse, does He guide the mind of the woman to right conceptions respecting the Son, by calling God the Father. For how shall the Father at all be conceived of, if the Son be not?

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:21

Jesus equally condemns the foolishness of all, saying that the worship of both Jews and Samaritans shall be transformed to a truer worship. Jesus in effect says that people will no longer seek after a particular place where God properly dwells. Rather, Jesus is both able to fill and able to contain all things. And so, they shall worship the Lord “every one from his place,” as one of the holy prophets says. Jesus implies that his own sojourn in the world with a body is the time and season for a change of such customs.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.4

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:22

Accordingly, He who said, "Woe unto them that trust in the mountain of Samaria," vouchsafing now to restore that very region, purposely requests the men "to go and show themselves to the priests," because these were to be found only there where the temple was; submitting the Samaritan to the Jew, inasmuch as "salvation was of the Jews," whether to the Israelite or the Samaritan.

Source: Against Marcion Book IV

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:22

The “you” refers literally to the Samaritans but anagogically to all who are heterodox regarding the Scriptures. The “we” literally means the Jews, but allegorically it means, “I, the Word, and all who are changed by me receive salvation from the Jewish Scriptures.” For the mystery now revealed was revealed both through the prophetic Scriptures and through the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.101

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 4:22

It is proper for Jesus to say now, “Believe me,” after he had clearly demonstrated the truth of the words that he had spoken to her before. “The hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” This, he says, is what you want to be instructed about. Know then that there will be a time when both places will end. However in order that it might not appear that Jews and Samaritans had to be considered equal (because he predicted the end of both their sanctuaries) he says, “You worship what you do not know,” that is, you Samaritans; “We worship what we know,” that is, we Jews. Then he adds, “For salvation is from the Jews.” He did not say “in the Jews” but “from the Jews.” In fact, salvation was not in them but from them because Christ in flesh came from them. Therefore, he says, the truth is by the Jews, but both sanctuaries will be emptied out.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.21-22

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:22

Divergent walls have come to the cornerstone, the Jews from there, the Gentiles from here. You have seen and you know that the further walls are from the corner, the further they are from each other. As they approach the corner, so they approach each other. When they reach the corner, they join each other. Christ [as cornerstone] has joined Jews and Gentiles, who were far away from each other.…Those who came from the Jews are to be counted as being part of a good wall because those who came did not remain in the ruin. We have become one, they and we; but in the One, not in ourselves. Of what lineage was Christ born? Of the Jews. That is what you find written: “Salvation is from the Jews,” but not only for the Jews. He did not say, after all, “Salvation is for the Jews” but “Salvation is from the Jews.”

Source: SERMON 375.1

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:22

CHAPTER V. That the Son is not in the number of worshippers, in that He is Word and God, but rather is worshipped with the Father.

He speaks again as a Jew and a man, since the economy of the matter in hand demands now too this mode of speaking (for Christ would not have missed meet opportunity): yet does He attribute something more in respect of understanding to the worship of the Jews. For the Samaritans worship God simply and without search, but the Jews having received through the Law and Prophets the knowledge of Him Who is, as far as they were able. Therefore He says that the Samaritans know not, but that the Jews have good knowledge, of whom He affirms, that salvation shall be revealed, that is Himself. For Christ was of the seed of David according to the flesh, David of the tribe of Judah. Amongst the worshippers again as Man does He class Himself, Who together with God the Father is worshipped both by us and the holy angels. For since He had put on the garb of a servant, He fulfilleth the ministry befitting a servant, having not lost the being God and Lord and to be worshipped. For He abideth the Same, even though He hath become Man, retaining throughout the plan of the dispensation after the Flesh.

And even though thou see an abasement great and supernatural, approach wondering, not accusing, not faultfinding, but rather imitating. For such Paul desireth to see us, saying, Let this mind be in each of you, which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the Form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but emptied Himself: taking upon Him the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a Man, He humbled Himself. Seest thou how the Son became to us a Pattern of lowliness, being in Equality and Form of the Father as it is written: yet descended for our sakes to a voluntary obedience and lowliness? How then could the garb of obedience, how could that of lowliness appear, otherwise than through deeds and words beneath His God-befitting Dignity, and having a great inferiority to those wherein He was while yet bare Word with the Father, and not involved in the form of a servant? How shall we say that He has at all descended, if we allow Him nothing unworthy of Him? How was He made in the likeness of men, according to the voice of Paul, if He imitated not what befits man? But a thing most befitting men is worship, regarded in the light of a debt, and offered by us to God. Therefore He worshippeth as Man, when He became Man; He is worshipped ever with the Father, since He was and is and will be, God by Nature and Very.

But our opponent will not endure this, but will withstand us, saying: "Think it not strange when we say that the Son worships: for we do not suppose that the Son ought to worship the Father, in the same way as we or the angels, for example: but the worship of the Son is something special and far better than ours."

What then shall we reply to these things? Thou thinkest, fellow, to mislead us, by putting a most noble bondage about the Only-Begotten, and gilding over the dignity of a servant by certain words of deceit. Cease from glorifying the Son with dishonour, that thou mayest continue to honour the Father. For he that honoureth not the Son, neither doth he honour the Father, as it is written. For what (tell me) will it profit the Only-Begotten in respect of freedom, that His worship of the Father should be made more excellent than ours? For so long as He is found among worshippers, He will be altogether a bondman, and even though He be conceived of as a superior worshipper, yet will He by no means differ from creatures in respect of being originate, but only in the remaining excellencies, as to men is superior Michael or any other of the holy and reasonable powers, to whom superiority to those upon earth seems essentially to belong, either in respect of holiness or any superabundance of glory, it having been so decreed by the Chief Artificer of all things, God: but the being classed with things originate, as having been created, is common to them with the rest. The Word then Who is in the Father and of the Father by Nature will never escape being originate, even though He be said to worship in a more excellent way. Then how will that which is made be yet Son, or how will the bondman and worshipper be by Nature Lord? For I suppose that the royal and lordly dignity is pre-eminent in being worshipped: but the office of servant and slave is defined in his paying worship. We confess then by being subject that we hold ourselves bound to worship the Nature which is superior and above all. Wherefore it was proclaimed to the whole creation by the all-wise Moses, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve. So that to whatsoever servitude belongs by nature, and whatever boweth under the yoke of the Godhead, this full surely must needs worship, and submit to the garb of adoration. For in saying Lord, he defines the bond, in saying God, the creature. For together are they conceived of, and contrasted, the bond with Him who is by Nature Lord, and that which is brought into being, with the Inoriginate Godhead.

But seeing the Son is eternally in the Father and is Lord as God, I am at a loss to show whence He can appear to owe worship. But let them proceed with their babbling: "The Only Begotten (says he) will worship the Father, neither as bond nor created, but as a Son the Father." We must therefore take adoration into the definition of Sonship, and say that it altogether behoves the Son to worship the Father, for that in this consists His being, even as does ours in being reasonable mortal creatures, recipient of mind and knowledge, rather than in committing ourselves to motions external and impulsive, and to the mere swayings of will. For if there have been implanted by Nature into the Only Begotten, the duty wholly and of necessity to worship, and they so hold and say, how will they not be caught in naked blasphemy against the Father Himself? For it is altogether necessary to conceive of Him too as such, since the Son is His Image and Impress, and whatever things are in exact likeness, these full surely will differ in nothing. But if they say that the Son pays worship to the Father in will alone, they are guessers, rather than knowers of the truth. For what would hinder others too from saying, fabricating a hazardous piety, that it was the will of the Father to worship the Son, though not a worshipper by Nature?

"But (says he) fitness itself will remove the Person of the Father, will subject the Son to this, His worship of the Father not unwilled."

What sayest thou, o sir? Dost thou again bring forth to us oracles as from shrines, or Greek tripods, or comest thou like that Shemaiah the Nehelamite, belching forth out of thine own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord? and dost thou not blush, opposing to us fitness, as though invincible in these matters? For dost thou not think it befits Him Who is by. Nature God, to have the Word begotten of Him God, and that He Whom the whole creation worships, should be called and be by Nature the Father of a Son Who is worshipped, rather than a worshipper? But I think I say nothing displeasing to the truly wise. But how shall we define that it also befits that the Father be worshipped by His Own offspring, when such a conception as to Both endures so great damage? For in the first place that which worships not will be neither in equality of dignity, nor in exact Image of nature with that which worships. For it worships as inferior, and that not measurable by quantity, in respect of any natural quality (for He That is God or Lord will not be lesser), but as differing in the definition of mode of being. Then how will He be shown to be true in saying, He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father? how doth He say that He ought to be honoured in no less degree than the Father, if He be not His Equal in glory by reason of His worshipping? Then besides, the Father will Himself too appear to be in no slight unseemliness. For it is His glory to beget such as Himself is by Nature: on the other hand it is no slight disgrace, to have a son of another kind and alien, and to be in such case as even the very nature of things originate shrinks from. For they that have received power to bear, bear not worse than themselves, by the ordinance and will of the Artificer of all things. For, saith He, let the earth bring forth grass, the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind and after his likeness. The Godhead then will be in worse case than things originate, since they are thus, It not so, but that which was adjudged alike to befit and to have been well arranged for the successions of things which are, this It Alone will be found without.

Who then, most excellent sirs, will endure you saying, that it befits the Son to worship His Father? But when it has been added to those words of yours, that neither is this unwilled by the Only-Begotten, and this gratuitous argument of yours ye fortify merely by fitness; come, let us consider this too from the Divine Scriptures, whence I think one ought zealously to look for proof on every disputed point. The law therefore enjoined the half of a didrachm to be paid by every one of the Jews to Him Who is God over all, not as devising a way of getting wealth, nor contributions of money to no purpose, but imparting us instruction by clearest types: first, that no one is lord of his own head, but that we all have one Lord, enrolled unto servitude by the deposit of tribute; next, depicting the mental and spiritual fruits, as in a grosser representation and act. For (says he) Honour the Lord with thy righteous labours, and render Him the first fruits of thy fruits of righteousness, which came to pass through the Gospel teaching, the worship after the law being at last closed. For no longer do we think we ought to worship with external offerings the Lord of all, pressing to pay the didrachm of corruptible matter: but being true worshippers, we worship God the Father in Spirit and in. truth. This meaning we must suppose to lie hid in the letter of the law.

When then the Lord was in Jerusalem, the gatherers of the didrachm were asking of Peter, saying, Doth not your Master pay the didrachm? But when he was come into the house, as it is written, Jesus prevented him, saying, of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own. children or of strangers? When he said, Of strangers, Jesus said, Then are the children free; yet lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a stater: that take and give unto them for Me and thee. Seest thou that the Son endured not to be under tribute, and as one of those under' the yoke of bondage, to undergo a servile thing? For knowing the free dignity of His Own Nature He affirms that He owes nothing servile to God the Father: for He says, The children are free. How then hath He the worship befitting a slave, and that of His own will? He who shrank at even the bare type of the thing, how could He accept the verity? For shall we not reckon worship as a tribute and spiritual fruit-bearing, and say that it is a kind of service? For why did the law join service to worship, saying, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve? For worship is so to say the gate and way to service in deed, being the beginning of servitude to God. Wherefore the Psalmist says to some, O come, let us worship and fall down, and weep before the Lord our Maker. Seest thou how the duty of falling down follows upon, and is joined to, worshipping? than which what will be more befitting a servant, at least in the estimation of those who rightly weigh the qualities of things, I cannot say.

But if our opponents persist, bearing themselves haughtily in yet unbroken impudence, and cease not from their uninstructed reasonings on these subjects, let them going through the whole Holy Scripture, show us the Son worshipping God the Father, while He was yet bare Word, before the times of the Incarnation and the garb of servitude. For now as Man, He worships unblamed: but then, not yet so. But they will not be able to show this from the Divine and sacred Scriptures, but heaping up conjectures and surmisings of corrupt imaginations, will with reason hear. Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the glory of the Only Begotten. For that He does not worship in that He is Word and God, but having become as we, He undertook to endure this too as befits man, by reason of the dispensation of the Flesh----; the proof shall not be sought by us from without, but we shall know it from His own Words. For what is it that He is saying to the woman of Samaria? YE worship ye know not what, WE know what we worship. Is it not hence too clear to every body that in using the plural number and numbering Himself with those who worship of necessity and as bond, that it is as made in human nature which is bond that He is saying this? For what (tell me) would hinder His drawing the worship apart into His own Person, if He wished to be conceived of by us as a worshipper? for He should rather have said, I know what I worship, in order that, unclassed with the rest, He might appropriate the force of the utterance to Himself alone. But, now most excellently and with all security He says WE, as already ranked among the bond by reason of His Manhood, as numbered among the worshippers, as a Jew by country.

[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on John 4:23

Or go to the bee, and learn how laborious she is; for she, feeding on the whole meadow, produces one honey-comb. And if "thou prayest in the closet "as the Lord taught, "to worship in spirit"

Source: Clement of Alexandria Stromata Book I

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:23

"An hour will come," saith He, "when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and truth. For God is a Spirit, and accordingly requires His adorers to be such." We are the true adorers and the true priests, who, praying in spirit, sacrifice, in spirit, prayer,-a victim proper and acceptable to God, which assuredly He has required, which He has looked forward to for Himself! This victim, devoted from the whole heart, fed on faith, tended by truth, entire in innocence, pure in chastity, garlanded with love, we ought to escort with the pomp of good works, amid psalms and hymns, unto God's altar, to obtain for us all things from God.

Source: On Prayer

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:23

Twice it is written, “The hour is coming.” The first time it is written without the addition of “and now is.” I think the first alludes to that purely spiritual worship that will begin at the time of perfection. The second, however, means, I think, the worship of those being perfected in this life so far as it is possible for human nature to progress. It is possible, therefore, to worship the Father in spirit and in truth not only when “the hour comes” but also when it “now is.” … For just as the angels do not worship the Father in Jerusalem because they worship the Father in a better way than those in Jerusalem, so those who can already be like the angels in their attitude will not worship the Father in Jerusalem but in a better way than those in Jerusalem.…When, however, someone worships neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, once the hour has come he worships the Father boldly because he has become a son. Therefore it is not said, “worship God” but “worship the Father.” …
True worshipers worship the Father in spirit and truth not only in the coming hour but also in the present. But those who worship in spirit, since they worship as they have received, worship at present in the pledge of the Spirit. But when they shall receive the Spirit in his fullness, they will worship the Father in spirit.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.86-88, 99-100, 112

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:23

If the Father seeks true worshipers, he seeks them through the Son, “who came to seek and to save that which was lost,” purifying and educating those whom he equips to be true worshipers through the Word and sound doctrine.…God is a Spirit.… God, who brings us into the true life, is called Spirit, and in the Scriptures, the Spirit is said to make us alive. It is clear from this that “making alive” refers not only to ordinary life but to what is more divine.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.119, 140

[AD 258] Cyprian on John 4:23

He, among the rest of His salutary admonitions and divine precepts wherewith He counsels His people for their salvation, Himself also gave a form of praying-Himself advised and instructed us what we should pray for. He who made us to live, taught us also to pray, with that same benignity, to wit, wherewith He has condescended to give and confer all things else; in order that while we speak to the Father in that prayer and supplication which the Son has taught us, we may be the more easily heard. Already He had foretold that the hour was coming "when the true worshippers should worship the Father in spirit and in truth; " and He thus fulfilled what He before promised, so that we who by His sanctification have received the Spirit and truth, may also by His teaching worship truly and spiritually. For what can be a more spiritual prayer than that which was given to us by Christ, by whom also the Holy Spirit was given to us? What praying to the Father can be more truthful than that which was delivered to us by the Son who is the Truth, out of His own mouth? So that to pray otherwise than He taught is not ignorance alone, but also sin; since He Himself has established, and said, "Ye reject the commandments of God, that ye may keep your own traditions."

Source: Treatise IV On the Lord's Prayer

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on John 4:23

She learned the divine mysteries: that God is spirit and is adored not in a place but in spirit. She also learned that Christ is the Messiah and therefore that he who was still awaited by the Jews had already come. Hearing these things, that woman, who manifests the beauty of the church, learned and believed the mysteries of the law.

Source: ISAAC, OR THE SOUL 4.26

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on John 4:23

What does it mean, then, that the Father is worshiped in Christ, except that the Father is in Christ and the Father speaks in Christ and abides in Christ? He does not abide, indeed, as a body in a body, for God is not a body.… So not an engrafting of a body is meant, but unity of power. Therefore, by unity of power, Christ is jointly worshiped in the Father when God the Father is worshiped in Christ. In the same way then, by unity of the same power the Spirit is jointly worshiped in God when God is worshiped in the Spirit.… When God is said to be worshiped in truth (by the proper meaning of the word itself often expressed after the same manner), it ought to be understood that the Son too is worshiped. So, in the same way, the Spirit is also worshiped because God is worshiped in Spirit. Therefore the Father is worshiped both with the Son and with the Spirit, because the Trinity is worshiped.

Source: On the Holy Spirit 3.11.82, 85

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:23

We, O woman, He says, excel you in the manner of our worship, but even this shall henceforth have an end. Not the places only, but even the manner of serving God shall be changed. And this change is at your very doors. 'For the hour comes, and now is.'

2. For since what the Prophets said they said long before the event, to show that here it is not so, He says, And now is. Think not, He says, that this is a prophecy of such a kind as shall be accomplished after a long time, the fulfillment is already at hand and at your very doors, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. In saying true, He excludes Jews as well as Samaritans; for although the Jews be better than the Samaritans, yet are they far inferior to those that shall come, as inferior as is the type to the reality. But He speaks of the Church, that she is the true worship, and such as is meet for God.

For the Father seeks such to worship Him.

If then He in times past sought such as these, He allowed to those others their way of worship, not willingly, but from condescension, and for this reason, that He might bring them in also. Who then are the true worshipers? Those who confine not their service by place, and who serve God in spirit; as Paul says, Whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of His Son: and again, I beseech you that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, acceptable unto God, your reasonable service. Romans 1:9 and 12:1

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:23

He is intimating the time now present of His Own Presence and says that the type shall be transferred to truth and the shadow of the Law to spiritual worship: He tells that through the Gospel teaching the true worshipper, that is, the spiritual man, shall be conducted to a polity well-pleasing unto the Father, hasting unto ownness with God. For God is conceived of as a Spirit, in reference to the embodied nature. Rightly therefore does He accept the spiritual worshipper, who does not in form and type carry in Jewish wise the form of godliness, but in Gospel manner resplendent in the achievements of virtue and in rightness of the Divine doctrines fulfilleth the really true worship.

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:23

We Jews have more than you Samaritans regarding the manner of worship; nevertheless, the worship of the Jews will also come to an end. It is not only the places of worship that will change, but the manner of worship itself. This change is at the very doors, and now is, and the practices taught by the prophets will not last much longer. By true worshippers the Lord means those who live according to His own law, who do not confine God to one place, as do the Samaritans, and who do not serve Him with a material, bodily worship, as do the Jews, but who worship Him in spirit and in truth, that is, with their soul and with purity of mind [nous]. Because God is spirit, that is, bodiless, He must be worshipped in a bodiless manner which is in accordance with the soul. This is what it means to worship in spirit, for the soul is both spirit and bodiless. But because there are many who appear to worship Him in accordance with the soul, but do not hold to the Orthodox doctrine concerning Him, such as the heretics, He also added the words, and in truth. For one must both worship God with the mind [nous], and hold to the true doctrine concerning Him. Perhaps someone will say that by these two things, spirit and truth, are implied the two parts of our Christian philosophy, action [praxis] and contemplation [theoria]. In spirit means "by action." For as the divine Apostle says, As many as are led by the Spirit of God â€¦ mortify the deeds [tas praxeis] of the body. [See Ro. 8:13-14] And again, The desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. [Gal. 5:17] Therefore, to worship the Father in spirit implies the active practice of the virtues [subduing the flesh,] while worshiping Him in truth implies the contemplation of the divine. This is what Paul means when he writes, Therefore let us keep the feast â€¦ with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. [I Cor. 5:8] Sincerity refers to purity of life, which is active virtue; truth refers to divine contemplation, which concerns itself with the truth of the word of doctrine. Spirit and truth may also be understood as follows. It was characteristic of the Samaritans to think of God as enclosed in a certain place, and to say that He must be worshipped "in this place." On the other hand, it was characteristic of the Jews that every aspect of their worship was performed as a type and foreshadowing of things to come. In spirit was said in reference to the Samaritans, so that what He means is this: you Samaritans offer to God a kind of local veneration. True worshipers will not be limited by locality; they will worship in spirit, which means, in mind and soul. Neither will they worship as do the Jews with types and foreshadowings, but in truth, because the Jewish customs and observances are about to come to an end. Since the Judaic law, understood according to the letter, was a type and shadow, perhaps the words, in spirit, are in contrast to the letter of the law. (For the law of the letter no longer prevails among us, but the law of the spirit, for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.) [II Cor. 3:6] And the words, in truth, are in contrast to the types and prefigurings. Therefore, He says, the hour cometh, and indeed now is, meaning, the time of My Advent in the flesh, when true worshipers will not worship in one place only, like the Samaritans, but in every place offering bodiless worship according to the Spirit, as Paul also says, Whom I worship with my spirit. [Ro. 1:9] Nor will they, like the Jews, offer service to God that is a type, a shadow, and a prefiguring of things to come, but instead a worship that is true, containing nothing obscure. Such are the worshippers whom God seeks: spiritual, because He is Spirit, and true, because He is Truth.

[AD 180] Tatian the Assyrian on John 4:24

He alone is without beginning, and He Himself is the beginning of all things. God is a Spirit,

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 4:24

But they are according to the Spirit, for we must worship God "in spirit and in truth."

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:24

Of the wind also Amos says, "He that strengtheneth the thunder , and createth the wind, and declareth His Christ unto men; " thus showing that that wind was created which was reckoned with the formation of the earth, which was wafted over the waters, balancing and refreshing and animating all things: not (as some suppose) meaning God Himself by the spirit, on the ground that "God is a Spirit," because the waters would not be able to bear up their Lord; but He speaks of that spirit of which the winds consist, as He says by Isaiah, "Because my spirit went forth from me, and I made every blast.

Source: Against Hermogenes

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:24

It is, However, more credible that the soul has service rendered to it, and has the mastery, as being more proximate in character to God. This circumstance even redounds to the glory of the flesh, inasmuch as it both contains an essence nearest to God's, and renders itself a partake of (the soul's) actual sovereignty.

Source: On the Resurrection of the Flesh

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:24

In what form of God? Of course he means in some form, not in none. For who will deny that God is a body, although "God is a Spirit? " For Spirit has a bodily substance of its own kind, in its own form.

Source: Against Praxeas

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:24

In the language of the Gospel itself, it is declared that “God is a Spirit.” … To the opinion of the woman that God is rightly worshiped according to the privileges of the different localities … the Savior answered that anyone who would follow the Lord must lay aside all preference for particular places. He expressed himself as follows: “The hour is coming when neither in Jerusalem nor on this mountain shall the true worshipers worship the Father. God is a Spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” Observe how logically he has joined together the spirit and the truth. He called God a Spirit so that he might distinguish him from bodies; and he named him the truth in order to distinguish him from a shadow or an image. For they who worshiped in Jerusalem worshiped God neither in truth nor in spirit, being in subjection to the shadow or image of heavenly things. And such also was the case with those who worshiped on Mount Gerizim. Having refuted, then, as well as we could, every notion that might suggest that we were to think of God as in any degree corporeal, we go on to say that, according to strict truth, God is incomprehensible and incapable of being measured.

Source: ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1.1.4-5

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:24

Since we are made alive by the spirit as far as ordinary life is concerned—and what we usually mean by the term “life” concerns when the spirit that is in us draws, what is called, in the literal sense, the breath of life37—I suppose it has been understood from this that God, who brings us to true life, is called spirit. In the scriptures, the spirit is said to make alive. It is clear that this “making alive” refers not to the ordinary life, but to the more divine life. For the letter also kills and produces death, but it is not death in the sense of separation of the soul from the body, but death in the sense of the separation of the soul from God, and from the Lord himself, and from the Holy Spirit.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.140

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:24

In the [First] Book of Kings, the Spirit of the Lord, who came to Elijah, makes the following suggestions concerning God: “For he said, you shall go out tomorrow and stand before the Lord on the mountain. Beyond, the Lord will pass by as a great and strong wind destroying mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord. The Lord is not in the wind (but in other texts we find: “in the spirit of the Lord”). After the wind, an earthquake; the Lord is not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire; the Lord is not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a gentle breeze.” Perhaps, indeed, these words reveal how many must experience the fire of the direct apprehension of the Lord.… But who could more properly tell us about whom God is than the Son? “For no one has known the Father except the Son.” We too aspire to know how God is spirit as the Son reveals it, and to worship God in the spirit that gives life and not in the letter that kills. We want to honor God in truth and no longer in types, shadows and examples46 even as the angels do not serve God in examples and the shadow of heavenly realities but in realities that belong to the spiritual and heavenly order.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.145-46

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:24

If there are many who profess to worship the Creator, there are some who are no longer in the flesh but in the spirit, because they walk in the spirit and do not fulfill the desire of the flesh. And there are others who are not in the spirit but in the flesh and wage war according to the flesh. If this is so, then one must say that those who worship the Father in spirit and not in flesh, in truth and not in types, are the true worshipers, and that those who do not so worship are not true worshipers.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.109

[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on John 4:24

We see that the woman, her mind full of inherited tradition, thought that God must be worshiped either on a mountain, as at Samaria, or in a temple, as at Jerusalem.… The prejudices of both confined the all-embracing and illimitable God to the crest of a hill or the vault of a building. God is invisible, incomprehensible, immeasurable. The Lord said that the time had come when God should be worshiped neither on mountain nor in temple. For the Spirit cannot be shut up, as if in a cabin, or confined. It is omnipresent in space and time, and under all conditions it is present in its fullness. Therefore he said that they are the true worshipers who shall worship in the Spirit and in truth. And these who are to worship God the Spirit in the Spirit shall have the One for the means, the Other for the object, of their reverence. For each of the two stand in a different relation to the worshiper. The words “God is Spirit” do not alter the fact that the Holy Spirit has a name of his own and that he is the gift to us.… The imparted gift and the object of reverence were clearly shown when Christ taught that God, being Spirit, must be worshiped in the Spirit, and revealed what freedom and knowledge, what boundless scope for adoration, lay in this worship of God the Spirit, in the Spirit.

Source: ON THE TRINITY 2.31

[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on John 4:24

To worship in the Spirit implies that our intelligence has been enlightened. Consider the words spoken to the Samaritan woman. She was deceived by local custom into believing that worship could only be offered in a specific place. But the Lord, attempting to correct her, said that worship ought to be offered in Spirit and in truth. By truth he clearly meant himself. If we say that worship offered in the Son (the truth) is worship offered in the Father’s image, we can say the same about worship offered in the Spirit since the Spirit in himself reveals the divinity of the Lord. The Holy Spirit cannot be divided from the Father and the Son in worship. If you remain outside the Spirit, you cannot worship at all, and if you are in him you cannot separate him from God. Light cannot be separated from what it makes visible, and it is impossible for you to recognize Christ, the image of the invisible God, unless the Spirit enlightens you. Once you see the image, you cannot ignore the light; you see the light and the image simultaneously. It is fitting that when we see Christ, the brightness of God’s glory, it is always through the illumination of the Spirit. Through Christ the image, may we be led to the Father, for he bears the seal of the Father’s very likeness.

Source: ON THE SPIRIT 26.64

[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on John 4:24

Since God cannot be seen, his incorporeal nature follows directly on his invisibility. For if God is unseen, then he must be incorporeal. And if this is the case, then the Spirit spoken of here cannot be air that has been set in motion. For among people a body reveals its spirit; however, we cannot say the same about God. Just as the Light spoken of here is not a physical light, but an intellectual light since it illuminates the mind, not the face, and just as he who is called Love is not a disposition but rather a Being who loves what he has made and takes care of it, so he does not address the Spirit as a blast of wind, but rather presents him as an incorporeal and life-giving Being. Everyone who has learned that “God is spirit” worships him spiritually “in spirit and truth” and no longer worships the God of all under the shadows of types. He makes a distinction between the letter and the spirit and distinguishes between the type and the truth. The letter and the type were useful for a time, but when the truth came, that is, when Christ arrived, all these things came to an end.

Source: FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 3

[AD 399] Evagrius Ponticus on John 4:24

If you wish to pray, you have need of God, “who gives prayer to him who prays.” Invoke him, then, saying, “Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come”49—that is, the Holy Spirit and your only begotten Son. For this is what he taught us, saying, “Worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” He who prays in spirit and in truth is no longer dependent on created things when honoring the Creator but praises him for and in himself. If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you are a theologian.

Source: CHAPTERS ON PRAYER 59-61

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:24

But when He says this, He declares nothing else than His incorporeal Nature. Now the service of that which is incorporeal must needs be of the same character, and must be offered by that in us which is incorporeal, to wit, the soul, and purity of mind. Wherefore He says, they that worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth. For because both Samaritans and Jews were careless about the soul, but took great pains about the body, cleansing it in various ways, it is not, He says, by purity of body, but by that which is incorporeal in us, namely the mind, that the incorporeal One is served. Sacrifice then not sheep and calves, but dedicate yourself to the Lord; make yourself a holocaust, this is to offer a living sacrifice. You must worship in truth ; as former things were types, such as circumcision, and whole burnt offerings, and victims, and incense, they now no longer exist, but all is truth. For a man must now circumcise not his flesh, but his evil thoughts, and crucify himself, and remove and slay his unreasonable desires.--> The woman was made dizzy by His discourse, and fainted in at the sublimity of what He said, and, in her trouble, hear what she says:

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 4:24

God is of an incorporeal nature and cannot be circumscribed into any one place. Rather, he is everywhere, and it is necessary that he be worshiped according to this understanding. The true worshiper is the one who honors him with the right intention and believes with a pure conscience that everywhere he can speak with the one who is incomprehensible.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 24.23-24

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:24

“O for a mountain to pray on,” you cry, “high and inaccessible so that I may be nearer to God and God may hear me better. For he dwells on high.” … Yes, God dwells on high, but he is also considerate of the humble.… Come down so that you may come near him. But do you want to ascend? Ascend, but do not seek a mountain. “The ascents,” it said, “are in his heart, in the valley of weeping.” A valley has humility. Therefore, do everything within. Even if perhaps you seek some lofty place, some holy place, make yourself a temple for god within yourself. “For the temple of God is holy, which means you.” Would you pray in a temple? Pray in yourself. But first be a temple of God, for he in his temple hears the one who prays.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.25

[AD 532] Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite on John 4:24

Since, then, God is the Light, Christ is the Brightness. And since He is a Spirit-for says He, "God is a Spirit"

[AD 600] Abraham of Nathpar on John 4:24

Do not imagine, my beloved, that prayer consists solely of words or that it can be learned by means of words. No, listen to the truth of the matter from our Lord: spiritual prayer is not learned and does not reach fullness as a result of either learning or the repetition of words. For it is not to a man that you are praying, before whom you can repeat a well-composed speech. It is to him who is Spirit that you are directing the movements of prayer. You should pray, therefore, in spirit, seeing that he is spirit. He shows that no special place or vocal utterance is required for someone who prays in fullness to God.

Source: ON PRAYER AND SILENCE 1-2

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on John 4:24

And again, if the impious say, How will there not be three Gods and three Persons, on the supposition that they have one and the same divinity?-we shall reply: Just because God is the Cause and Father of the Son; and this Son is the image and offspring of the Father, and not His brother; and the Spirit in like manner is the Spirit of God, as it is written, "God is a Spirit.".
For thus the Father is Lord, and the Son also is God; and of God it is said that "God is a Spirit."

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:25

Source: Against Praxeas

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:25

The Samaritan woman, who accepts only the Pentateuch of Moses, expects the coming of Christ as announced only by the law. The Samaritans probably expected the visitation on the basis of Jacob’s blessing on Judah, when he said … “A ruler shall not fail from Judah.” … We must not fail to remark that, as Jesus arose from among the Jews, not only saying that he was the Christ but also proving it, so also a certain Dositheus arose from among the Samaritans and declared himself to be the Christ who had been prophesied.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.154, 162

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:25-26

(tom. xiii. c. 27) It should be known, that as Christ rose out of the Jews, not only declaring but proving Himself to be Christ; so among the Samaritans there arose one Dositheus by name, who asserted that he was the Christ prophesied of.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:25

And whence came the Samaritans to expect the coming of Christ, seeing that they received Moses only? From the writings of Moses themselves. For even in the beginning He revealed the Son. Let Us make man in Our Image, after Our Likeness Genesis 1:26, was said to the Son. It was He who talked with Abraham in the tent. Genesis 18 And Jacob prophesying concerning Him said, A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until He come for whom it is reserved, and He is the expectation of nations. Genesis 18 And Moses himself says, The Lord your God will raise up unto you a Prophet of your brethren like me, unto Him shall you hearken. Deuteronomy 18:15 And the circumstances attending the serpent, and the rod of Moses, and Isaac, and the sheep, and many other things they who chose might select as proclaiming His coming.

And why, pray, says one, did not Christ lead on the woman by these means? Why did He instance the serpent to Nicodemus, and mention prophecy to Nathanael, but to her say nothing of the kind? For what reason, and why? Because they were men, and were versed in these things, she a poor ignorant woman unpracticed in the Scriptures. Wherefore He does not speak to her from them, but draws her on by the water and by prophecy, and brings her to make mention of Christ and then reveals Himself; which had He at first told the woman when she had not questioned Him, He would have seemed to her to trifle and talk idly, while as it is by bringing her little by little to mention Him, at a fitting time He revealed Himself. To the Jews, who continually said, How long dost Thou make us to doubt? Tell us if You are the Christ John 10:24, to them He gave no clear answer, but to this woman He said plainly, that He is . For the woman was more fair-minded than the Jews; they did not enquire to learn, but always to mock at Him, for had they desired to learn, the teaching which was by His words, and by the Scriptures, and by His miracles would have been sufficient. The woman, on the contrary, said what she said from an impartial judgment and a simple mind, as is plain from what she did afterwards; for she both heard and believed, and netted others also, and in every circumstance we may observe the carefulness and faith of the woman.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:25

How is it that the Samaritans expected Christ’s coming, since they only acknowledged the books of Moses? Their expectation came from the writings of Moses themselves.… Jacob prophesies of Christ, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until he comes to whom it belongs, and he is the expectation of nations.” And Moses says, “The Lord your God shall raise up a prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers.”

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 33.2

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:25-26

(Hom. xxxii. 2) The woman was struck with astonishment at the loftiness of His teaching, as her words shew: The woman saith unto Him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ.

(Hom. xxxii. 2) But what reason had the Samaritans for expecting Christ's coming? They acknowledged the books of Moses, which foretold it. Jacob prophesies of Christ, The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from beneath his feet, until Shiloh come. (Gen. 49:10) And Moses says, The Lord thy God shall raise up a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren. (Deut. 18:15)

(Hom. xxxiii. 2) Christ now reveals Himself to the woman: Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He. Had He told the woman this to begin with, it would have appeared vanity. Now, having gradually awakened her to the thought of Christ, His disclosure of Himself is perfectly opportune. He is not equally open to the Jews, who ask Him, If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly; (John 10:24) for this reason, that they did not ask in order to learn, but to do Him injury; whereas she spoke in the simplicity of her heart.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:25

She says in effect, The Jews now contend for the temple, we for the mountain. But he, when he comes, will level the mountain, overthrow the temple and teach us how to pray in spirit and in truth. She knew who could teach her, but she did not yet know him that was now teaching her.… The Hebrew Messias is in Greek Christ and means in Latin the anointed one.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.27

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:25-26

(Tr. xv. c. 27) Unctus in Latin, Christ in Greek, in the Hebrew Messias. She knew then who could teach her, but did not know Who was teaching her. When He is come, He will tell us all things: as if she said, The Jews now contend for the temple, we for the mountain; but He, when He comes, will level the mountain, overthrow the temple, and teach us how to pray in spirit and in truth.

(lib. lxxxiii. Quæst. qu. 64) It is a confirmation to discerning minds that the five senses were what were signified by the five husbands, to find the woman making five carnal answers, and then mentioning the name of Christ.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:25

Upon Christ teaching that the hour and season will come, rather is already present, wherein the true worshippers shall offer to God the Father the worship in spirit; forthwith the woman is winged to thoughts above her wont unto the hope spoken of by the Jews. She confesses that she knows that the Messiah will come in His own time, and to whom He will come, she does not exactly say, receiving (as is like) the common reports of Him without any investigation, as being a laughter-loving and carnal-minded woman; yet is she not wholly ignorant that He will be manifested to Israel as a bringer in of better teaching, finding most certainly this information too in the reports about Him.

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:25

How did the woman know that the Messiah was coming, Who is called Christ? From the writings of Moses, since, as we have already said, the Samaritans accepted the five books of Moses. From these they knew the prophecies about Christ, and that He is the Son of God. For the words, Let us make man, [Gen. 1:26] indicate that the Father was speaking to the Son; it was the Son Who spoke with Abraham in his tent; and Jacob spoke these prophetic words concerning the Son, A ruler shall not fail from Judah â€¦ until there come the things stored up for Him, and He is the Expectation of the Nations. [Gen. 49:10] Moses himself said, The Lord thy God shall raise up to thee a prophet of thy brethren, like me; Him shall ye hear. [Dt. 18:15] And many other things were proclaimed concerning the coming of the Christ. This is how the woman can say, I know that the Messiah cometh. The Lord then reveals Himself to her, as demanded by the sequence of their conversation. If He had said right from the start, "I am the Christ," He would not have persuaded the woman, and would have appeared overbearing and arrogant. But now that He has brought her step by step to remember the expectation of the Messiah, suddenly He reveals Himself. Why did He not reveal Himself to those Jews who continuously asked Him, "Tell us if Thou art the Christ," but did so to this woman? He said nothing to those others because they did not inquire for the purpose of learning, but with the intent to slander Him all the more. Because this woman is honest He openly reveals Himself. She questioned Him with all sincerity of thought and purpose, simply desiring to know the truth. This is made clear by what followed. When she heard His words, not only did she herself believe, but she led others into the net of faith as well, always showing her mind to be both probing and believing. At just the right moment, when the Lord's teaching and conversation with the woman was completed, the disciples returned. They were astounded at His humility when they saw Him, a Man renowned and acclaimed by all, condescending with meekness and compassion to speak with a woman, and moreover, one who was a pauper and a Samaritan. They were astounded, but not so bold as to ask what He had been discussing with her, for they were always respectful to Him, as is proper for disciples towards their teacher. On other occasions they did act more boldly, for instance, when John leaned on His breast, or when they approached Him to ask which of them was the greatest, or when the sons of Zebedee asked Him if one of them could sit at His right hand and the other at His left. They did so because they inquired about seemingly urgent matters that pertained to themselves. But in this case, because there was no need to ask about something that did not concern them, such boldness was out of place.

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on John 4:26

“And if you are a king, how is it that you are asking me for water?” It was not in this way that he first made reference about himself to her, but rather first as a Jew, and then as a prophet, and thereafter as the Messiah. Step by step he brought and placed her at the highest level. At first, she saw him as a thirsty person, then as a Jew, then a prophet, and afterwards as God. As he was thirsting, she was persuading him; as he was a Jew, she loathed him; as he was a person of learning, she made enquiry of him; in his being a prophet, she was rebuked by him; as he was the Messiah, she worshiped him.

Source: COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 12.18

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:26

Not to untutored or wholly ignorant souls doth Christ reveal Himself, bat shines upon and appears the rather to those who are more ready to desire to learn, and travailing with the beginning of the faith in simple words, press forward to the knowledge of what is more perfect. Such an one as this was the woman of Samaria also shown to us, giving her mind more grossly than she ought to the truly Divine ideas, but not entirely removed from the desire of understanding somewhat. For first, on Christ asking for drink, she does not readily give it: but beholding Him breaking (as far as one can speak humanly) the national customs of the Jews, she begins to seek first the reason of this, all but, by her mentioning it, inviting the Lord to an explanation: How is it (says she) that THOU being a Jew askest drink of me which am a woman of Samaria? But when during the progress of questioning, she at length begun to confess that He was a Prophet, having received His reproof a medicine unto salvation, she added another inquiry saying with zeal for learning: Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and YE say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. But He was teaching this again, that the time shall come, yea, is already present, when the true worshippers, rejecting worship on the mountains of earth, shall offer the higher and spiritual worship to God the Father. She attributing the best of all as the due of the Christ alone, and keeping the more perfect knowledge for those times, says, We know that Messias cometh Which is called Christ; when He is come, He will tell us all things. Seest thou how ready to believe the woman was already getting, and as though ascending a staircase, springs up from little questions to a higher condition? It was right then to lay open to her with now clearer voice what she longed for, telling her that that which was preserved in good hope is at length set before her in sight, I that speak unto thee am He.

Let them therefore who have the care of teaching in the Churches commit to the new-born disciples, the word of teaching to be digested, and so at length let them show them Jesus, bringing them up from slight instruction to the more perfect knowledge of the faith. But let them who, taking hold of the alien and so proselyte, and bringing him within the inner veil, suffer him to offer the Lamb with hands yet unwashen, and crown with the dignity of the Priesthood him who is not yet instructed, prepare for a mighty account in the day of judgment. It is sufficient for me only to say this.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:27

We learn that he is meek and lowly in heart and does not disdain to speak of such great matters with a woman carrying water who goes out of the city because of her great poverty and labors to draw water for herself. When the disciples arrive they are amazed, for they previously beheld the greatness of the divinity in him, and they marvel that so great a man was speaking with a woman. We, however, carried away with pride and arrogance, despise those below us and forget that the words “Let us make man according to our image and according to our likeness” apply to each person.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.166-67

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:27-30

(tom. xiii. in Joan. c. 28) The woman is almost turned into an Apostle. So forcible are His words, that she leaves her waterpot to go to the city, and tell her townsmen of them. The woman then left her waterpot, i. e. gave up low bodily cares, for the sake of benefitting others. Let us do the same. Let us leave off caring for things of the body, and impart to others of our own.

(tom. xiii. in Joan. c. 29) She calls them together to see a man, whose words were deeper than man's. She had had five husbands, and then was living with the sixth, not a lawful husband. But now she gives him up for a seventh, and she leaving her waterpot, is converted to chastity.

(tom. xiii. c. 29) The woman having become a vessel of wholesome discipline, lays aside as contemptible her former tastes and desires.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 400] Pseudo-Clement on John 4:27

Also, when our Lord Jesus Christ Himself was talking with the woman of Samaria by the well alone, "His disciples came" and found Him talking with her, "and wondered that Jesus was standing and talking with a woman." [John 4:27] Is He not a rule, such as may not be set aside, an example, and a pattern to all the tribes of men? And not only so; but also, when our Lord was risen from the place of the dead, and Mary came to the place of sepulture, she ran and fell at the feet of our Lord and worshipped Him, and would have taken hold of Him. But He said to her: "Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father." [John 20:17]

Source: Two Epistles on Virginity

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:27

3. At what did they marvel? At His want of pride and exceeding humility, that looked upon as He was, He endured with such lowliness of heart to talk with a woman poor, and a Samaritan. Still in their amazement they did not ask Him the reason, so well were they taught to keep the station of disciples, so much did they fear and reverence Him. For although they did not as yet hold the right opinion concerning Him, still they gave heed unto Him as to some marvelous one, and paid Him much respect. Yet they frequently are seen to act confidently; as when John lay upon His bosom, when they came to Him and said, Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? Matthew 18:1, when the sons of Zebedee entreated Him to set one of them on His right hand, and the other on His left. Why then did they not here question Him? Because since all those instances related to themselves, they had need to enquire into them, while what here took place was of no such great importance to them. And indeed John did that a long time after towards the very end, when He enjoyed greater confidence, and was bold in the love of Christ; for he it was, he says, whom Jesus loved. What could equal such blessedness?

But, beloved, let us not stop at this, the calling the Apostle blessed, but let us do all things that we also may be of the blessed, let us imitate the Evangelist, and see what it was that caused such great love. What then was it? He left his father, his ship, and his net, and followed Jesus. Yet this he did in common with his brother, and Peter, and Andrew, and the rest of the Apostles. What then was the special thing which caused this great love? Shall we discover it? He says nothing of this kind about himself, but only that he was beloved; as to the righteous acts for which he was beloved he has modestly been silent. That Jesus loved him with a special love was clear to every one; yet John does not appear conversing with or questioning Jesus privately, as Peter often did, and Philip, and Judas, and Thomas, except only when he desired to show kindness and compliance to his fellow Apostle; for when the chief of the Apostles by beckoning constrained him, then he asked. For these two had great love each for the other. Thus, for instance, they are seen going up together into the Temple and speaking in common to the people. Yet Peter in many places is moved, and speaks more warmly than John.  And at the end he hears Christ say, Peter, do you love Me more than these? John 21:15 Now it is clear that he who loved more than these was also beloved. But this in his case was shown by loving Jesus, in the case of the other by being beloved by Jesus.

What then was it which caused this special love? To my thinking, it was that the man displayed great gentleness and meekness, for which reason he does not appear in many places speaking openly. And how great a thing this is, is plain also from the case of Moses. It was this which made him such and so great as he was. There is nothing equal to lowliness of mind. For which cause Jesus with this began the Beatitudes, and when about to lay as it were the foundation and base of a mighty building, He placed first lowliness of mind. Without this a man cannot possibly be saved; though he fast, though he pray, though he give alms, if it be with a proud spirit, these things are abominable, if humility be not there; while if it be, all these things are amiable and lovely, and are done with safety. Let us then be modest, beloved, let us be modest; success is easy, if we be sober-minded. For after all what is it, O man, that excites you to pride? Do you see not the poverty of your nature? The unsteadiness of your will? Consider your end, consider the multitude of your sins. But perhaps because you do many righteous deeds you are proud. By that very pride you shall undo them all. Wherefore it behooves not so much him that has sinned as him that does righteousness to take pains to be humble. Why so? Because the sinner is constrained by conscience, while the other, except he be very sober, soon caught up as by a blast of wind is lifted on high, and made to vanish like the Pharisee. Do you give to the poor? What you give is not yours, but your Master's, common to you and your fellow-servants. For which cause you ought especially to be humbled, in the calamities of those who are your kindred foreseeing your own, and taking knowledge of your own nature in their cases. We ourselves perhaps are sprung from such ancestors; and if wealth has shifted to you, it is probable that it will leave you again. And after all, what is wealth? A vain shadow, dissolving smoke, a flower of the grass, or rather something meaner than a flower. Why then are you high-minded over grass? Does not wealth fall to thieves, and effeminates, and harlots, and tomb-breakers? Does this puff you up, that you have such as these to share in your possession? Or do you desire honor? Towards gaining honor nothing is more serviceable than almsgiving. For the honors arising from wealth and power are compulsory, and attended with hatred, but these others are from the free will and real feeling of the honorers; and therefore those who pay them can never give them. Now if men show such reverence for the merciful, and invoke all blessings upon them, consider what return, what recompense they shall receive from the merciful God. Let us then seek this wealth which endures forever, and never deserts us, that, becoming great here and glorious there, we may obtain everlasting blessings, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, now and ever, and world without end. Amen.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:27-30

(Hom. xxxiii. 2) Christ now reveals Himself to the woman: Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He. Had He told the woman this to begin with, it would have appeared vanity. Now, having gradually awakened her to the thought of Christ, His disclosure of Himself is perfectly opportune. He is not equally open to the Jews, who ask Him, If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly; (John 10:24) for this reason, that they did not ask in order to learn, but to do Him injury; whereas she spoke in the simplicity of her heart.

(Hom. xxxiii. 2, 3) The disciples arrive opportunely, and when the teaching is finished: And upon this came His disciples, and marvelled that He talked with the woman. They marvelled at the exceeding kindness and humility of Christ, in condescending to converse with a poor woman, and a Samaritan.

(Hom. xxxiii. 3) But notwithstanding their wonder, they asked Him no questions, No man said, What seekest Thou? or, Why talkest Thou with her? So careful were they to observe the rank of disciples, so great was their awe and veneration for Him. On subjects indeed which concerned themselves, they did not hesitate to ask Him questions. But this was not one.

(Hom. xxxiv. 1) As the Apostles, on being called, left their nets, so does she leave her waterpot, to do the work of an Evangelist, by calling not one person, but a whole city: She went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

(Hom. xxxiv. 1) She was not prevented by shame-facedness from spreading about what had been said to her. For the soul, when it is once kindled by the divine flame, regards neither glory, nor shame, nor any other earthly thing, only the flame which consumes it. But she did not wish them to trust to her own report only, but to come and judge of Christ for themselves. Come, see a man, she says. She does not say, Come and believe, but, Come and see; which is an easier matter. For well she knew that if they only tasted of that well, they would feel as she did.

(Hom. xxxiv. 1) She then neither openly preaches Christ, nor wholly omits Him, but says, Is not this the Christ? This wakened their attention, Then they went out of the city, and came unto Him.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:27-30

(Tr. xv. c. 29) He who came to seek that which was lost, sought the lost one. This was what they marvelled at: they marvelled at His goodness; they did not suspect evil.

(Tr. xv. c. 30) Hydria answers to our word aquarium; hydor being Greek for water.

The circumstance of the woman's leaving her waterpot on going away, must not be overlooked. For the waterpot signifies the love of this world, i. e. concupiscence, by which men from the dark depth, of which the well is the image, i. e. from an earthly conversation, draw up pleasure. It was right then for one who believed in Christ to renounce the world, and, by leaving her waterpot, to show that she had parted with worldly desires.

(Tr. xv. c. 30) She cast away therefore concupiscence, and hastened to proclaim the truth. Let those who wish to preach the Gospel, learn, that they should first leave their waterpots at the well.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:27

and marvelled that He talked with the woman:

The disciples again are astonished at the gentleness of the Saviour, and wonder at His meek way. For not after the manner of some who are fierce with unslacked religion, did He think right to shun conversation with the woman, but unfolds His Loving-kindness to all, and hereby shows, that He being wholly One Artificer, doth not to men alone impart the life through faith, but snareth the female race also thereto.

Let him that teacheth in the Church gain this too as a pattern, and not refuse to help women. For one must in every thing follow not one's own will, but the service of preaching.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:27

yet no man said, What seekest Thou? or, Why talkest Thou with her?

It was the work of wise disciples, and knowing how to preserve their Master's honour, not to seem by their superfluous questions to be going off into strange surmises, because He was talking with a woman, but rather in reverence and fear to restrain their tongue within their teeth, and to await their Lord speaking of His own accord, and giving them a voluntary explanation. We must therefore herein marvel at Christ for His gentleness, at the disciples for their wisdom and understanding and knowledge of what is becoming.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:27

And upon this came His disciples

The presence of the disciples is the conclusion of His conversation with the woman. For the Saviour is at length silent, and having placed in the Samaritans the glowing spark of the faith, commits it to their inward parts to be kindled to a mighty flame. Thus you may understand what was said by Him, I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I, if it be already kindled?

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:27

He shows here, as the one Creator of all, that he does not give men only this life through faith but imparts this faith to women as well. Let him that teaches in the church follow this pattern and not refuse to help women. For in all things one must not follow one’s own will but the service of preaching.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.5

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 4:27-30

It is only by degrees, however, that she comes to the preaching of Christ. First she calls Him a man, not Christ; for fear those who heard her might be angry, and refuse to come.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:28

He also uses the woman as an apostle, as it were, to those in the city. His words to her are so forceful that she leaves her water jar to go to the city and tells them to her fellow townspeople.… I think there was a definite purpose why the Evangelist recorded that the woman left her water jar and went into the city. At the literal level, then, this shows the tremendous eagerness of the Samaritan woman, who forsakes her water jar and is more concerned for how she may benefit the multitude than for her more humble duty related to material things. For she was very benevolently moved and wished to announce the Christ to her fellow citizens by bearing witness to the one who told her “all I ever did.” And she invites them to behold a man whose speech is greater than man, for his appearance to the eye was human. So must we, too, therefore, forgetting things that are more material in nature and leaving them behind, be eager to impart to others the benefit of which we have been partakers. For by recording the woman’s commendation for those capable of reading with understanding, the Evangelist challenges us to this goal.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.169, 173-74

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:28

1. We require much fervor and uproused zeal, for without these it is impossible to obtain the blessings promised to us. And to show this, Christ at one time says, Except a man take up his cross and follow Me, he is not worthy of Me Matthew 10:38; at another, I have come to send fire upon the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? Luke 12:49; by both these desiring to represent to us a disciple full of heat and fire, and prepared for every danger. Such an one was this woman. For so kindled was she by His words, that she left her water pot and the purpose for which she came, ran into the city, and drew all the people to Jesus. Come, she says, see a Man which told me all things that ever I did.

Observe her zeal and wisdom. She came to draw water, and when she had lighted upon the true Well, she after that despised the material one; teaching us even by this trifling instance when we are listening to spiritual matters to overlook the things of this life, and make no account of them. For what the Apostles did, that, after her ability, did this woman also. They when they were called, left their nets; she of her own accord, without the command of any, leaves her water pot, and winged by joy performs the office of Evangelists. And she calls not one or two, as did Andrew and Philip, but having aroused a whole city and people, so brought them to Him.

Observe too how prudently she speaks; she said not, Come and see the Christ, but with the same condescension by which Christ had netted her she draws the men to Him; Come, she says, see a Man who told me all that ever I did. She was not ashamed to say that He told me all that ever I did. Yet she might have spoken otherwise, Come, see one that prophesies; but when the soul is inflamed with holy fire, it looks then to nothing earthly, neither to glory nor to shame, but belongs to one thing alone, the flame which occupies it.

Is not this the Christ? Observe again here the great wisdom of the woman; she neither declared the fact plainly, nor was she silent, for she desired not to bring them in by her own assertion, but to make them to share in this opinion by hearing Him; which rendered her words more readily acceptable to them. Yet He had not told all her life to her, only from what had been said she was persuaded (that He was informed) as to the rest. Nor did she say, Come, believe, but, Come, see; a gentler expression than the other, and one which more attracted them. Do you see the wisdom of the woman? She knew, she knew certainly that having but tasted that Well, they would be affected in the same manner as herself. Yet any one of the grosser sort would have concealed the reproof which Jesus had given; but she parades her own life, and brings it forward before all men, so as to attract and capture all.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:28

Having heard, “I that speak with you am he,” and having received Christ the Lord into her heart, what could she do now but leave her water jar and run to preach the gospel? She cast out lust and hurried to proclaim the truth. Let those who would preach the gospel learn: let them throw away their water jar at the well. You remember what I said before of the water jar. It was a vessel with which the water was drawn, called hydria, from its Greek name, because water is hydor in Greek; just as if it were called aquarium, from the Latin. She threw away her water jar then, which was no longer of use but a burden to her, such was her eagerness to be satisfied with that water. Throwing her burden away to make Christ known, “she ran to the city and says to those men, ‘Come, and see a man who told me everything I ever did.’ ”

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.30

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:28

The woman now shows herself superior to and above the cares of the body, who two or three days ago was the wife of many, and she who ofttimes was easily taken captive by vain pleasures, now overreaches the flesh of its necessary |222 want, disregarding alike thirst and drink, and is re-wrought unto another habit through faith. Forthwith doth she, exercising love the fairest of all virtues, and neighbourly-affection, diligently proclaiming to others also the good which appeared to her, hasten quickly into the city. For probably the Saviour was telling her, and secretly whispering in her mind, Freely ye received, freely give. Learn we hereby, not to imitate that sloth-loving servant, and who therefore hid his talent in the earth, but rather let us be diligent to trade with it. Which thing too that much-talked-of woman well doing, communicates to the rest the good which fell to her, no longer taking the water which she came to draw, from its fountain-depths, nor carrying home her waterpot of the earth, but rather with Divine and heavenly grace and the all-wise teaching of the Saviour filling the garners of her understanding.

We must hence learn, as in a type and outline, that by thoroughly despising little and corporal things, we shall receive of God things manifold more and better. For what is earthly water, compared with Heavenly wisdom?

[AD 555] Romanos the Melodist on John 4:28

But when the Merciful One was near the spring, …
Then the woman of Samaria, coming from her native village, Sichar, arrived, and she had her urn on her shoulders;
And who would not call blessed the arrival and departure of this woman?
For she departed in filth; she entered into the figure of the church as blameless;
She departed, and she drew out life like a sponge.
She departed bearing water; she became a bearer of God;
And who does not bless
This woman; or rather who does not revere her, the type of the nations
As she brings
Exceeding great joy and redemption?

Source: KONTAKION ON THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA 9.5

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:28

The words just spoken to her kindled such zeal in her heart that she left her water pot, in an instant preferring Christ's water over that of Jacob's well. Now she becomes no less than an apostle, ordained to this rank by the faith that has taken hold of her heart, teaching an entire city and drawing it to Christ. Come, she says, see a man, who told me all things that I ever did. Once her soul was inflamed with divine fire, she gave no thought to anything earthly, not even shame or dishonor. See how she is not ashamed to parade her sins, when she says, see a man who told me all things that ever I did. She could have spoken more guardedly, by saying for instance, "Behold a prophet Who knew my thoughts." Instead, she scorns her own reputation and thinks only to proclaim the truth. She does not state categorically, "This is the Christ," but rather, Is not this [perhaps] the Christ? encouraging them to reach the same conclusion themselves and making her words easier for them to accept. If she had insisted, "This is the Christ," they may have scoffed at her and rejected out of hand the opinion of this woman of such ill repute. Some have understood the five husbands of the Samaritan woman to represent the five books of Moses, which the Samaritan woman alone accepted. Christ's words, He whom thou now hast, they say means, "My word which you have now received from Me is not thy husband, that is, "You have not yet been yoked to My teaching." One could also say that the Samaritan is a type and symbol of human nature. Our human nature formerly dwelt on a mountain, that is, in a mind full of divine grace. Before he sinned Adam was adorned with every divine gift and was even a prophet. When he was raised from sleep he spoke prophetically of the fashioning of the woman and the relationship of the husband to her. He said, This now is bone of my bones, and, Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother… [Gen. 2:23 and 3:1] Our nature, then, was in this mountain, that is, the lofty mind; but when it offended [and rebelled against] God, it was led away captive, and the devil, who had taken us prisoner, also took our nature's holy seed, by which I mean all divine thoughts, and led them away to Babylon, that is, into the confusion of this world. In their place the devil planted barbarous thoughts. But these were devoured by lions, namely, the good thoughts which govern us as kings, until they were persuaded to accept the words of God. But they did not accept them entirely, for the evil which had once settled in our mountain, that is, in our mind, while accepting the law of Moses, did not become altogether good and remained under the curse. Therefore Jesus journeyed to us, that is, He undertook many paths and stratagems to bring us salvation, sometimes using threats and warnings, sometimes the blows of calamities, sometimes benefactions, and at other times promises of good things. When He had grown weary from His journey and all the methods undertaken for our correction, He found at last another means for our salvation, at which He sat down and rested, and was pleased with it. What was it? The font of baptism, by which He brought benefit to our nature, as to the Samaritan woman. This spring may rightly be called the well of Jacob, that is, the well of him who tripped by the heel and supplanted his brother Esau. [See endnote (1).] For in the font of baptism a man can trip up and vanquish the devil, because there the Lord has crushed the head of the dragon and given him as food to the Ethiopian people. [See Ps. 73:15] For no others have been nourished and gladdened by this dragon except those who are darkened and black in soul and have no share in the divine light. Five husbands have been yoked to our nature, namely, the various laws which God has given to her: first in Paradise, then to Noah, then to Abraham, then to Moses, and lastly, through the prophets. For Noah received a commandment after the Flood, and Abraham received the law of circumcision. [See Gen. 9:1-17 and 17:1-14] After our nature had been wedded to these five laws, she took to herself a sixth, who was not her husband and whom she had not yet wedded, the law of the New Testament. One might also understand this sixth, which was not our nature's husband, to be the law of idolatry. For indeed God had not given her this law for a husband; instead, she had joined herself to it as an adulteress. Therefore the prophet says, She [Judah] hath committed adultery with wood, and, They [Israel] have fornicated under every tree, [Jer. 3:9,6] referring to the pagan carvings and trees which they worshipped. Our nature has fallen headlong to such depths of senselessness as to worship, simply because they are lovely, such beautiful trees as the cypress, the plane tree, and the like. Therefore, when man had loved this sixth, an adulterer, and had fallen into idolatry, then the Lord came and delivered us. This is why He says, he whom thou now hast, for at the time of Christ's appearing even the wisest of the Jews had fallen into Hellenism, of whom the clearest example is the sect of the Pharisees, who believed in fate and practiced astrology. The Samaritan woman also represents every soul which is yoked irrationally to the five senses and then errs grievously in doctrine, like one who takes a sixth man in adultery. To such a soul Jesus gives good things, either through baptism or through the font of tears. Tears may indeed be called Jacob's well, springing from a repentant mind which has supplanted wickedness. From this water the mind drinks, and his children, namely, his thoughts, and his cattle, those parts of the soul not endowed with reason, such as anger and desire. For tears bring refreshment to the soul, its thoughts, and its faculties.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:29

As the apostles left their nets on being called, so she leaves her water jar to do the work of an evangelist by calling not one or two people, as Andrew and Philip did, but a whole city.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 34.1

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:29

She was not prevented by any concern for losing face from spreading around what had been said to her. For the soul, once kindled by the divine flame, does not consider glory or shame or any other earthly consideration: only the flame that consumes it.… She did not want them to trust only her own report but to come and make a judgment about Christ for themselves.… “Come, see a man, she says. She does not say, “Come and believe,” but “Come and see,” which is an easier matter. For she certainly knew that if they only tasted of that well, they would feel as she did.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 34.1

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:29

O wondrous change! O truly great and God-befitting Might, translucent with unspeakable marvel! Skilful workwoman unto doctrine, and initiater is she, who understood none of the things that were said at first, and therefore rightly heard, Go, call thy husband and come hither. For see how skilfully she conversed with the Samaritans. She does not say at once that she has found the Christ, nor does she introduce Jesus at first into her account. For rightly would she have been rejected, as far surpassing the measure of words befitting her, finding her hearers not ignorant of her habits. She first then prepares the way for this wonder, and having first astonished them with the miracle, makes the way smoother, so to say, to the faith. Come and see, she wisely says; all but crying aloud with more earnest voice, Sight alone will suffice to belief, and will assure those present with its more note-worthy marvels. For He Who knoweth the hidden things, and hath this great and God-befitting dignity, how shall He not speed with prosperous course to the fulfilment of those things which He willeth?

30 They went out of the city, and came unto Him. The obedience of the Samaritans is a conviction of the hardness of heart of the Jews, and their inhumanity is clearly shown in the gentleness of these. And let the seeker of learning see again the difference of habit in both, that he may justly wonder at Jesus, departing from the Synagogue of the Jews, and giving Himself rather to the aliens. For that Christ should come to the Jews, and for what causes He should be revealed, the law of Moses declared to us, the all-august choir of the Prophets did proclaim, and did point Him out at length all but present at the doors, saying, Behold your God, Behold the Lord; and last of all John, the great among them that are born of women, did manifest Him already appeared, and dwelling among us, saying, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world; and (yet more wonderfully than all) the Saviour was revealing Himself through many deeds of power and God-befitting authority. What then do these men unbridled unto strange counsels at last meditate yet? They devise murder unjustly, they plot impiously, they envy stubbornly, they drive forth of their land and city, the Life, the Light, the Salvation of all, the Way to the kingdom, the Remission of sins, the Bestower of sonship. Wherefore rightly said the Saviour, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold your house is left unto you. But the Samaritans show themselves superior to the folly of the Jews, and by obedience victorious over their innate unlearning, having given ear to one miracle only, they flock quickly to Jesus, not persuaded thereto by the voices of the holy Prophets, or by the proclamations of Moses, nor yet the actual pointings of John, but one only woman and she a sinner telling them of Him. With reason then, let us too admiring the sentence of the Saviour against them, say, Righteous art Thou, o Lord, and upright Thy Judgment.

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:31

How unworthy, also, is the way in which you interpret to the favour of your own lust the fact that the Lord "ate and drank" promiscuously! But I think that He must have likewise "fasted" inasmuch as He has pronounced, not "the full; "but "the hungry and thirsty, blessed: " (He) who was wont to profess "food" to be, not that which His disciples had supposed, but "the thorough doing of the Father's work; " teaching "to labour for the meat which is permanent unto life eternal; " in our ordinary prayer likewise commanding us to request "bread," not the wealth of Attalus therewithal.

Source: On Fasting

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:31-34

(tom. xiii. c. 29) The woman having become a vessel of wholesome discipline, lays aside as contemptible her former tastes and desires.

(tom. xiii. c. 31) They think the present time convenient for dining; it being after the departure of the woman to the city, and before the coming of the Samaritans; so that they sit at meat by themselves. This explains, In the mean while.

(tom. xiii. c. 6) Fit meat for the Son of God, who was so obedient to the Father, that in Him was the same will that was in the Father: not two wills, but one will in both. The Son is capable of first accomplishing the whole will of the Father. Other saints do nothing against the Father's will; He does that will. That is His meat in an especial sense. And what means, To finish His work? It would seem easy to say, that a work was what was ordered by him who set it; as where men are set to build or dig. But some who go deeper ask whether a work being finished does not imply that it was before incomplete; and whether God could originally have made an incomplete work? The completing of the work, is the completing of a rational creature: for it was to complete this work, which was as yet imperfect, that the Word made flesh come.

(tom. xiii. c. 31) The matter of spiritual drink and living water being explained, the subject of meat follows. Jesus had asked the woman of Samaria, and she could give Him none good enough. Then came the disciples, having procured some humble food among the people of the country, and offered it Him, beseeching Him to eat. They fear perhaps lest the Word of God, deprived of His own proper nourishment, fail within them; and therefore with such as they have found, immediately propose to feed Him, that being confirmed and strengthened, He may abide with His nourishers. Souls require food as well as bodies. And as bodies require different kinds of it, and in different quantities, so is it in things which are above the body. (Heb. 5:12) Souls differ in capacity, and one needs more nourishment, another less. So too in point of quality, the same nourishment of words and thoughts does not suit all. Infants just born need the milk of the word; the grown up, solid meat. Our Lord says, I have meat to eat. For one who is over the weak who cannot behold the same things with the stronger, may always speak thusb.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:31

Asked, here is besought, in their native language; for seeing Him wearied with the journey, and the oppressive heat, they entreated Him; for their request concerning food proceeded not from hastiness, but from loving affection for their Teacher? What then says Christ?

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:31-34

They all ask Him at once, Him so fatigued with the journey and heat. This is not impatience in them, but simply love, and tenderness to their Master.

(Hom. xxxiv. 1) The salvation of men He calls His food, showing His great desire that we should be saved. As food is an object of desire to us, so was the salvation of men to Him. Observe, He does not express Himself directly, but figuratively; which makes some trouble necessary for His hearers, in order to comprehend His meaning, and thus gives a greater importance to that meaning when it is understood.

(Hom. xxxiv. 1) They show, as usual, the honour and reverence in which they hold their Master, by talking among themselves, and not presuming to question Him.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:31-34

(Tr. xv. c. 31) His disciples had gone to buy food, and had returned. They offered Christ some: In the mean while His disciples prayed Him, saying, Master, eat.

(Tr. xv. c. 31) What wonder that the woman did not understand about the water? Lo, the disciples do not understand about the meat.

(Tr. xv. c. 31) Our Lord heard His doubting disciples, and answered them as disciples, i. e. plainly and expressly, not circuitously, as He answered the women; Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:31

Most excellently doth the Divine Evangelist manage the compilation of this book, and omits nothing which he believes will at all be of use to the readers. Hear therefore how he introduces Jesus again as the Ensample of a most note-worthy act. For I do not think that any thing has been put in vain in the writings of the saints, but what any man deems small, he sometimes finds pregnant with no contemptible profit. The conversion of the Samaritans being then begun, and they on the point of looking for Him (for He knew as God that they would come): wholly and entirely is He intent upon the salvation of them which are called, and makes no account of bodily food, although wearied with His journey, as it is written: that hereby again He might profit the teachers in the Churches, and persuade them to disregard all fatigue, and use more diligent zeal for those who are being saved, than for the care of their bodies. For Cursed, saith the Prophet, be he that doeth the work of the Lord negligently. In order then that we may learn that the Lord was accustomed to go without food at such times, he introduces the disciples, begging and all but on their knees, that He would take a little of their provisions, as inevitable and necessary food. For they had gone away into the city to buy meat which they had now got and come with.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:31

Having initiated the conversion of the Samaritans … Jesus focuses entirely on the salvation of those who are called and has no concern for bodily food, though wearied with his journey. In this way, he encourages the teachers in the churches and persuades them to disregard all fatigue and be more zealous for those who are being saved than caring for their own bodies. For the prophet says, “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.5

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:31

The disciples asked the Lord to eat, meaning, they begged Him, not in a presumptuous manner, but out of love for their Master, for they saw that He was weary from the journey and the oppressive heat. But knowing that the Samaritan woman was about to bring to Him nearly all the inhabitants of the city, and that the Samaritans would believe in Him, the Lord replies, "I have food to eat, which is, the salvation of men. And I have a greater desire for this food than any one of you has for material food. But you, My disciples, do not know this food which I have to eat. Because you are still dull in understanding and unable to fathom my enigmatic words, you do not know that I call the salvation of men my food." In another sense, "You do not know this food," means, "You do not know that the Samaritans will believe and will be saved." What do the disciples do? They are still bewildered and ask among themselves, Hath any man brought Him aught to eat? Being as always in awe of Him, they do not dare to question Him further. But although they did not ask Him, He reveals the meaning of His mysterious words, saying, "My food is to do the will of Him that sent Me ( the will of God is the salvation of men), and to finish His work." The prophets and the law were not able to complete the work of God because they themselves were imperfect and incomplete, able to reveal only types and foreshadowings of the good things to come. But the Lord completed God's work, which is, our salvation and our renewal. It seems to me that God's work also means man himself, whom the Son of God alone completed. He did so by revealing our nature to be sinless in Him, once He had shown it to be complete and perfect in every good work through His divine life in human flesh, overcoming the world [at every point] until the end. The law, too, is the work of God, in that it was written by God's finger, [See Ex. 31:18 and Deut. 9:10] and the Lord completed the law. For the end of the law is Christ, [Ro. 10:4] Who, when every requirement of the law had been fulfilled, made it to cease, transforming bodily worship into spiritual. The Lord often speaks in riddles to make His listeners more attentive and to stir them up to ask and learn the meaning of His veiled words. By calling man's salvation food, He teaches His disciples that, once they have been ordained as the teachers of the world, they too should pay less attention to food for the body, and redirect their hunger to the saving of men. Take note that the Lord did accept food offered Him by others, for the disciples said, Hath any man brought Him aught to eat? He did this, not because He needed others to minister to Him (how could this be true of Him that giveth food to all flesh?) [Ps.135:25], but so that those who brought food to Him might have their reward and become accustomed to feeding others. At the same time, He gave an example to all men not to be ashamed of poverty and not to be embarrassed when given food by others. It is especially necessary in the case of teachers that others provide them with food, that they might be undistracted in the constant ministry of the word. This is the very thing He taught His disciples, that they should be fed by those whom they teach. [See Mt. 10]

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:31-34

Our Lord, knowing that the woman of Samaria was bringing the whole town out to Him, tells His disciples, I have meat that ye know not of.

That ye know not of, i. e. know not that I call the salvation of men food; or, know not that the Samaritans are about to believe and be saved. The disciples however were in perplexity: Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought Him ought to eat?

From the question of the disciples, Hath any man brought Him ought to eat, we may infer that our Lord was accustomed to receive food from others, when it was offered Him: not that He who giveth food to all flesh, (Ps. 146.) needed any assistance; but He received it, that they who gave it might obtain their reward, and that poverty thenceforth might not blush, nor the support of others be esteemed a disgrace. It is proper and necessary that teachers should depend on others to provide them with food, in order that, being free from all other cares, they may attend the more to the ministry of the word.

He finished the work of God, i. e. man, He, the Son of God, finished it by exhibiting our nature in Himself without sin, perfect and uncorrupt. He finished also the work of God, i. e. the Law, (Rom. 10:4) (for Christ is the end of the Law,) by abolishing it, when every thing in it had been fulfilled, and changing a carnal into a spiritual worship.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on John 4:32

"I "says the Lord, "have meat to eat that ye know not of. My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me."

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:32

And it is not out of place to say that not only do people and angels need spiritual food, but so too does the Christ of God. For, if I may put it this way, he is always replenishing himself from the Father, who alone is without need and sufficient in himself. Now the common person who is being taught receives his foods from the disciples of Jesus who are commanded to distribute food to the crowds, and Jesus’ disciples receive their food from Jesus himself.… The Son of God, however, receives his food from the Father alone, without the intervention of any other being.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.219-220

[AD 258] Cyprian on John 4:32

That too great lust of food is not to be desired. In Isaiah: "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die. This sin shall not be remitted to you even until ye die." Also in Exodus: "And the people sate down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." Paul, in the first to the Corinthians: "Meat commendeth us not to God; neither if we eat shall we abound, nor if we eat not shall we want." . And again: "When ye come together to eat, wait one for another. If any is hungry, let him eat at home, that ye may not come together for judgment." Also to the Romans: "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." In the Gospel according to John: "I have meat which ye know not of. My meat is, that I should do His will who sent me, and should finish His work."

Source: Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:32

Why now do you wonder that the woman when she heard of water, still imagined mere water to be meant, when even the disciples are in the same case, and as yet suppose nothing spiritual, but are perplexed? Though they still show their accustomed modesty and reverence toward their Master, conversing one with the other, but not daring to put any question to Him. And this they do in other places, desiring to ask Him, but not asking. What then says Christ?

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:32

Skilfully does the Saviour fashion His answer from what was before Him. He all but says darkly, that if they knew that the conversion of the Samaritans was at the doors, they would have persuaded Him rather to cling to that as a delicacy than to nourish the flesh. From this again we may learn how great love for man the Divine Nature hath: for It considereth the return of the lost unto salvation as both meat and treat.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:33

It is no wonder that the woman did not understand what he said about the water when you consider the disciples did not understand about the food either.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.31

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:33

The disciples not yet understanding the discourse which was obscure, were reasoning about what had often happened among themselves, and descend to common place ideas, fancying that food had been brought Him by some one, and that it was perhaps more costly or sweeter than what had been got together by them.

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 4:34

Whom, indeed, did He reveal to the woman of Samaria? Was it not "the Messias which is called Christ? " And so lie showed, of course, that He was not the Father, but the Son; and elsewhere He is expressly called "the Christ, the Son of God," and not the Father. He says, therefore," My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work; " whilst to the Jews He remarks respecting the cure of the impotent man, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Source: Against Praxeas

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:34

It is proper food for the Son of God when he becomes a doer of the Father’s will, that is, when he wills in himself what was also the Father’s will, so that the will of God is in the will of the Son, and the will of the Son has become indistinguishable from the will of the Father, and there are no longer two wills but one. It is because of this one will that the Son said, “I and the Father are one.” And because of this will, he who has seen him has seen the Son, and has seen also the one who sent him. … Only the Son has comprehended the complete will of God and does it.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.228, 231

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:34

Perhaps the Savior was sent for the following reasons. First, that he might do the will of the one who sent him, having become his worker here, too, and second, that he might perfect the work of God, so that each one who has been perfected might be made fit for solid food and be present with wisdom. “Solid food is for the perfect, the mature, who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” … And when each of us, a work of God, has been perfected by Jesus, he will say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As for the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.241-42

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on John 4:34

The food of a priest is the remission of sins. Therefore, the Prince of priests, Christ, says, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” What is the will of God but this: “When you turn and groan, then shall you be saved”?

Source: LETTER 57 (TO SIMPLICIANUS)

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on John 4:34

But as Christ is not yet made subject [to the Father], so also is the work of God not yet perfected. For the Son of God said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.” How can anyone doubt that the subjection of the Son in me is still in the future when the work of the Father is still unfinished [in me] because I myself am not yet perfect?

Source: Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.13.169

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:34

He here calls the salvation of men meat, showing what an earnest desire He has of providing for us; for as we long for food, so He that we may be saved. And hear how in all places He reveals not all off-hand, but first throwes the hearer into perplexity, in order that having begun to seek the meaning of what has been said, and then being perplexed and in difficulty, he may when what he sought appears, receive it the more readily, and be made more attentive to listening. For wherefore said He not at once, My meat is to do the will of My Father? (though not even this would have been clear, yet clearer than the other.) But what says He? I have meat to eat that you know not of; for He desires, as I said, first to make them more attentive through their uncertainty, and by dark sayings like these to accustom them to listen to His words. But what is the will of the Father? He next speaks of this, and explains.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:34

He calls the salvation of men and women his food, showing his great desire that we should be saved. His desire for our salvation is as great as our desire for food. And see how often he does not express himself directly but figuratively. This necessarily makes it difficult for his hearers to comprehend his meaning, but it also gives a greater importance to that meaning once it is understood.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 34.1

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 4:34

What is this work? It is the conversion of the human race. And quite appropriately, by speaking like a human being, he said that that work was more important than any corporeal food. He also said that he did the will of him who sent him because he had been entrusted with that work.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.34

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:34

Having wholly torn away the veil from His speech, He showed them in full translucence the truth, and forthwith introduces Himself as a type unto future teachers of the world, of steadfast and most exceeding excellent zeal, to wit in respect of the duty of teaching, and on this account fitly keeping thought for the needful care of the body secondary. For in saying that it was to Himself most pleasant meat, to do the Will of Him that sent Him and to finish His Work, He limns the office of the Apostolic ministry and clearly shows, what manner of men they ought to be in habit. For it was necessary (as it seems) that they should be strung to taking thought for teaching only, and it behoved them to be so far removed from the pleasure of the body, as at times not even to desire the service necessary for the mere accomplishing its preservation from death.

And let this be said for the present, as tending to the type and pattern of Apostolic polity. But if we must in addition to what has been said, apply ourselves to speak more doctrinally, He says that He was sent, clearly by God the Father, either in respect of the Incarnation, wherein He beamed on the world with Flesh, by the good Pleasure and Approbation of the Father; or as the Word proceeding in some way from the begetting Mind, and sent and fulfilling His decree, not as though taken as a minister of others' wills, but Himself being alike both the Living Word and the most evident Will of the Father, readily saving those that were lost. Therefore in saying that it is the work of Him That hath sent Him, Himself is shown as its Fulfiller: for all things are by the Father through the Son in the Spirit. For that the Son is the Word and Counsel and Will and Power of the Father is, I suppose, evident to all: but it is no trouble to prove it from the Divine Scripture also. Therefore let any one see that Ho is the Word in this, In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God: let him see Counsel, in that the Psalmist says, as to God the Father, In Thy Counsel Thou guidedst me and with glory didst Thou receive me: let him see Will again in his saying, Lord in Thy Will give strength to my beauty. For He strengthened the beauty of His saints, that is, their vigour unto every virtue, He, the Living and Hypostatic Will of the Father, that is the SON. That He is Power also, thou shalt again understand hence, Command, O God (he says) Thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which Thou wroughtest for us. Thou seest clearly herein, that by the good Pleasure of God the Father, His Power, that is, the Son, was Incarnate, that He might strengthen this body, which He perfected for us. For if He had not tabernacled among us, neither would the nature of the flesh at all have put off the infirmity of corruption. The Son then being Himself the good Will of the Father, perfects His Work, being shown forth salvation to them that believe on Him.

But some one will say to this: "If the Son is Himself the Will of the Father, what will was He sent to fulfil? for the fulfilled must needs be other than the fulfiller." What therefore do we say to this? The giving of names indeed demands difference in the things signified, but often there is no difference in respect of God, and word regarding the supreme Nature rejects accuracy herein. For Its Properties are spoken of, not altogether as they are in truth, but as tongue can express, and ear of man hear. For he that seeth darkly, darkly also he speaketh. For what wilt thou do when He Who is by Nature Simple introduceth Himself to us as compound, in that He saith of them of Israel, And their children they made pass through the fire, which I commanded not, neither came it into My heart? for must not the heart needs be other than he in whom it is? and how then shall God be yet conceived of as Simple? The things therefore about God, are spoken of after the manner of men: they are so conceived of, as befits God, and the measure of our tongue will not wrong the Nature That is above all. And therefore even though the Son be found speaking of the Will of the Father, as of something other than He, you will make no difference, attributing fitly to the weakness of our words their not being able to say any thing greater, nor to signify their meaning in any other way.

And let these things bo said in proof of the Son being conceived of as also the Will of the Father; but in the passage before us, no reason will compel us to conceive that the Will of the Father means the Son, but rather we may well receive it as His good Will to the lost.

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 4:35

For I have sent you forward to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour; other men have laboured, and ye have entered into their labours."

Source: Against Heresies Book IV

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:35-38

(tom. xiii. c. 31) The matter of spiritual drink and living water being explained, the subject of meat follows. Jesus had asked the woman of Samaria, and she could give Him none good enough. Then came the disciples, having procured some humble food among the people of the country, and offered it Him, beseeching Him to eat. They fear perhaps lest the Word of God, deprived of His own proper nourishment, fail within them; and therefore with such as they have found, immediately propose to feed Him, that being confirmed and strengthened, He may abide with His nourishers. Souls require food as well as bodies. And as bodies require different kinds of it, and in different quantities, so is it in things which are above the body. (Heb. 5:12) Souls differ in capacity, and one needs more nourishment, another less. So too in point of quality, the same nourishment of words and thoughts does not suit all. Infants just born need the milk of the word; the grown up, solid meat. Our Lord says, I have meat to eat. For one who is over the weak who cannot behold the same things with the stronger, may always speak thusb.

(tom. xv. in Joan. c. 39-49) How can we consistently give an allegorical meaning to the words, Lift up your eyes, &c. and only a literal one to the words, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? The same principle of interpretation surely must be applied to the latter, that is to the former. The four months represent the four elements, i. e. our natural life; the harvest, the end of the world, when all conflict shall have ceased, and truth shall prevail. The disciples then regard the truth as incomprehensible in our natural state, and look forward to the end of the world for attaining the knowledge of it. But this idea our Lord condemns: Say not ye, there are four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes. In many places of Holy Scripture, we are commanded in the same way to raise the thoughts of our minds, which cling so obstinately to earth. A difficult task this for one who indulges his passions, and lives carnally. Such an one will not see if the fields be white to the harvest. For when are the fields white to the harvest? When the Word of God comes to light up and make fruitful the fields of Scripture. Indeed, all sensible things are as it were fields made white for the harvest, if only reason be at hand to interpret them. We lift up our eyes, and behold the whole universe overspread with the brightness of truth. And he that reapeth those harvests, has a double reward of his reaping; first, his wages; And he that reapeth receiveth wages; meaning his reward in the life to come; secondly, a certain good state of the understanding, which is the fruit of contemplation, And gathereth fruit unto life eternal. The man who thinks out the first principles of any science, is as it were the sower in that science; others taking them up, pursuing them to their results, and engrafting fresh matter upon them, strike out new discoveries, from which posterity reaps a plentiful harvest. And how much more may we perceive this in the art of arts? The seed there is the whole dispensation of the mystery, now revealed, but formerly hidden in darkness; for while men were unfit for the advent of the Word, the fields were not yet white to their eyes, i. e. the legal and prophetical Scriptures were shut up. Moses and the Prophets, who preceded the coming of Christ, were the sowers of this seed; the Apostles who came after Christ and saw His glory were the reapers. They reaped and gathered into barns the deep meaning which lay hid under the prophetic writings; and did in short what those do who succeed to a scientific system which others have discovered, and who with less trouble attain to clearer results than they who originally sowed the seed. But they that sowed and they that reaped shall rejoice together in another world, in which all sorrow and mourning shall be done away. Nay, and have they not rejoiced already? Did not Moses and Elias, the sowers, rejoice with the reapers Peter, James, and John, when they saw the glory of the Son of God at the Transfiguration? Perhaps in, one soweth and another reapeth, one and another may refer simply to those who live under the Law, and those who live under the Gospel. For these may both rejoice together, inasmuch as the same end is laid up for them by one God, through one Christ, in one Holy Spirit.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:35-38

(Hom. xxxiv. 1) What is the will of the Father He now proceeds to explain: Say ye not, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?

(Hom. xxxiv. 2) He leads them, as his custom is, from low things to high. Fields and harvest here express the great number of souls, which are ready to receive the word. The eyes are both spiritual, and bodily ones, for they saw a great multitude of Samaritans now approaching. This expectant crowd he calls very suitably white fields. For as the corn, when it grows white, is ready for the harvest; so were these ready for salvation. But why does He not say this in direct language? Because by making use in this way of the objects around them, he gave greater vividness and power to His words, and brought the truth home to them; and also that His discourse might be more pleasant, and might sink deeper into their memories.

(Hom. xxxiv. 2) Again, He distinguishes earthly from heavenly things, for as above He said of the water, that he who drank of it should never thirst, so here He says, He that reapeth gathereth fruit unto life eternal; adding, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. The Prophets sowed, the Apostles reaped, yet are not the former deprived of their reward. For here a new thing is promised; viz. that both sowers and reapers shall rejoice together. How different this from what we see here. Now he that soweth grieveth because he soweth for others, and he only that reapeth rejoiceth. But in the new state, the sower and reaper share the same wages.

(Hom. xxxiv. 2) He confirms what He says by a proverb, And herein is that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth, i. e. one party has the labour, and another reaps the fruit. The saying is especially applicable here, for the Prophets had laboured, and the disciples reaped the fruits of their labours: I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour.

(Hom. xxxiv. 2) I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour, i. e. I have reserved you for a favourable time, in which the labour is less, the enjoyment greater. The more laborious part of the work was laid on the Prophets, viz. the sowing of the seed: Other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. Christ here throws light on the meaning of the old prophecies. He shows that both the Law and the Prophets, if rightly interpreted, led men to Him; and that the Prophets were sent in fact by Himself. Thus the intimate connection is established between the Old Testament and the New.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:35

2. Behold, He again by familiar words leads them up to the consideration of greater matters; for when He spoke of meat, He signified nothing else than the salvation of the men who should come to Him; and again, the field and the harvest signify the very same thing, the multitude of souls prepared for the reception of the preaching; and the eyes of which He speaks are those both of the mind and of the body; (for they now beheld the crowd of Samaritans advancing;) and the readiness of their will He calls, fields already white. For as the ears of grain, when they have become white, and are ready for reaping, so these, He says, are prepared and fitted for salvation.

And wherefore instead of calling them fields and harvest, did He not plainly say, that the men were coming to believe and were ready to receive the Word, having been instructed by the Prophets; and now bringing forth fruit? What mean these figures used by Him? For this He does not here only, but through all the Gospel; and the Prophets also employ the same method, saying many things in a metaphorical manner. What then may be the cause of this? For the grace of the Spirit did not ordain it to be so without a reason, but why and wherefore? On two accounts; one, that the discourse may be more vivid, and bring what is said more clearly before our eyes. For the mind when it has laid hold on a familiar image of the matters in hand, is more aroused, and beholding them as it were in a picture, is occupied by them to a greater degree. This is one reason; the other is, that the statement may be sweetened, and that the memory of what is said may be more lasting. For assertion does not subdue and bring in an ordinary hearer so much as narration by objects, and the representation of experience. Which one may here see most wisely effected by the parable.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:35

What the will of the Father is, he now proceeds to explain: “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes harvest?’ ” … He leads them, as his custom is, from low things to high.… Fields and harvest here express the great number of souls ready to receive the Word. The eyes are both spiritual and bodily, for they saw a great multitude of Samaritans now approaching. This expectant crowd he calls very suitably white fields. For as the corn, when it grows white, is ready for the harvest, so these were ready for salvation. But why doesn’t he say this in direct language?… Because, by making use in this way of the objects around them, he gave greater vividness and power to his words and brought the truth home to them. He also spoke in this way so that his discourse might be more pleasant and might sink deeper into their memories.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 34.1-2

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:35-38

(Tr. xv. c. 32) He was intent now on beginning the work, and hastened to send labourers: And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

(Tr. xv. c. 32) The Apostles and Prophets had different labours, corresponding to the difference of times; but both will attain to like joy, and receive together their wages, even eternal life.

(Tr. xv. c. 32) So then He sent reapers, no sowers. The reapers went where the Prophets had preached. Read the account of their labours: they all contain prophecy of Christ. And the harvest was gathered on that occasion when so many thousands brought the prices of their possessions, and laid them at the Apostles' feet; relieving their shoulders from earthly burdens, that they might follow Christ. Yea verily, and from that harvest were a few grains scattered, which filled the whole world. And now ariseth another harvest, which will be reaped at the end of the world, not by Apostles, but by Angels. The reapers, He says, are the Angels. (Mat. 13)

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:35

Behold I say unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest.

That is, raising up the eye of your understanding a little from the affairs of the earth, consider ye the spiritual sowing, that it hath progressed already and whitened unto the floor, and at length calls for the reaper's sickle unto itself. But from the similarity to things in actual life, you will see what is meant. For you will conceive that the spiritual sowing and multitude of spiritual ears, are they who, tilled beforehand by the voice of the Prophets, are brought to the faith that should be shown through Christ. But it is white, as being already ripe and ready to the faith, and confirmed unto piety. But the sickle of the reaper is the glittering and most sharp word of the Apostle, cutting away the hearers from the worship according to the law, transferring them to the floor, that is, to the Church of God: there they bruised and pressed by good toils shall be set forth pure wheat worthy of the garner of Him Who gathereth it.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:35

Say not YE, There are yet four months and the harvest cometh?

He again taketh occasions of His Discourse from the time and event, and from the grosser things of sense He fashioneth His declaration of spiritual ideas. For it was yet winter at that time, and the tender sprouting and fresh stalk of the seed was scarce bristling forth from the soil: but after the expiration of four months, it was awaiting its fall into the hand of the reaper. Do not therefore YE men say (saith He) that there are yet four months, and the harvest cometh?

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:35-38

Now ye are expecting a material harvest. But I say unto you, that a spiritual harvest is at hand: Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. He alludes to the Samaritans who are approaching.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:35

Now he begins to reveal clearly to His disciples the meaning of what He had said before in riddles. "You say," meaning, you think, "that the harvest," namely, the material harvest, "is coming in four months. But I say to you, the noetic harvest is here already." He said this in reference to the Samaritans who were just then approaching Him. "Therefore lift up your eyes, both noetic and physical, and behold the multitude of approaching Samaritans and the souls eager and ready to believe, which are like fields white for the harvest." Just as whitened ears of wheat are ready for harvest, so have these men been prepared for harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. What He means is this: the prophets sowed but did not reap. Yet they have by no means been deprived of the pleasure of the reward, but rejoice with you who do the reaping. It is not so with [farmers'] harvests, where, if it should happen that one man sows and another reaps, there is only sorrow for the man who does not reap. But in the spiritual harvest, the prophets who preached long ago, cultivating and preparing the minds of men, rejoice together with you who now draw men to salvation. The Lord says, I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour, so that when He should send the disciples out to preach, they would not be overwhelmed by the difficulty of the task. The prophets undertook the harder work, He says, while you are sent out merely to complete what has already been prepared. He speaks truly, mentioning that well-known proverb, One soweth, and another reapeth. See how He speaks always with authority as Master, It is I Who sent you to reap [Eg ymas apesteila therizein]. Let the followers of the accursed Marcion, Manes, and the like, who would sever the Old Testament from the New, take note, for here they are rebuked. If the Old had indeed been separated from the New, how could the Apostles have reaped what the prophets had sown? But the Apostles have reaped the harvest of the Old Testament, which therefore is not estranged from the New—they are one and the same. And let the followers of Arius hear that it is as Lord and Master that He sends out His disciples. He sends them out to cut down and reap Jews and Greeks alike, who had stood planted in the earth and in corruptible things, and to carry them into the threshing floor, that is, into the Church, where they are threshed by the oxen, who signify the teachers, and made subject to them. There they are crushed and broken [signifying repentance and contrition], and when they have discarded all that is chaff, fleshly, and fuel for the fire, they are stored up as pure ears of wheat in heavenly granaries, becoming food for God Who takes delight in their salvation. In this same manner Paul reaped souls and cut them away from the earth, teaching us that our citizenship is in heaven. [Philip. 3:20] The words, look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest, some have elegantly applied to old men, referring to their white beards and the harvest of death.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:36-37

It is my opinion that in the case of every art and science of the more important subjects of investigation, the one who discovers the first principle is the sower. Others receive and elaborate on these principles. They then hand on to others of a later time what they have discovered … who then take this up as if it were a harvest of the full fruit of the art or science they have received that has now reached maturity. But if this is true in the case of certain arts and sciences, how much more is it evident in the case of the art of arts and the science of sciences?…Consider the possibility that those who “sow” are Moses and the prophets, since they wrote “for our admonition on whom the ends of the world have come,” and proclaimed the sojourn of Christ. And consider if those who “reaped” were the apostles who received the Christ and beheld the glory36 which agreed with the intellectual seeds of the prophets about him. These were reaped by the elaboration and grasping of “the mystery that has been hidden from the ages, but that is manifested in these last times,” and “in other generations was not known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets.”38
The seed [that is being sown] in this case is the whole plan related to the revelation of the mystery that has been kept silent for eternity and now has been made known through the prophetic Scriptures and the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. At that time the true light made the fields white already for harvest by shining upon them.
According to this explanation then, the fields in which the seeds had been sown are the writings of the law and prophets that were not white to those who had not received the presence of the Word. They became such, however, to those who become disciples of the Son of God—those who obey him when he says, “Lift up your eyes and see the fields, for they are white for harvest.” As genuine disciples of Jesus, therefore, let us also lift up our eyes and see the fields that have been sown by Moses and the prophets, that we may see their whiteness and how it is possible to reap their fruit to eternal life.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.302-3, 305-8

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:36-37

Who is “he that sows”? Who is “he that reaps”? The prophets sowed, but they did not reap; rather, the apostles are the ones who reaped. Yet, the prophets are not deprived of the pleasure and reward of their labors on this account, but they rejoice and are glad with us, even though they do not reap with us. For harvesting is not the same kind of work as sowing. I therefore have reserved for you what involves less work and greater pleasure, that is, harvesting instead of sowing, because there is a lot more hardship and work involved in sowing. At the harvest, the return is large and the labor not so great. In fact, it is quite easy. By these arguments Jesus here desires to prove that the desire of the prophets is that all people should come to him. The law was also utilized in this, and the prophets sowed the law for this same reason so that they might produce this fruit. Jesus shows, moreover, that he sent those prophets as well, and that there was a very intimate connection between the new covenant and the old. All this he effects by this one parable.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 34.2

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:36

For the fruit of an earthly harvest profits not to life eternal, but to this which is for a time; but the spiritual fruit to that which has neither age nor death. Do you see that the expressions are of sense, but the thoughts spiritual, and that by the very words themselves He divides things earthly from heavenly? For when in discoursing of water He made this the peculiar property of the heavenly Water, that he who drinks it shall never thirst, so He does here also when He says, that this fruit is gathered unto eternal life.

That both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together.

Who is he that sows? Who he that reaps? The Prophets are they that sowed but they reaped not, but the Apostles. Yet not on this account are they deprived of the pleasure and recompense of their labors, but they rejoice and are glad with us, although they reap not with us. For harvest is not such work as sowing. I therefore have kept you for that in which the toil is less and the pleasure greater, and not for sowing because in that there is much hardship and toil. In harvest the return is large, the labor not so great; nay there is much facility. By these arguments He here desires to prove, that the wish of the Prophets is, that all men should come to Me. This also the Law was engaged in effecting; and for this they sowed, that they might produce this fruit. He shows moreover that He sent them also, and that there was a very intimate connection between the New Covenant and the Old, and all this He effects at once by this parable. He makes mention also of a proverbial expression generally circulated.

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 4:36-37

Jesus calls himself a sower because he has begun to teach and preach. He calls the apostles reapers because they have taken their start from him and have thus been able to offer men and women as fruits to God. Therefore he adds … “and the reaper is already receiving wages,” that is, not because the impetus and start of the work comes from me or because your labor will be without reward—which is not the case—but because you will also receive your wages according to your labor. So the benefit is held in common: it is mine because I sowed, but it is also yours because you reap. You rejoice in gathering the fruits, and I rejoice in seeing the seed grow. The truth of grace is revealed more clearly in this as well because, through the seeds sown by me, such a great power has been given to you that you will be enabled to lead many to faith because of the help you derive from me. And the fact that, empowered by me, you are able to do these things again confirms the excellence of my virtue.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.36-37

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:36-37

The spiritual sowing indicates those who tilled beforehand by the voice of the prophets. The multitude of spiritual ears is those brought to the faith that is shown through Christ. But the harvest is white, in other words, already ripe for faith, and confirmed toward a godly life. But the sickle of the reaper is the glittering and sharp word of the apostle, cutting away the hearers from the worship according to the law and transferring them to the floor, that is, to the church of God. There, they are bruised and pressed by good works and shall be set forth as pure wheat worthy of the divine harvest.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.5

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:36

It is the time (saith He) of the Word calling to the Faith, and showing to the hearers the arrival at its consummation of the legal and Prophetic preachings. For the law by typical services, as in shadows did foreshew Him That should come, that is, Christ: the Prophets after it, interpreting the words of the Spirit, Yet a little while, were fore-signifying that He was even now at hand and coming. But since He hath stepped within the doors, the word of the Apostles will not remove to far distant hope that which was expected, but will reveal it already present: and will reap from legal worship those who are yet in bondage to the law and who rest in the letter only, and will transfer them as sheaves into the Evangelic habit and polity; and will likewise cut off from polytheistic straying the worshipper of idols, and will transfer him to the knowledge of Him That is in truth God, and, to speak all in brief and succinctly; will transform them who mind things on the earth unto the life of the Angels through faith to Christ-ward.

This (saith He) the word of the reapers will effect, yet shall it not be without an hire: for it shall surely gather for them fruit which nourisheth unto life eternal: nor shall they who receive rejoice in themselves alone but as having entered into the labours of the Prophets, and having reaped the seed fore-tilled by them, shall fill up one company with them. But I suppose that the most wise Paul, having throughly learnt the types of things to come, hence says of the holy fathers and Prophets that, These all, perfected through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. For the Saviour thought good, that the reaper should rejoice together with him who before had sown.

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 4:37

For although Abraham was one, he did in himself prefigure the two covenants, in which some indeed have sown, while others have reaped; for it is said, "In this is the saying true, that it is one `people' who sows, but another who shall reap; "

Source: Against Heresies Book IV

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:37

These words the many used whenever one party had supplied toil and another had reaped the fruits; and He says, that the proverb is in this instance especially true, for the Prophets labored, and you reap the fruits of their labors. He said not the rewards, (for neither did their great labor go unrewarded,) but the fruits. This also Daniel did, for he too makes mention of a proverb, Wickedness proceeds from the wicked; and David in his lamenting makes mention of a similar proverb. Therefore He said beforehand, that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. For since He was about to declare, that one has sowed and another reaps, lest any one should deem that the Prophets were deprived of their reward, He asserts something strange and paradoxical, such as never chances in sensual things, but is peculiar to spiritual only. For in things of sense, if it chance that one sow and another reap, they do not rejoice together, but those who sowed are sad, as having labored for others, and those who reap alone rejoice. But here it is not so, but those who reap not what they sowed rejoice alike with those who reap; whence it is clear that they too share the reward.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:38

By this He the more encourages them; for when it seemed a very hard matter to go through all the world and preach the Gospel, He shows them that it is even most easy. The very difficult work was that other, which required great labor, the putting in the seed, and introducing the uninitiated soul to the knowledge of God. But wherefore utters He these sayings? It is that when He sends them to preach they may not be confounded, as though sent on a difficult task. For that of the Prophets, He says, was the more difficult, and the fact witnesses to My word, that you have come to what is easy; because as in harvest time the fruits are collected with ease, and in one moment the floor is filled with sheaves, which await not the revolutions of the seasons, and winter, and spring, and rain, so it is now. The facts proclaim it aloud. While He was in the midst of saying these things, the Samaritans came forth, and the fruit was at once gathered together. On this account He said, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white. Thus He spoke, and the fact was clear, and the words seen (true) by the event. For says St. John,

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 4:38

Even though he called himself the sower of the faith, the teaching of the faith nonetheless had its beginning before his coming in the flesh. It is obvious that it had already had a beginning through the prophets and the righteous ones who followed them. He also clearly shows that this beginning had been given by him as well. “I sent you, he says, to reap and enjoy the labor of others.” After they worked hard to enable the seed of faith to remain among men and women, you came, and from this crop you gather them and lead them to faith. I would have not invited you to reap and enjoy the work of others if that cultivation was not mine from the beginning. Some I entrusted with sowing, others with reaping. I did so according to time and the different phases of cultivation.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.38

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:38

He at length unveils to them the whole mystery, and having removed the dark cloak of words, renders most clear the understanding of His meaning. For the Saviour being a Lover of the Prophets, and a Lover of the Apostles, makes neither the labour of those to be apart from the hand of the Apostles, nor does He allot entirely to the holy Apostles the glorying in respect of those who should be saved through faith in Him: but having mingled as it were the toil of each with their mutual co-work, He says (and with great reason) that one shall be the honour to both. He affirms that the Apostles had entered into the labours of the holy Prophets, not suffering them to spring upon the good fame of those who proceded them, but persuading them rather to honour them, as having gone before them in labour and time. That this will be to us too a most beautiful lesson, who will refuse to admit?

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:39-42

(tom. xv. in Joan. c. 39-49) How can we consistently give an allegorical meaning to the words, Lift up your eyes, &c. and only a literal one to the words, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? The same principle of interpretation surely must be applied to the latter, that is to the former. The four months represent the four elements, i. e. our natural life; the harvest, the end of the world, when all conflict shall have ceased, and truth shall prevail. The disciples then regard the truth as incomprehensible in our natural state, and look forward to the end of the world for attaining the knowledge of it. But this idea our Lord condemns: Say not ye, there are four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes. In many places of Holy Scripture, we are commanded in the same way to raise the thoughts of our minds, which cling so obstinately to earth. A difficult task this for one who indulges his passions, and lives carnally. Such an one will not see if the fields be white to the harvest. For when are the fields white to the harvest? When the Word of God comes to light up and make fruitful the fields of Scripture. Indeed, all sensible things are as it were fields made white for the harvest, if only reason be at hand to interpret them. We lift up our eyes, and behold the whole universe overspread with the brightness of truth. And he that reapeth those harvests, has a double reward of his reaping; first, his wages; And he that reapeth receiveth wages; meaning his reward in the life to come; secondly, a certain good state of the understanding, which is the fruit of contemplation, And gathereth fruit unto life eternal. The man who thinks out the first principles of any science, is as it were the sower in that science; others taking them up, pursuing them to their results, and engrafting fresh matter upon them, strike out new discoveries, from which posterity reaps a plentiful harvest. And how much more may we perceive this in the art of arts? The seed there is the whole dispensation of the mystery, now revealed, but formerly hidden in darkness; for while men were unfit for the advent of the Word, the fields were not yet white to their eyes, i. e. the legal and prophetical Scriptures were shut up. Moses and the Prophets, who preceded the coming of Christ, were the sowers of this seed; the Apostles who came after Christ and saw His glory were the reapers. They reaped and gathered into barns the deep meaning which lay hid under the prophetic writings; and did in short what those do who succeed to a scientific system which others have discovered, and who with less trouble attain to clearer results than they who originally sowed the seed. But they that sowed and they that reaped shall rejoice together in another world, in which all sorrow and mourning shall be done away. Nay, and have they not rejoiced already? Did not Moses and Elias, the sowers, rejoice with the reapers Peter, James, and John, when they saw the glory of the Son of God at the Transfiguration? Perhaps in, one soweth and another reapeth, one and another may refer simply to those who live under the Law, and those who live under the Gospel. For these may both rejoice together, inasmuch as the same end is laid up for them by one God, through one Christ, in one Holy Spirit.

(tom. xiii. in Joan. c. 50) After this conversation with the disciples, Scripture returns to those who had believed on the testimony of the woman, and were come to see Jesus.

(tom. xiii. c. 51) It is natural to ask, why our Saviour stays with the Samaritans, when He had given a command to His disciples not to enter into any city of the Samaritans. But we must explain this mystically. To go the way of the Gentiles, is to be imbued with Gentile doctrine; to go into a city of the Samaritans, is to admit the doctrines of those who believe the Scriptures, but interpret them heretically. But when men have given up their own doctrines, and come to Jesus, it is lawful to stay with them.

(tom. xvii. c. 50) With the aid of our former observations on Jacob's well, and the water, it will not be difficult to see, why, when they find the true word, they leave other doctrines, i. e. the city, for a sound faith. (c. 51). Observe, they did not ask our Saviour only to enter Samaria, St. John particularly remarks, or enter that city, but to tarry there. Jesus tarries with those who ask Him, and especially with those who go out of the city to Him.

(tom. xiii. c. 53) They were not ready yet for the third day; having no anxiety to see a miracle, as those had who supped with Jesus in Cana of Galilee. (This supper was after He had been in Cana three days.) The woman's report was the ground of their belief. The enlightening power of the Word itself was not yet visible to them.

(tom. xiii. c. 52) For it is impossible that the same impression should be produced by hearing from one who has seen, and seeing one's self; walking by sight is different from walking by faith. The Samaritans now do not believe only from testimony, but from really seeing the truth.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:39

They perceived that the woman would not from favor have admired One who had rebuked her sins, nor to gratify another have paraded her own course of life.

3. Let us then also imitate this woman, and in the case of our own sins not be ashamed of men, but fear, as is meet, God who now beholds what is done, and who hereafter punishes those who do not now repent. At present we do the opposite of this, for we fear not Him who shall judge us, but shudder at those who do not in anything hurt us, and tremble at the shame which comes from them. Therefore in the very thing which we fear, in this do we incur punishment. For he who now regards only the reproach of men, but when God sees is not ashamed to do anything unseemly, and who will not repent and be converted, in that day will be made an example, not only before one or two, but in the sight of the whole world. For that a vast assembly is seated there to behold righteous actions as well as those which are not such, let the parable of the sheep and the goats teach you, as also the blessed Paul when He says, For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad 2 Corinthians 5:10, and again, Who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness. 1 Corinthians 4:5 Have you done or imagined any evil thing, and do you hide it from man? Yet from God you hide it not. But for this thou cares nothing; the eyes of men, these are your fear. Think then that you will not be able to escape the sight even of men in that day ; for all things as in a picture shall then be set before our very eyes, so that each shall be self-condemned. This is clear even from the instance of Dives, for the poor man whom he had neglected, Lazarus I mean, he saw standing before his eyes, and the finger which he had often loathed, he intreats may become a comfort to him then. I exhort you therefore, that although no one see what we do, yet that each of us enter into his own conscience, and set reason for his judge, and bring forward his transgressions, and if he desire them not to be exposed to public view then in that fearful day, let him now heal his wounds, let him apply to them the medicines of repentance. For it is in the power, yea, it is in the power of one full of ten thousand wounds to go hence whole. For if you forgive, He says, your sins are forgiven unto you. Matthew 6:14, not verbally quoted For as sins buried in Baptism appear no more, so these also shall disappear, if we be willing to repent. And repentance is the not doing the same again; for he that again puts his hand to the same, is like the dog that returns to his own vomit, and like him in the proverb who cards wool into the fire, and draws water into a cask full of holes. It behooves therefore to depart both in action and in thought from what we have dared to do, and having departed, to apply to the wounds the remedies which are the contraries of our sins. For instance: have you been grasping and covetous? Abstain from rapine, and apply almsgiving to the wound. Have you been a fornicator? Abstain from fornication, and apply chastity to the wound. Have you spoken ill of your brother, and injured him? Cease finding fault, and apply kindness. Let us thus act with respect to each point in which we have offended, and let us not carelessly pass by our sins, for there awaits us hereafter, there awaits us a season of account. Wherefore also Paul said, The Lord is at hand: be careful for nothing. Philippians 4:5-6 But we perhaps must add the contrary of this, The Lord is at hand, be careful. For they might well hear, Be careful for nothing, living as they did in affliction, and labors, and trials; but they who live by rapine, or in luxury, and who shall give a grievous reckoning, would in reason hear not this, but that other, The Lord is at hand, be careful. Since no long time now remains until the consummation, but the world is hastening to its end; this the wars declare, this the afflictions, this the earthquakes, this the love which has waxed cold. For as the body when in its last gasp and near to death, draws to itself ten thousand sufferings; and as when a house is about to fall, many portions are wont to fall beforehand from the roof and walls; so is the end of the world near and at the very doors, and therefore ten thousand woes are everywhere scattered abroad. If the Lord was then at hand, much more is He now at hand. If three hundred years ago, when those words were used, Paul called that season the fullness of time, much more would he have called the present so. But perhaps for this very reason some disbelieve, yet they ought on this account to believe the more. For whence do you know, O man, that the end is not at hand, and the words shortly to be accomplished? For as we speak of the end of the year not as being the last day, but also the last month, though it has thirty days; so if of so many years I call even four hundred years the end, I shall not be wrong; and so at that time Paul spoke of the end by anticipation. Let us then set ourselves in order, let us delight in the fear of God; for if we live here without fear of Him, His coming will surprise us suddenly, when we are neither careful, nor looking for Him. As Christ declared when He said, For as in the days of Noah, and as in the days of Lot, so shall it be at the end of this world. Matthew 24:37, not verbally quoted This also Paul declared when he said, For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child. 1 Thessalonians 5:3 What means, as travail upon a woman with child? Often have pregnant women when sporting, or at their meals, or in the bath or market-place, and foreseeing nothing of what was coming, been seized in a moment by their pains. Now since our case is like theirs, let us ever be prepared, for we shall not always hear these things, we shall not always have power to do them. In the grave says David, who shall give You thanks? Psalm 6:5 Let us then repent here, that so we may find God merciful unto us in the day that is to come, and be enabled to enjoy abundant forgiveness; which may we all obtain, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion now and ever, and world without end. Amen.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:39-42

(Hom. xxxiv. 2) It is now, as it were, harvest time, when the corn is gathered, and a whole floor soon covered with sheaves; And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him, for the saying of the woman which testified, He told me all that ever I did. They considered that, the woman would never of her own accord have conceived such admiration for one Who had reproved her offences, unless He were really some great and wonderful person. (Hom. xxxv. 1). And thus relying solely on the testimony of the woman, without any other evidence, they went out to beseech Christ to stay with them: So when the Samaritans were come to Him, they besought Him that He would tarry with them. The Jews when they saw His miracles, so far from begging Him to stay, tried in every way to get rid of His presence. Such is the power of malice, and envy, and vainglory, that obstinate vice which poisons even goodness itself. Though the Samaritans however wished to keep Him with them, He would not consent, but only tarried there two days.

(Hom. xxxv. 1) The Jews disbelieved in spite of miracles, while these exhibited great faith, before even a miracle was wrought, and when they had only heard our Lord's words. And many more believed because of His own word. Why then do not the Evangelists give these words? To show that they omit many important things, and because the result shows what they were; the result being that the whole city was convinced. On the other hand, when the hearers are not convinced, the Evangelists are obliged to give our Lord's words, that the failure may be seen to be owing to the indifference of the hearers, not to any defect in the preacher. And now, having become Christ's disciples, they dismiss their first instructor; And they said unto the woman, Now we believe not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. How soon they understand that He was come for the deliverance of the whole world, and could not therefore confine His purposes to the Jews, but must sow the Word every where. Their saying too, The Saviour of the world, implies that they looked on this world as miserable and lost; and that, whereas Prophets and Angels had come to save it, this was the only real Saviour, the Author not only of temporal but eternal salvation. And, observe, whereas the woman had spoken doubtfully, Is not this the Christ? they do not say, we suspect, but we know, know, that this is indeed the Saviour of the world, not one Christ out of many. Though they had only heard His words, they said as much as they could have done, had they seen ever so many and great miracles.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:39-42

(Tr. xv. c. 33) So then they knew Christ first by report of another, afterwards by His own presence; which is still the case of those that are without the fold, and not yet Christians. Christ is announced to them by some charitable Christians, by the report of the woman, i. e. the Church; they come to Christ, they believe on Him, through the instrumentality of that woman; He stays withthem two days, i. e. gives them two precepts of charity. And thenceforth their belief is stronger. They believe that He is indeed the Saviour of the world.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:39

Israel is again hereby too condemned, and by the obedience of the Samaritans, is convicted of being alike reckless of knowing and harsh. For the Evangelist marvels much at the many who believed on Christ, saying, For the saying of the woman; although they who were instructed through the law to the knowledge hereof, neither received the words of Moses, nor acknowledged that they ought to believe the heraldings of the Prophets. He in these words prepares the way before, or rather wisely makes a defence before, for that Israel should with reason be thrust away from the grace and hope that is to Christ-ward and that instead should come in the more obedient fulness of the Gentiles, or aliens.

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:39

The Samaritans believed because of the woman's own words, wisely determining among themselves that she would not have exposed the secrets of her life in order to please another, unless the Man Whom she proclaimed were truly great and extraordinary. Therefore, showing their faith by their works, they asked Him to live with them always. For the word tarry [meinai] means "to make one's home" among them. But they did not persuade Him, and He stayed there only two days, during which time many more believed because of His teaching. The Evangelist does not need to tell us the particular words of His marvelous teaching: merely stating the end result allows us to sense their divine power. Often the Evangelists omit many of His great deeds and words, because they do not write in order to make a grandiose display of His life, but simply to declare the truth. By His mere presence among the Samaritans, the Lord is also teaching something more profound: without any sign or miracle, they believed and begged Him to live with them. But the Jews, when given ten thousand signs and miracles, drove Him away, for those in his house shall be all a man's enemies. [Micah 7:6] See how quickly the multitude outdid the woman who taught them. They do not call Him "prophet," or "Saviour of Israel," but, the Saviour of the world, using the definite article which indicates, "This is the Saviour," Who essentially and in actuality saves all mankind. There have been many who came to save—lawgivers, prophets, angels—but this One is the true Saviour.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:40

John has not written that the Samaritans “asked him” to enter Samaria or to enter the city but “to remain with them.” … In what follows he does not say, “And he remained in that city two days” or “he remained in Samaria” but “he remained there,” that is, with those who asked. For Jesus remains with those who ask, and especially when those who ask him come out of their city and come to Jesus, as if in imitation of Abraham when he obeyed God who said, “Go forth out of your country and from your kindred, and out of your father’s house.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.345-46

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:40

Nothing is worse than envy and malice, nothing more mischievous than vainglory; it is wont to mar ten thousand good things. So the Jews, who excelled the Samaritans in knowledge, and had been always familiar with the Prophets, were shown from this cause inferior to them. For these believed even on the testimony of the woman, and without having seen any sign, came forth beseeching Christ to tarry with them; but the Jews, when they had beheld His wonders, not only did not detain Him among them, but even drove Him away, and used every means to cast Him forth from their land, although His very Coming had been for their sake. The Jews expelled Him, but these even entreated Him to tarry with them. Was it not then rather fitting, tell me, that He should receive those who asked and besought Him, than that He should wait upon those who plotted against and repulsed Him, while to those who loved and desired to retain Him He gave not Himself? Surely this would not have been worthy of His tender care; He therefore both accepted them, and tarried with them two days. They desired to keep Him among them continually, (for this the Evangelist has shown by saying, that they besought Him that He would tarry with them,) but this He endured not, but stayed with them only two days; and in these many more believed on Him. Yet there was no likelihood that these would have believed, since they had seen no sign, and had hostile feelings towards the Jews; but still, inasmuch as they gave in sincerity their judgment on His words, this stood not in their way, but they received a notion which surmounted their hindrances, and vied with each other to reverence Him the more. For, says the Evangelist, they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of your saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. The scholars overshot their instructress. With good reason might they condemn the Jews, both by their believing on, and their receiving Him. The Jews, for whose sake He had contrived the whole scheme, continually were for stoning Him, but these, when He was not even intending to come to them, drew Him to themselves. And they, even with signs, remain uncorrected; these, without signs, manifested great faith respecting Him, and glory in this very thing that they believe without them; while the others ceased not asking for signs and tempting Him.

Such need is there everywhere of an honest soul; and if truth lay hold on such an one, she easily masters it; or if she masters it not, this is owing not to any weakness of truth, but to want of candor in the soul itself. Since the sun too, when he encounters clear eyes, easily enlightens them; if he enlightens them not, it is the fault of their infirmity, not of his weakness.

Hear then what these say; We know that this is of a truth the Christ, the Saviour of the world. Do you see how they at once understood that He should draw the world to Him, that He came to order aright our common salvation, that He intended not to confine His care to the Jews, but to sow His Word everywhere? The Jews did not so, but going about to establish their own righteousness, submitted not themselves to the righteousness of God; while these confess that all are deserving of punishment, declaring with the Apostle, that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace. Romans 3:23-24 For by saying that He was the Saviour of the world, they showed that it was of a lost world, and He not simply a Saviour, but one of the very mightiest. For many had come to save, both Prophets and Angels ; but this, says one, is the True Saviour, who affords the true salvation, not that which is but for a time. This proceeded from pure faith. And in both ways are they admirable; because they believed, and because they did so without signs, (whom Christ also calls blessed, saying, Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed,) John 20:29, and because they did so sincerely. Though they had heard the woman say doubtfully, Is not this the Christ? they did not also say, we too suspect, or, we think, but, we know, and not merely, we know, but, we know that this is of a truth the Saviour of the world. They acknowledged Christ not as one of the many, but as the Saviour indeed. Yet whom had they seen saved? They had but heard His words, and yet they spoke as they would have spoken had they beheld many and great marvels. And why do not the Evangelists tell us these words, and that He discoursed admirably? That you may learn that they pass by many important matters, and yet have declared the whole to us by the event. For He persuaded an entire people and a whole city by His words. When His hearers are not persuaded, then the writers are constrained to mention what was said, lest any one from the insensibility of the hearers should give a judgment against Him who addressed them.

Now after two days He departed thence and went into Galilee.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:40

He explains in simplicity of words what took place: but prepares again another proof, that Israel ought justly to be cast off from their hope, and the aliens to be transplanted into it. For the Jews with their bitter and intolerable surmises, spitefully entreat Jesus manifoldly working miracles and radiant in God-befitting glory, and blush not to rage to so great an extent as to make Him an exile, and zealously to drive out of their city Him Who is the giver to them of all joy: while the Samaritans persuaded by the words of one woman, consider that they ought to come to Him with all speed. And when they were come, they began zealously to entreat Him to come into their city, and to pour forth to them of the word of salvation; and readily does Christ assent to both, knowing that the grace will not be unfruitful. For many believed because of His own Word.

Let him that is God-loving and pious hence know, that from them that grieve Him Christ departeth, but He dwelleth in them that gladden Him through obedience and good faith.

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 4:41

Them, two days, "believed because of His words, and said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we ourselves have heard

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:42

The Samaritans renounce their faith that was based on the speech of the woman when they discover that hearing the Savior himself is better than that faith, so that they, too, know “that this is truly the Savior of the world.” It is better indeed to become an eyewitness of the Word and to hear him [directly].… And so, there is nothing astonishing in the fact that some are said to walk by faith and not by sight, while others are said to walk by sight, which is greater than walking by faith.… Heracleon says, “People believe in the Savior first by being led by people. But whenever they read his words, they no longer believe because of human testimony alone, but because of the truth itself.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.353, 362-63

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:42

“And they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.’ ” The pupils had gone beyond their first instructor … Notice how soon they arrived at the understanding that he had come for the deliverance of the whole world and could not therefore confine his purposes to the Jews but must sow the Word everywhere.… Their saying too, “The Savior of the world,” implies that they looked on this world as miserable and lost. They saw that whereas prophets and angels had come to save it, this was the only real Savior, the author not only of temporal but eternal salvation.… And notice how the woman had spoken doubtfully, “Is not this the Christ?” But they do not say, “We suspect” but “We know” that this is indeed the Savior of the world.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 35.1

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:42

From the greater things does the faith of the Samaritans spring, and not any longer from what they learn from others, but from those whereof they are the wondering ear-witnesses. For they say that they know that He is indeed the Saviour of the world, making the confession of their hope in Him the pledge of their faith.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:43-45

(tom. xiii. c. 52) For it is impossible that the same impression should be produced by hearing from one who has seen, and seeing one's self; walking by sight is different from walking by faith. The Samaritans now do not believe only from testimony, but from really seeing the truth.

(tom. xvii. c. 54) The country of the prophets was Judæa, and every one knows how little honour they received from the Jews, as we read, Whom of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? (Mat. 23) One cannot but wonder at the truth of this saying, exemplified not only in the contempt cast upon the holy prophets and our Lord Himself, but also in the case of other teachers of wisdom who have been despised by their fellow-citizens and put to deathc.

(tom. xvii. c. 55) Our Lord by ejecting those who sold sheep and oxen from the temple, had impressed the Galileans with a strong idea of His Majesty, and they received Him. His power was shown no less in this act, than in making the blind to see, and the deaf to hear. But probably He had performed some other miracles as well.

(tom. xiii. c. 55) The Galilæans were allowed to keep the feast at Jerusalem, where they had seen Jesus. Thus they were prepared to receive Him, when He came: otherwise they would either have rejected Him; or He, knowing their unprepared state, would not have gone near them.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:43-45

(Hom. xxxv. 1) Or consider this the reason that He went, not to Capernaum, but to Galilee and Cana, as appears below, His country being, I think, Capernaum. As He did not obtain honour there, hear what He says; And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. (Mat. 11:23) He calls it His own country, because He had most resided here.

(Hom. xxxv. 2) But do we not see many held in admiration by their own people? We do; but we cannot argue from a few instances. If some are honoured in their own country, many more are honoured out of it, and familiarity generally subjects men to contempt. The Galileans however received our Lord: Then when He was come into Galilee, the Galileans received Him. Observe how those who are spoken ill of, are always the first to come to Christ. Of the Galileans we find it said below, Search and look, for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. And He is reproached with being a Samaritan, Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil. And yet the Samaritans and Galileans believe, to the condemnation of the Jews. The Galileans however are superior to the Samaritans; for the latter believed from hearing the woman's words, the former from seeing the signs which He did: Having seen all the things that He did at Jerusalem at the feast.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:43-45

(Tr. xvi) After staying two days in Samaria, He departed into Galilee, where He resided: Now after two days He departed thence, and went into Galilee.

Why then does the Evangelist say immediately, For Jesus Himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. For He would seem to have testified more to the truth, had He remained in Samaria, and not gone into Galilee. Not so: He stayed two days in Samaria, and the Samaritans believed on Him: He stayed the same time in Galilee, and the Galileans did not believe on Him, and therefore He said, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:43

1. The Gospel Lesson of today follows that of yesterday, and this is the subject of our discourse. In this passage the meaning, indeed, is not difficult of investigation, but worthy of preaching, worthy of admiration and praise. Accordingly, in reciting this passage of the Gospel, we must commend it to your attention, rather than laboriously expound it.
Now Jesus, after His stay of two days in Samaria, departed into Galilee, where He was brought up. And the evangelist, as he goes on, says, For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. It was not because He had no honor in Samaria that Jesus departed thence after two days; for Samaria was not His own country, but Galilee. Whilst, therefore, He left Samaria so quickly, and came to Galilee, where He had been brought up, how does He testify that a prophet has no honor in his own country? Rather does it seem that He might have testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country, had He disdained to go into Galilee, and had stayed in Samaria.

2. Now mark well, beloved, while the Lord suggests and bestows what I may speak, that here is intimated to us no slight mystery. You know the question before us; seek ye out the solution of it. But, to make the solution desirable, let us repeat the theme. The point that troubles us is, why the evangelist said, For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. Urged by this, we go back to the preceding words, to discover the evangelist's intention in saying this; and we find him relating, in the preceding words of the narrative, that after two days Jesus departed from Samaria into Galilee. Was it for this, then, you said, O evangelist, that Jesus testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country, just because He left Samaria after two days, and made haste to come to Galilee? On the contrary, I should have thought it more likely, that if Jesus had no honor in His own country, He should not have hastened to it, and left Samaria. But if I am not mistaken, or rather, because it is true, and I am not mistaken; for the evangelist saw what he was saying better than I can see it, saw the truth better than I do, he who drank it in from the Lord's bosom: for the evangelist is the same John who, among all the disciples, reclined on the Lord's breast, and whom the Lord, owing love to all, yet loved above the rest. Is it he, then, that should be mistaken, and I right in my opinion? Rather, if I am piously-minded, let me obediently hear what he said, that I may be worthy of thinking as he thought.

3. Hear then, dearly beloved, what I think in this matter, without prejudice to your own judgment, if you have formed a better. For we have all one Master, and we are fellow disciples in one school. This, then, is my opinion, and see whether my opinion is not true, or near the truth. In Samaria He spent two days, and the Samaritans believed on Him; many were the days He spent in Galilee, and yet the Galileans did not believe in Him. Look back to the passage, or recall in memory the lesson and the discourse of yesterday. He came into Samaria, where at first He had been preached by that woman with whom He had spoken great mysteries at Jacob's well. After they had seen and heard Him, the Samaritans believed on Him because of the woman's word, and believed more firmly because of His own word, even many more believed: thus it is written. After passing two days there (in which number of days is mystically indicated the number of the two precepts on which hang the whole law and the prophets, as you remember we intimated to you yesterday), He goes into Galilee, and comes to the city Cana of Galilee, where He made the water wine. And there, when He turned the water into wine, as John himself writes, His disciples believed on Him; but, of course, the house was full with a crowd of guests. So great a miracle was wrought, and yet only His disciples believed on Him. He has now returned to this city of Galilee. And, behold, a certain ruler, whose son was sick, came to Him, and began to beseech Him to go down to that city or house, and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. Did he who besought not believe? What do you expect to hear from me? Ask the Lord what He thought of him. Having been besought, this is what He answered: Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not. He shows us a man lukewarm, or cold in faith, or of no faith at all; but eager to try by the healing of his son what manner of person Christ was, who He was, what He could do. The words of the suppliant, indeed, we have heard: we have not seen the heart of the doubter; but He who both heard the words and saw the heart has told us this. In short, the evangelist himself, by the testimony of his narrative, shows us that the man who desired the Lord to come to his house to heal his son, had not yet believed. For after he had been informed that his son was whole, and found that he had been made whole at that hour in which the Lord had said, Go your way, your son lives; then he says, And himself believed, and all his house. Now, if the reason why he believed, and all his house, was that he was told that his son was whole, and found the hour they told him agreed with the hour of Christ's foretelling it, it follows that when he was making the request he did not yet believe. The Samaritans had waited for no sign, they believed simply His word; but His own fellow citizens deserved to hear this said to them, Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not; and even there, notwithstanding so great a miracle was wrought, there did not believe but himself and his house. At His discourse alone many of the Samaritans believed; at that miracle, in the place where it was wrought, only that house believed. What is it, then, brethren, that the Lord does show us here? Galilee of Judea was then the Lord's own country, because He was brought up in it. But now that the circumstance portends something—for it is not without cause that prodigies are so called, but because they portend or presage something: for the word prodigy is so termed as if it were porrodicium, quod porro dicat, what betokens something to come, and portends something future—now all those circumstances portended something, predicted something; let us just now assume the country of our Lord Jesus Christ after the flesh (for He had no country on earth, except after the flesh which He took on earth); let us, I say, assume the Lord's own country to mean the people of the Jews. Lo, in His own country He has no honor. Observe at this moment the multitudes of the Jews; observe that nation now scattered over the whole world, and plucked up by the roots; observe the broken branches, cut off, scattered, withered, which being broken off, the wild olive has deserved to be grafted in; look at the multitude of the Jews: what do they say to us even now? He whom you worship and adore was our brother. And we reply, A prophet has no honor in his own country. In short, those Jews saw the Lord as He walked on the earth and worked miracles; they saw Him giving sight to the blind, opening the ears of the deaf, loosing the tongues of the dumb, bracing up the limbs of the paralytics, walking on the sea, commanding the winds and waves, raising the dead: they saw Him working such great signs, and after all that scarcely a few believed. I am speaking to God's people; so many of us have believed, what signs have we seen? It is thus, therefore, that what occurred at that time betokened what is now going on. The Jews were, or rather are, like the Galileans; we, like those Samaritans. We have heard the gospel, have given it our consent, have believed on Christ through the gospel; we have seen no signs, none do we demand.

4. For, though one of the chosen and holy twelve, yet he was an Israelite, of the Lord's nation, that Thomas who desired to put his fingers into the places of the wounds. The Lord censured him just as He did this ruler. To the ruler He said, Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not; and to Thomas He said, Because you have seen, you have believed. He had come to the Galileans after the Samaritans, who had believed His word, before whom He wrought no miracles, whom He without anxiety quickly left, strong in faith, because by the presence of His divinity He had not left them. Now, then, when the Lord said to Thomas, Come, reach hither your hand, and be not faithless, but believing; and he, having touched the places of the wounds, exclaimed, and said, My Lord, and my God; he is chided, and has it said to him, Because you have seen, you have believed. Why, but because a prophet has no honor in his own country? But since this Prophet has honor among strangers, what follows? Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. John 20:29 We are the persons here foretold; and that which the Lord by anticipation praised, He has deigned to fulfill even in us. They saw Him, who crucified Him, and touched Him with their hands, and thus a few believed; we have not seen nor handled Him, we have heard and believed. May it be our lot, that the blessedness which He has promised may be made good in us: both here, because we have been preferred to His own country; and in the world to come, because we have been grafted in instead of the branches that were broken off!

5. For He showed that He would break off these branches, and ingraft this wild olive, when moved by the faith of the centurion, who said to Him, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my child shall be healed: for I also am a man put under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. Jesus turned to those who followed Him, and said, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. Why not found so great faith in Israel? Because a prophet has no honor in his own country. Could not the Lord have said to that centurion, what He said to this ruler, Go, your child lives? See the distinction: this ruler desired the Lord to come down to his house; that centurion declared himself to be unworthy. To the one it was said, I will come and heal him; to the other, Go, your son lives. To the one He promised His presence; the other He healed by His word. The ruler sought His presence by force; the centurion declared himself unworthy of His presence. Here is a ceding to loftiness; there, a conceding to humility. As if He said to the ruler, Go, your son lives; do not weary me. Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not; you desire my presence in your house, I am able to command by a word; do not wish to believe in virtue of signs: the centurion, an alien, believed me able to work by a word, and believed before I did it; you, except ye see signs and wonders, believe not. Therefore, if it be so, let them be broken off as proud branches, and let the humble wild olive be grafted; nevertheless let the root remain, while those are cut off and these received in their place. Where does the root remain? In the patriarchs. For the people Israel is Christ's own country, since it is of them that He came according to the flesh; but the root of this tree is Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the holy patriarchs. And where are they? In rest with God, in great honor; so that it was into Abraham's bosom that the poor man, on being promoted, was raised after his departure from the body, and in Abraham's bosom was he seen from afar off by the proud rich man. Wherefore the root remains, the root is praised; but the proud branches deserved to be cut off, and to wither away; and by their cutting off, the humble wild olive has found a place.

6. Hear now how the natural branches are cut off, how the wild olive is grafted in, by means of the centurion himself, whom I have thought proper to mention for the sake of comparison with this ruler. Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith in Israel; therefore I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and from the west. How widely the wild olive took possession of the earth! This world was a bitter forest; but because of the humility, because of this I am not worthy— many shall come from the east and from the west. And grant that they come, what shall become of them? For if they come, they are cut off from the forest; where are they to be ingrafted, that they may not wither? And shall sit down, says He, with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. At what banquet, in case you do not invite to ever living, but to much drinking? Where, shall sit down? In the kingdom of heaven. And how will it be with them who came of the stock of Abraham? What will become of the branches with which the tree was full? What but to be cut off, that these may be grafted in? Show us that they shall be cut off: But the children of the kingdom shall go into outer darkness. Matthew 8:5-12

7. Therefore let the Prophet have honor among us, because He had no honor in His own country. He had no honor in His country, wherein He was formed; let Him have honor in the country which He has formed. For in that country was He, the Maker of all, made as to the form of a servant. For that city in which He was made, that Zion, that nation of the Jews He Himself made when He was with the Father as the Word of God: for all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made. Of that man we have today heard it said: One Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5 The Psalms also foretold, saying, My mother is Sion, shall a man say. A certain man, the Mediator man between God and men, says, My mother Sion. Why says, My mother is Sion? Because from it He took flesh, from it was the Virgin Mary, of whose womb He took upon Him the form of a servant; in which He deigned to appear most humble. My mother is Sion, says a man; and this man, who says, My mother is Sion, was made in her, became man in her. For He was God before her, and became man in her. He who was made man in her, Himself did found her; the Most High was made man in her most low. Because the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He Himself, the Most High, founded her. Now, because He founded this country, here let Him have honor. The country in which He was born rejected Him; let that country receive Him which He regenerated.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:43

Jesus left for Galilee, where he grew up. Why then does the Evangelist add immediately, “For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country”? It was not because he had no honor in Samaria. Samaria, after all, was not his own country; Galilee was.… But it would have seemed that he had testified more to the truth of the Evangelist’s statement if he had remained in Samaria and stayed away from Galilee.… This is not the case, however. He stayed two days in Samaria, and the Samaritans believed in him; he stayed many more days in Galilee, and the Galileans did not believe in him.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 16.1, 3

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:43

He departs from Samaria, having now sown the Word of salvation, and like a husbandman hidden the faith in them that dwell there, not that it might be bound captive in the silence of them that received it, quiet and deep buried, but rather that it might grow in the souls of all, creeping on and advancing ever to the greater, and running to more evident might. But since He passes by Nazareth lying in the midst, wherein it is said that He was also brought up, so that He seemed to be from thence and its citizen, and goes down rather to Galilee; of necessity he offers an explanation of His passing it by, and says that Jesus Himself had testified that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. For it is our nature to think nothing of what we are accustomed to, even though it be great and of price. And the Saviour thought not good to seek honour from them, like a vain-glorious man and a braggart, but knew well that to those who have no thought that one ought to honour one's teacher, neither would the word of the faith be any longer sweet and acceptable. With reason then does He pass by, not thinking it right to expend useless labours upon them who are nothing profited, and thus to lay down grace before them that despise it. For it was not reasonable that they who sinned so deeply should do so unpunished; since it is altogether confessed and undoubted, that they will undergo the severest punishments, who knowingly despise Him and spurn a gift so worthy of marvel.

[AD 735] Bede on John 4:43-45

They had seen Him at Jerusalem, For they also went unto the feast. Our Lord's return has a mystical meaning, viz. that, when the Gentiles have been confirmed in the faith by the two precepts of love, i. e. at the end of the world, He will return to His country, i. e. Judæa.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:43-45

Or thus: Our Lord on leaving Samaria for Galilee, explains why He was not always in Galilee: viz. because of the little honour He received there. A prophet hath no honour in his own country.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:44

The country of the prophets, of course, was in Judea, and it is clear that they had had no honor among the Jews since they were stoned, sawn in two, tried and put to death by the sword. Because they were dishonored, they went about in sheepskins and goat skins, being in need, afflicted and ill-treated. … The truth of the Savior’s statement is amazing. It is applicable not only to the holy prophets, who were dishonored by their fellow countrymen, and to our Lord himself, but also to those who have busied themselves in any field of learning and have been despised by their fellow citizens with the result that some of them, too, have been executed.… What has happened in the case of the prophets is most paradoxical indeed. While alive their fellow citizens dishonored them, but dead they respect them by building and adorning their tombs.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.372, 376, 378

[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on John 4:44

And if a presbyter comes from another parish, let him be received to communion by the presbyters; if a deacon, by the deacons; if a bishop, let him sit with the bishop, and be allowed the same honour with himself; and thou, O bishop, shalt desire him to speak to the people words of instruction: for the exhortation and admonition of strangers is very acceptable, and exceeding profitable. For, as the Scripture says, "no prophet is accepted in his own country."

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:44

Wherefore is this added? Because He departed not unto Capernaum, but into Galilee, and thence to Cana. For that you may not enquire why He tarried not with His own people, but tarried with the Samaritans, the Evangelist puts the cause, saying that they gave no heed unto Him; on this account He went not there, that their condemnation might not be the greater. For I suppose that in this place He speaks of Capernaum as His country. Now, to show that there He received no honor, hear Him say, And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. Matthew 11:23 He calls it His own country, because there He set forth the Word of the Dispensation, and more especially dwelt upon it. What then, says some one, do we not see many admired among their kindred? In the first place such judgments must not be formed from rare instances; and again, if some have been honored in their own, they would have been much more honored in a strange country, for familiarity is wont to make men easily despised.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:44

We read below that his country was, I suppose, Capernaum. Now, to demonstrate how he received no honor there, listen to what he says: “And you, Capernaum, which are exalted to heaven, shall be brought down to hell.” He calls Capernaum his own country because he lived there most of the time and taught there. But someone might ask, “Don’t we usually see many admired among their own people?” This may be so, but we should not make such judgments on the basis of a few instances, because it is also true that while some have been honored in their own country, many more have been honored outside it, since familiarity generally breeds contempt.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 35.2

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:45

It is possible … that a Galilean happened to be in Jerusalem, where the temple of God is located, to celebrate the festival and saw everything that Jesus did there. He may have especially seen how he cast out all those selling cattle, sheep and doves, along with the sheep, the cattle, and the rest, with the scourge he made from cords. For the feast in Jerusalem marks the beginning of the Galileans’ reception of the Son of God when he came to them. Otherwise, if they had not seen his deeds at the feast, they would not have received him. He also would not have visited them so eagerly, having left those who asked him “to remain with them,” if the Galileans had not been previously prepared to receive him.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.387-88

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:45

Do you see that these men so ill spoken of are found most to come to Him? For one said, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? John 1:46, and another, Search and look, for out of Galilee arises no prophet. John 7:52 These things they said insulting Him, because He was supposed by the many to be of Nazareth, and they also reproached Him with being a Samaritan; You are a Samaritan, said one, and hast a devil. John 8:48 Yet behold, both Samaritans and Galilæans believe, to the shame of the Jews, and Samaritans are found better than Galilæans, for the first received Him through the words of the woman, the second when they had seen the miracles which He did.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:45

Do you see that the people who have the worst things spoken about them are the ones found most often coming to him? For one said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Another said, “Search and look, for out of Galilee arises no prophet.” They said these things as an insult to him, because many people thought he was from Nazareth. They also reproached him with being a Samaritan; “You are a Samaritan,” said one, “and have a devil.” Yet behold, both Samaritans and Galileans believe, to the shame of the Jews, and Samaritans are found better than Galileans, for the first received him through the words of the woman, the second received him when they had seen the miracles that he did.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 35.2

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 4:45

After he had spent two days there, he continued his journey into Galilee, as he had planned. Not only did he see this as an opportunity, but he also often said that a prophet has no honor in his homeland. He called Judea his homeland, which he had left for this very reason, that is, because obviously the Jews out of great envy wanted to persecute him in various ways. All that [the Evangelist] said about the Samaritans was clearly inserted into the plot of his narrative. Among other things, Samaria was not the homeland of the Messiah. Also, the words “has no honor” could not refer to the Samaritans because they believed in him and received him with great honor. However, the Galileans, the Evangelist says, received him with honor as well, since they knew and had seen those things done by him in Jerusalem.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.43-45

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:45

Not without consideration do the Galileans receive Jesus, but in just astonishment at the wondrous works which they themselves had already seen Him do, both by their piety towards Him condemning the folly of the Jews, and found far superior in good feeling to those who were instructed in the law.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:46-54

(tom. xiii. c. 55) The Galilæans were allowed to keep the feast at Jerusalem, where they had seen Jesus. Thus they were prepared to receive Him, when He came: otherwise they would either have rejected Him; or He, knowing their unprepared state, would not have gone near them.

(tom. xvii. c. 57) Some think that this was an officer of King Herod's; others, that he was one of Cæsar's household, then employed on some commission in Judæa. It is not said that He was a Jew.

His rank appears in the fact of his servants meeting him: And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.

(tom. xvii. c. 60) The sentence is ambiguous. Taken one way, it means that Jesus after coming to Galilee, performed two miracles, of which that of healing the nobleman's son was the second: taken another, it means, that of the two miracles which Jesus performed in Galilee, the second was done after coming from Judæa into Galilee. The latter is the true and received meaning. Mystically, the two journeys of Christ into Galilee signify His two advents; (c. 56.). at the first of which He makes us His guest at supper, and gives us wine to drink; at the second, He raises up the nobleman's son who was at the point of death, i. e. the Jewish people, who, after the fulness of the Gentiles, attain themselves to salvation. For, as the great King of Kings is He, whom God hath seated upon His holy hill of Sion, so the lesser king is he, who saw his day, and was glad, i. e. Abrahame. And therefore his sick son is the Jewish people fallen from the true religion, and thrown into a fever in consequence by the fiery darts of the enemy. And we know that the saints of old, even when they had put off the covering of the flesh, made the people the object of their care: for we read in Maccabees, after the death of Jeremiah, This is Jeremias the prophet of the Lord, who prayeth much for the people. (2 Macc. 12) Abraham therefore prays to our Saviour to succour his diseased people. Again, the word of power, Thy son liveth, comes forth from Cana, i. e. the work of the Word, the healing of the nobleman's son, is done in Capernaum, i. e. the land of consolation. The nobleman's son signifies the class of believers who though diseased are yet not altogether destitute of fruits. The words, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe, are spoken of the Jewish people in general, or perhaps of the nobleman, i. e. Abraham himself, in a certain sense. For as John waited for a sign; on Whom thou shall see the Spirit descending; so too the Saints who died before the coming of Christ in the flesh, expected Him to manifest Himself by signs and wonders. And this nobleman too had servants as well as a son; which servants stand for the lower and weaker class of believers. Nor is it chance that the fever leaves the son at the seventh hour; for seven is the number of rest.

(t. xviii. c. 56) There may be an allusion in the two journeys to the two advents of Christ in the soul, the first supplying a spiritual banquet of wine, the second taking away all remains of weakness and death.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:46-54

(Hom. xxxv. 2) On a former occasion our Lord attended a marriage in Cana of Galilee, now He goes there to convert the people, and confirm by His presence the faith which His miracle had produced. He goes there in preference to His own country.

(Hom. xxxv. 2) Some think that he is the same centurion, who is mentioned in Matthew. (Matt. 8:5) But that he is a different person is clear from this; that the latter, when Christ wished to come to his house, entreated Him not; whereas the former brought Christ to his house, though he had received no promise of a cure. And the latter met Jesus on His way from the mountain to Capernaum; whereas the former came to Jesus in Cana. And the latter servant was laid up with the palsy, the former's son with a fever. Of this nobleman then we read, When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judæa into Galilee, he went unto Him, and besought Him that He would heal his son: for he was at the point of death

(Hom. xxxv. 2) And mark his earthly mind, shown in hurrying Christ along with him; as if our Lord could not raise his son after death. Indeed it is very possible that he may have asked in unbelief. For fathers often are so carried away by their affection, as to consult not only those they depend upon, but even those they do not depend upon at all: not wishing to leave any means untried, which might save their children. But had he had any strong reliance upon Christ, he would have gone to Him in Judæa.

(Hom. xxxv. 2) Or thus; In the centurion there was confirmed faith and true devotion, and therefore our Lord was ready to go. But the nobleman's faith was still imperfect, as he thought our Lord could not heal in the absence of the sick person. But Christ's answer enlightened him. And the man believed the word which Jesus had spoken to him, and went his way. He did not believe, however, wholly or completely.

(Hom. xxxv. 3) They met him, to announce what had happened, and prevent Christ from coming, as He was no longer wanted. That the nobleman did not fully believe, is shown by what follows: Then enquired he of them at what hour he began to amend. He wished to find out whether the recovery was accidental, or owing to our Lord's word. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. How obvious is the miracle? His recovery did not take place in an ordinary way, but all at once; in order that it might be seen to be Christ's doing, and not the result of nature: So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son livelh; and himself believed, and his whole house.

(Hom. xxxvi. 1) The second miracle, he says markedly. The Jews had not come to the more perfect faith of the Samaritans, who saw no miracle.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:46

The Evangelist reminds the hearer of the miracle to exalt the praise of the Samaritans. The men of Cana received Him by reason of the miracles which He had done in Jerusalem and in that place; but not so the Samaritans, they received Him through His teaching alone.

That He came then to Cana, the Evangelist has said, but he has not added the cause why He came. Into Galilee He had come because of the envy of the Jews; but wherefore to Cana? At first He came, being invited to a marriage; but wherefore now? Methinks to confirm by His presence the faith which had been implanted by His miracle, and to draw them to Him the more by coming to them self-invited, by leaving His own country, and by preferring them.

And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:46

On a former occasion our Lord attended a marriage in Cana of Galilee. Now he goes there to convert the people and confirm by his presence the faith that his miracle had produced. He leaves his own country of Capernaum and goes to Cana as a self-invited guest this time, showing his preference for Cana as he tries to draw them closer to him.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 35.2

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:46-54

(Tr. xvi. c. 3) There, we are told, His disciples believed on Him. Though the house was crowded with guests, the only persons who believed in consequence of this great miracle, were His disciples. He therefore visits the city again, in order to try a second time to convert them.

He is called a nobleman, (βασιλικὸς) either as being of the royal family, or as having some office of government.

(Tr. xvi. c. 3) Did not he who made this request believe? Mark what our Lord says; Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. This is to charge the man either with lukewarmness, or coldness of faith, or with want of faith altogether: as if his only object was to put Christ's power to the test, and see who and what kind of person Christ was, and what He could do. The word prodigy (wonder) signifies something far off, in futurity.

Our Lord would have the mind of the believer so raised above all mutable things, as not to seek even for miracles. For miracles, though sent from heaven, are, in their subject matter, mutable.

(Tr. xvi. c. 3) If he only believed when he was told that his son was well again, and had compared the hour according to his servant's account, with the hour predicted by Christ, he did not believe when he first made the petition.

(Tr. xvi. c. 3) The Samaritans believed on the strength of His words only: that whole house believed on the strength of the miracle which had been brought in it. The Evangelist adds, This is again the second miracle which Jesus did, when He was come out of Judæa into Galilee.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 4:46

There [i.e., Cana], as John himself writes, “his disciples believed on him.” Though the house was crowded with guests, the only persons who believed in consequence of this great miracle were his disciples. He therefore visits the city again [in order to try a second time to convert them].

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 16.3

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:46

Christ loveth to dwell among those that are well disposed, and to those who more readily advance unto the perception and knowledge of benefits done them, He poureth forth supplies of greater goods. He cometh then to work miracles in Cana, thinking it fit to confer an additional benefit on those therein, in that He had through His signs already wrought there, the idea previously implanted in their minds, that He could do all things.

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on John 4:46-54

(Hom. in Evang. xxviii. 1) Remember what He asked for, and you will plainly see that he doubted. He asked Him to come down and see his son: The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down, ere my child die. His faith was deficient; in that he thought that our Lord could not save, except He were personally present.

(Hom. in Evang. xxviii. 1, 2) Our Lord in His answer implies that He is in a certain sense where He is invited present, even when He is absent from a place. He saves by His command simply, even as by His will He created all things: Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way, thy son liveth. Here is a blow to that pride which honours human wealth and greatness, and not that nature which is made after the image of God. Our Redeemer, to show that things made much of among men, were to be despised by Saints, and things despised made much of, did not go to the nobleman's son, but was ready to go to the centurion's servant.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 735] Bede on John 4:46-54

So, we see, faith, like the other virtues, is formed gradually, and has its beginning, growth, and maturity. His faith had its beginning, when he asked for his son's recovery; its growth, when he believed our Lord's words, Thy son liveth; its maturity, after the announcement of the fact by his servants.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 4:46-54

Or it was the seventh hour, because all remission of sins is through the sevenfold Spirit; for the number seven divided into three and four, signifies the Holy Trinity, in the four seasons of the world, in the four elements.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 4:46-54

The Evangelist reminds us of the miracle in order to express the praise due to the Samaritansd. For the Galileans in receiving Him were influenced as well by the miracle He had wrought with them, as by those they had seen at Jerusalem. The nobleman certainly believed in consequence of the miracle performed at Cana, though he did not yet understand Christ's full greatness; And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

The little king stands for man generally; man not only deriving his soul from the King of the universe, but having Himself dominion over all things. His son, i. e. his mind, labours under a fever of evil passion and desires. He goes to Jesus and entreats Him to come down; i. e. to exercise the condescension of His pity, and pardon his sins, before it is too late. Our Lord answers; Go thy way, i. e. advance in holiness, and then thy son will live; but if thou stop short in thy course, thou wilt destroy the power of understanding and doing right.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:47

This person certainly was of royal race, or possessed some dignity from his office, to which the title noble was attached. Some indeed think that this is the man mentioned by Matthew Matthew 8:5, but he is shown to be a different person, not only from his dignity, but also from his faith. That other, even when Christ was willing to go to him, entreats Him to tarry; this one, when He had made no such offer, draws Him to his house. The one says, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof; but this other even urges Him, saying, Come down ere my son die. In that instance He came down from the mountain, and entered into Capernaum; but here, as He came from Samaria, and went not into Capernaum but into Cana, this person met Him. The servant of the other was possessed by the palsy, this one's son by a fever.

And he came and besought Him that He would heal his son: for he was at the point of death. What says Christ?

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:47

The nobleman cometh as to One able to heal, but he understandeth not yet that He is by Nature God: he calleth Him Lord, but giveth not at all the true dignity of Lordship. For he would have straightway fallen down and besought Him, not that he should by all means come to his house, and go down with him to the sick lad; but should rather with authority and God-befitting command drive away the sickness that fell on him. For what need for Him to be present to the sick, whom He could easily heal, even absent? how was it not utterly without understanding to suppose that He is superior to death, and in no wise to hold Him God Who is filled with God-befitting Power?

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:48

Yet the very coming and beseeching Him was a mark of faith. And besides, after this the Evangelist witnesses to him, declaring that when Jesus said, Go, your son lives, he believed His word, and went. What then is that which He says here? Either He uses the words as approving of the Samaritans because they believed without signs; or, to touch Capernaum which was thought to be His own city, and of which this person was. Moreover, another man in Luke, who says, Lord, I believe, said besides, help my unbelief. And so if this ruler also believed, yet he believed not entirely or soundly, as is clear from his enquiring at what hour the fever left him, since he desired to know whether it did so of its own accord, or at the bidding of Christ. When therefore he knew that it was yesterday at the seventh hour, then himself believed and his whole house.

Do you see that he believed when his servants, not when Christ spoke? Therefore He rebukes the state of mind with which he had come to Him, and spoken as he did, (thus too He the more drew him on to belief,) because that before the miracle he had not believed strongly. That he came and entreated was nothing wonderful, for parents in their great affection are also wont to resort not only to physicians in whom they have confidence, but also to talk with those in whom they have no confidence, desiring to omit nothing whatever. Indeed, that he came without any strong purpose appears from this, that when Christ had come into Galilee, then he saw Him, whereas if he had firmly believed in Him, he would not, when his child was on the point of death, have hesitated to go into Judæa. Or if he was afraid, this is not to be endured either.

Observe how the very words show the weakness of the man; when he ought, after Christ had rebuked his state of mind, to have imagined something great concerning Him, even if he did not so before, listen how he drags along the ground.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:48

The fact that he came and asked for help was a mark of faith. He also believed Jesus’ words when he told him, “Go, your son lives,” since he indeed did go. Then why does he say this here? Is he contrasting him with the Samaritans, who believed without signs, or is he rebuking Capernaum in the person of this centurion who was from there?… But notice also how the centurion only believes when his servants inform him, not when Christ spoke to him. And so Jesus rebukes the state of mind the man had when he first came to him and spoke to him. In this way he also draws him along in his faith since he had not believed as strongly before the miracle took place.… The man says, “Sir, come down, or my child will die.” It is as if he were saying that Jesus could not raise his son after death, as though Jesus did not already know what state the child was in. It is for this reason that Christ rebukes him and touches his conscience, in order to show that his miracles were done principally for the sake of the soul. For here he heals the father who was sick in mind no less than the son in order to persuade us to listen to him, not because of his miracles but because of his teaching. Miracles are not for the faithful but for the unbelieving and for people who are not as knowledgeable about the faith.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 35.2

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:48

So what are we taught by these things? We are taught not to wait for miracles or to seek promises of the power of God. I see a lot of people, even now, who become more pious when, during the sufferings of a child or the sickness of a wife, they see any sign of relief. And yet, even if their child or wife did not obtain that relief, they still should persist in giving thanks and in glorifying God. Because right-minded servants and those who love their Master as they ought should run to him not only when they are pardoned but also when chastised. For this too also shows the tender care of God, since “those whom the Lord loves he also chastens.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 35.3.Why, then, did he hear the words “Unless you see signs and portents, you do not believe,” when he believed before he saw the sign? But recall what he was asking, and you will see that his faith was in doubt. He asked Jesus earnestly to come down and heal his son. He was asking for the physical presence of the Lord, who is nowhere absent in his spirit. He had little faith in one he thought could not heal unless he was physically present. If he had believed completely, he would have known that there was no place where God was not present. He was considerably distrustful, then, since it was not the Lord’s greatness he esteemed but his physical presence. He sought a cure for his son even though his faith was in doubt, since he believed that the one he had approached had the power to cure, and yet he thought he was not with his dying son. But the Lord whom he asked to come revealed that he was not absent from the place he was invited to. He who created everything by his will performed the cure by his command alone.

Source: FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 28

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:49

As though He could not raise him after death, as though He knew not what state the child was in. It is for this that Christ rebukes him and touches his conscience, to show that His miracles were wrought principally for the sake of the soul. For here He heals the father, sick in mind, no less than the son, in order to persuade us to give heed to Him, not by reason of His miracles, but of His teaching. For miracles are not for the faithful, but for the unbelieving and the grosser sort.

3. At that time then, owing to his emotion, the nobleman gave no great heed to the words, or to those only which related to his son, yet he would afterwards recollect what had been said, and draw from thence the greatest advantage. As indeed was the case.

But what can be the reason why in the case of the centurion He by a free offer undertook to come, while here though invited, He goes not? Because in the former case faith had been perfected, and therefore He undertook to go, that we might learn the rightmindedness of the man; but here the nobleman was imperfect. When therefore he continually urged Him, saying, Come down, and knew not yet clearly that even when absent He could heal, He shows that even this was possible unto Him in order that this man might gain from Jesus not going, that knowledge which the centurion had of himself. And so when He says, Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe, His meaning is, You have not yet the right faith, but still feel towards Me as towards a Prophet. Therefore to reveal Himself and to show that he ought to have believed even without miracles, He said what He said also to Philip, Believest thou that the Father is in Me and I in the Father? Or if not, believe Me for the very works' sake. c. xiv. 10, 11

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:49

Christ rebukes the state of mind in which the father had come to him and spoken to him as he did because, before the miracle, the father’s faith was not that strong. The fact that he came and entreated Jesus was nothing special, for parents often are so carried away by their affection that they consult not only those physicians they depend on, but even people they do not depend on at all. This is because they do not want to leave any possibility unexplored.… But if he had any strong reliance on Christ, he would not have hesitated to go to Jesus in Judea when his child was at the point of death.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 35.2

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:49

Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto Him,

A mind yet hard dwelleth in them who arc deceived, but mightier will be the more wonder-working power of Him That calleth them unto faith. Wherefore the Saviour says that they need wonders, that they may easily be re-instructed unto what is profitable, and acknowledge Him Who is by Nature God.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:49

Lord, come down ere my child die.

Feeble indeed unto understanding is the nobleman, for ho is a child in his petition for grace, and almost dotes without perceiving it. For by believing that Christ had power not only when present, but that He would surely avail even absent, he would have had a most worthy conception of Him. But now both thinking and acting most foolishly, he asks power befitting God, and does not think He accomplishes all things as God, nor yet that He will be superior to death, although beseeching Him to gain the advantage over him that had all but overcome; for the child was at the point of death.

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 4:50

Then, again, withdrawing Himself

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 4:50

By writing here “believed,” the Evangelist does not intend that he believed completely and perfectly, but means that he accepted the word without hesitation and hoped for something excellent from [Jesus].… The events that follow show clearly that the royal official had come to Christ with an imperfect faith. When he was going down, his slaves met him and reported to him his son’s recovery. He did not come back to give thanks for the miracle but asked at what time the child had recovered. When he had ascertained that it was the same hour in which the Lord had promised him the healing of the child, “Then he himself believed, along with his whole household.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.46-48

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:50

Thus believing he ought to have come, but Christ doth not reject our lack of apprehension; but benefiteth even the stumbling, as God. That then which the man should have been admired for doing, this does he teach him even when he doth it not, revealed alike as the Teacher of things most lovely, and the Giver of good things in prayer. For in Go thy way is Faith: in thy son liveth is the fulfilment of his longings, granted with plenteous and God-befitting Authority.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:50

The nobleman believed that Jesus needed to come [to his son to heal him]. But Christ does not reject our lack of apprehension; rather, as God, he helps even the stumbling. What the man then should have been admired for doing is what Jesus teaches him even when he does not end up doing it. In this way Jesus is revealed both as the teacher of the most lovely things and the giver of good things in prayer. For, in “Go your way,” there is faith. In “your son lives” there is the fulfillment of his longings, granted with both a generosity and an authority befitting to God.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.5

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on John 4:50

In this matter we must pay careful attention to what we have learned from the testimony of another Evangelist. A centurion came to the Lord saying, “Sir, my son is lying at home paralyzed and in great pain.” Jesus immediately answered him, “I myself will come and heal him.” Why is it that when the ruler asked him to come to his son, he refused to go there in person, but he promised to go in person to the servant, when the centurion had not asked him to do so? He did not condescend to be physically present to the ruler’s son but did hurry to the side of the centurion’s servant.Why was this, except to check our pride? We do not respect in people their nature, made in God’s image, but their riches and reputation. When we consider what is important about them we scarcely regard what they are inwardly. We pay attention to what is physically displeasing about them and neglect to consider what they are. Our Redeemer, to show us that the things human beings regard highly are displeasing to the saints and that we are not to be displeased by what humans consider displeasing, refused to go to the ruler’s son but was ready to go to the centurion’s servant.…
You see that one came from heaven who was not reluctant to hurry to a servant on earth, and yet we who are of the earth refuse to be humbled on earth.

Source: FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 28

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:51

His dignity appears in the fact that his servants have already come to meet him while he is going down, to tell him that his child lives, for “servants” are mentioned in the plural.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.396

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:51

Do you see how evident the miracle was? Not simply nor in a common way was the child freed from danger, but all at once, so that what took place was seen to be the consequence not of nature, but the working of Christ. For when he had reached the very gates of death, as his father showed by saying, Come down ere my child die; he was all at once freed from the disease. A fact which roused the servants also, for they perhaps came to meet their master, not only to bring him the good news, but also deeming that the coming of Jesus was now superfluous, (for they knew that their master had gone there,) and so they met him even in the way. The man released from his fear, thenceforth escaped into faith, being desirous to show that what had been done was the result of his journey, and thenceforth he is ambitious of appearing not to have exerted himself to no purpose; so he ascertained all things exactly, and himself believed and his whole house. For the evidence was after this unquestionable. For they who had not been present nor had heard Christ speak nor known the time, when they had heard from their master that such and such was the time, had incontrovertible demonstration of His power. Wherefore they also believed.

What now are we taught by these things? Not to wait for miracles, nor to seek pledges of the Power of God. I see many persons even now become more pious, when during the sufferings of a child or the sickness of a wife they enjoy any comfort, yet they ought even if they obtain it not, to persist just the same in giving thanks, in glorifying God. Because it is the part of right-minded servants, and of those who feel such affection and love as they ought for their Master, not only when pardoned, but also when scourged, to run to Him. For these also are effects of the tender care of God; Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges, it says, every son whom He receives. Hebrews 12:6 When therefore a man serves Him only in the season of ease, he gives proofs of no great love, and loves not Christ purely. And why speak I of health, or abundant riches, or poverty, or disease? Should thou hear of the fiery pit or of any other dreadful thing, not even so must thou cease from speaking good of your Master, but suffer and do all things because of your love for Him. For this is the part of right-minded servants and of an unswerving soul; and he who is disposed after this sort will easily endure the present, and obtain good things to come, and enjoy much confidence in the presence of God; which may it be that we all obtain through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory, now and ever, and world without end. Amen.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:51

Do you see how obvious the miracle was? It was not in a simple or ordinary way that the child was freed from danger, but all at once. In this way, what took place was seen to be Christ’s doing and not the work of nature. For when he had reached the very gates of death—as his father demonstrated by saying, “Come down before my child dies”—he was all at once freed from the disease. This fact roused the servants as well, for they came to meet him not only perhaps to announce what had happened but also to prevent Christ from coming since he was no longer needed.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 35.3

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:51

The one command of the Savior heals two souls. In the official, the Savior’s command brings about unexpected faith even as it also rescues the child from bodily death. It is difficult to say which one is healed first. Both, I suppose, are healed simultaneously. The disease left at the command of the Savior. The official’s servants meet him and tell him of the healing of the child. This shows at the same time the swiftness of the divine commands and how wisely Christ ordered all of this. They speedily confirmed the hope of their master, who was weak in faith.… When the official learned that the sick child’s recovery coincided exactly with Jesus’ command, he is saved with “his whole house.” He attributes the power of the miracle to the Savior Christ, and he is brought to a firmer faith.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.5

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 4:52

He enquires of them the hour of the turn for the better of the sick child, to prove whether it coincides with the time of the grace. When he had learnt that thus it was, and no otherwise, he is saved with his whole house, attributing the power of the miracle to the Saviour Christ, and bringing to Him a firmer faith as a fruit of thank-offering for these things.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 4:54

The saying is ambiguous. On the one hand it means something like this: In coming from Judea into Galilee Jesus has performed two signs. The second sign is the one concerning the royal official’s son. On the other hand it could mean something like this: While there are two signs that Jesus performed in Galilee, he did the second after he came from Judea to Galilee. The latter is the meaning to be accepted as correct. For Jesus has not performed the first sign since he came from Judea into Galilee (the first sign changing of the water into wine), which occurred the day after Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, asked where Jesus was staying and remained with the Lord about the tenth hour of the day. For it is written, “On the following day he wished to depart into Galilee, and he found Philip.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.434-35

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 4:54

1. As in gold mines one skillful in what relates to them would not endure to overlook even the smallest vein as producing much wealth, so in the holy Scriptures it is impossible without loss to pass by one jot or one tittle, we must search into all. For they all are uttered by the Holy Spirit, and nothing useless is written in them.

Consider, for instance, what the Evangelist in this place says, This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when He had come out of Judæa into Galilee. Even the word second he has added not without cause, but to exalt yet more the praise of the Samaritans, by showing that even when a second miracle had been wrought, they who beheld it had not yet reached as high as those who had not seen one.

After this there was a feast of the Jews. What feast? Methinks that of Pentecost. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Continually at the feasts He frequents the City, partly that He might appear to feast with them, partly that He might attract the multitude that was free from guile; for during these days especially, the more simply disposed ran together more than at other times.