30 He must increase, but I must decrease. 31 He that cometh from above is above all he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth he that cometh from heaven is above all. 32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. people. Friend of the bridegroom. See on Matt. 9: 15. || Bridegroom's voice; his expressions of joy. Is fulfilled; is made complete. I seek for no higher joy, than to have been an assistant of the Messiah, and to see him becoming the great object of attraction. 30. He must increase, &c. Jesus, as the true Messiah, must be advanced to still increasing dignity; while I must sink into obscurity. 31. Another reason was given by John for cheerfully yielding the precedence to Jesus; namely, the Messiah came from heaven, and is therefore most fully qualified to be the Great Teacher; while John was merely of earthly origin, and could therefore teach only in an inferior manner. He that cometh from above. See v. 13. || He that is of the earth; one of earthly origin. Such was John. | Speaketh of the earth; that is, of matters comparatively plain, not requiring that a person, in order to give instruction, should have been in heaven, and have possessed a most intimate acquaintance with the designs of God. Compare v. 13. 33 He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true. 34 For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. 35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 36 He that believeth on the 33. Hath set to his seal; hath expressed his confirmed belief. By the use of a seal, important documents are confirmed. To seal a document is to confirm it, and to declare a conviction of its genuineness. || That God is true; that God is worthy of confidence, as a God of truth. He who becomes a sincere disciple of Jesus, expresses thereby his strong belief in God as a God of truth. 34. For, &c. Because the Messiah gives truly divine instruction. The words of God; the instructions which he has received from God. Compare 5: 19, 20. 8: 28. By measure; to a limited extent. The prophets were considered as enjoying divine influence in various degrees; to them it was dealt out, so to speak, by measure. Not so with the Messiah. In a perfectly full manner, without any limitation, was he qualified to make known the will of God. His instructions then are, peculiarly, the instructions of God; and whoever receives him expresses thereby his confidence in God. 35. Given all things into his hand; hath invested him with all authority and power as Lord of the new dispensation. See Matt. 11: 27. Eph. 36. Compare v. 18. See life; enjoy everlasting life, the bliss of heav en. 32. What he hath seen, &c. Compare v. 11. No man receiveth his testimony; that is, comparatively1: 22. speaking, taking into view the whole nation. In this remark of John, there might also have been an allusion to what had been said in v. 26-" All men come to him." While some were ready to complain that so many repaired to Jesus, John thought there was occasion to lament that only so few received his instructions. REMARKS. 1. A correct view of God as the sovereign disposer, tends to make us contented with our lot. v. 27. 2. We best consult for our real WE CHAPTER IV. THEN therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, usefulness and our real dignity, by not arrogating to ourselves what does not pertain to us, but by cheerfully and faithfully performing what is manifestly our appropriate duty. vs. 28-30. 3. Humility is essential to real worth of character. v. 30. Compare Matt. 11: 11. 4. The truths of the gospel possess divine authority. vs. 31-35. 5. Dreadful are the consequences of slighting the truths of the gospelglorious the consequences of receiving and obeying them. v. 36. CHAPTER IV. 2. But his disciples. That is, his disciples baptized by his authority. 3. He left Judea. The Pharisees had begun to show their ill-will. Jesus therefore retired from Judea to a part of the land where their influence was not so great, and where the prospect of promoting his cause was more encouraging. It would have been of no advantage for Jesus to come into collision unnecessarily with the Pharisees; and the time had not yet arrived for his delivering himself up to his adversaries. The success of John the Baptist, so much adapted to weaken the authority of the Pharisees, was sufficiently unpleasant to them; and now that Jesus, who more clearly and decidedly exposed their erroneous views and practices, was attracting still more attention than John, they would attempt, in a variety of ways, to counteract his teaching, if not to seek his death. 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He left Judea, 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. 4. Go through Samaria. Jesus was in Judea, and was proposing to go to Galilee. The map shows that Samaria lay between those two divisions, and of course the direct road from Judea to Galilee would conduct a person through Samaria. 5. Sychar. This was the same as the city Shechem (Gen. 33: 18. Josh. 20: 7), called, in Acts 7: 16, Sychem. It is supposed that the Jews, through dislike to the city, as being a distinguished place for the Samaritan worship, altered the name in their common conversation. The name Sychar, as altered from Sychem, may be traced to a Hebrew word sounded Sheker, which means falsehood, and was used in reference to idols. It may also be traced to a Hebrew word sounded Shikkor, which means drunken; and, in using this name, there might have been allusion to Is. 28: 1. The town lay in the valley between the mountains Ebal and Gerizim. See Judges 9:7. It afterwards bore the name Neapolis, and at the present day the name Naplous is given to a town on the same spot. || The parcel of ground that Jacob gave, &c. In Gen. 48: 22, we learn that Jacob made a special gift to Joseph of "a portion above his brethren.' It was a piece of land which Jacob took by force of arms from the Amorites. In Gen. 33: 19, we read that he bought a parcel of ground in the vicinity of Shechem. It was this, doubtless, which he gave to his son Joseph, and which is here spoken of. Probably, during some period of Jacob's ab 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. sence from that spot, the neighboring Amorites took possession of it, and Jacob was under the necessity of regaining it by force. 6. Jacob's well. There was a well there, which was called Jacob's; as, according to tradition, it was dug by Jacob. Thus. This word may refer to the circumstance that Jesus was fatigued, and that in this fatigued condition he sat down. It might also have been used in much the same way as our word so is employed, when we say of a person," He was fatigued, and so he sat down." On the well; more properly, at, or by, the well. The sixth hour; twelve o'clock. 7. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. It had long been the practice, in those parts of the Eastern world, for females to perform this labor. See Gen. 24: 13, 14. Ex. 2: 16. 9. Thou, being a Jew. The woman knew that Jesus was a Jew from his general appearance and from his manner of speaking. There had, at a very early period, been some peculiarities in the dialect of the people who occupied the central parts of the land. See Judges 12: 6. || For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. This remark is not a part of the woman's reply to Jesus; but was inserted by the evangelist, as accounting for the manner in which the woman spoke. In this remark, the expression no dealings is simply equivalent to the expression no friendly intercourse. The fact that the disciples had gone into a Samaritan town to purchase food, shows that Jews and Samaritans might have some dealings 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 Samari tans. with each other. But friendship they did not cultivate. Most of the Jews did indeed avoid all sorts of intercourse with the Samaritans. Some held, that it was unlawful to eat and drink a Samaritan's bread and wine, and that a Jew might as well eat swine's flesh. There were, however, among the Jews those who did not carry matters to such an extreme, and who regarded it as perfectly lawful to purchase from them necessary articles of food. Various causes conspired to make the Jews unfriendly to the Samaritans. The separation of the ten tribes from Rehoboam's government (1 Kings 12: 16, 20) may be regarded as the commencement of the hostility. For the Samaritans originated from the remnants of the ten tribes and the colonists who were introduced into their territory by the Assyrian conqueror. See 2 Kings 17: 6, 24, 29, 34, 41. This mixed community practised idolatry. The Jews were subsequently carried into captivity in Babylon; and after seventy years they returned, by the decree of Cyrus, with permission to build their temple in Jerusalem. See Ezra 1:1-4. The Samaritans proposed to unite with them in this work; but the Jews would not consent to the proposal. The Samaritans then endeavored to hinder the building (Ezra 4: 1-5). At a still later period, when the Jews entered into an engagement to divorce the heathen wives whom they had married, Manasseh, a brother of the high priest, having married the daughter of Sanballat, governor of Samaria, would not part from his wife (Neh. 13: 28); and when re 10 Jesus answered and said from whence then hast thou that living water? 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: quired either to put her away or to cease having any connection with the Jews' sacred rites, he preferred the latter, and went over to the Samaritans. His father-in-law, Sanballat, built for him a temple on mount Gerizim, in which he officiated. By various expedients other Jews were drawn over to the Samaritans. Jews, too, who had transgressed the laws, sought refuge among the Samaritans. Thus disputes arose between them, and particularly respecting the proper place of worshipping God. The Samaritans regarded as sacred only the five books of Moses; and they differed from the Jews in not receiving the traditions which the Jews regarded as authoritative. The Samaritans also indulged unfriendly feelings towards the Jews. See Luke 9: 53. Probably, however, the Samaritans were less bitter in their hostility. 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 and streams, in distinction from water deposited in a cistern. The woman understood the phrase in this latter sense. Thou hast nothing to draw with; thou hast no bucket. Whence then, &c. Perceiving that he had no vessel which he might let down into the well, she saw no means of his procuring water from this well, as the well was deep. This well was supplied by a running fountain, and was highly valued as furnishing water in abundance. She did not believe he could procure any elsewhere in all that region that would be equal to it. She therefore regarded his remark about living water, and that, too, professedly better than what the well contained, as scarcely worthy of confidence. 12. Art thou greater, &c. Supposing him to be a mere common man, and being proud of the early 10. The gift of God; the benefit ancestors of the nation (for both Sawhich God has put within thy reach, maritans and Jews cherished the most of conversing with the Messiah, and profound respect for the worthies of seeking blessings from him. || Liv- mentioned in the books of Moses), ing water. By this phrase Jesus she appealed to the well-known charmeant spiritual and immortal bless-acter of Jacob, as showing that a betings, such as are necessary for the welfare of the soul, as water is necessary for the well-being of the body. 11. The woman did not apprehend the meaning of Jesus, but supposed that he was speaking of natural water, of a superior quality, which he could give to her. In addition to her want of spiritual perception, as causing her to misapprehend his meaning, the term living water might signify, either a supply for one's spiritual wants, or running water, like that of fountains ter and more abundant spring of water could not be found in the region than what that well contained. 13, 14. Jesus answered, &c. Without directly correcting her mistake, and without formally comparing himself with Jacob, Jesus asserted, in metaphorical language, that the relief which the water of Jacob's well could give was only temporary, and was always followed by a return of thirst; but that the relief which his blessings would bestow would be permanent, enduring even to eternity; that the 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. 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. appearance he had gained her esteem. He wished her to know that he was the Messiah, and through her to benefit the people of the place. He soon excited in her mind the belief that he was a divinely commissioned teacher; and this belief he speedily directed to the point which he had in view. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Go call thy husband, and come hither. 20 Our fathers worshipped in 17 The woman answered this mountain; and ye say, that person who should receive his bless-ty of his conversation and general ings would have in him a source of everlasting happiness. A well of water; more strictly, a fountain, a spring of water. || Into everlusting life; not furnishing a temporary supply, but an ever-during supply, as supporting everlasting life. The water of an earthly fountain bubbles up for the support of the animal life, which yet must soon end; the water of the spiritual fountain bubbles up for the support of the soul's life, which will never end. The blessings of which Christ spoke, would furnish a satisfaction that would endure to eternity, leaving to the happy receiver no want unsupplied, and nothing to wish for, filling him with good, for time and eternity. 18. Is not thy husband. The connection in which this remark is made, shows with sufficient clearness that the woman was living in an unlawful manner. 19. That thou art a prophet. Men divinely commissioned as religious teachers, were regarded as possessing, by virtue of their office, knowledge superior to that of others. Hence the knowledge which Jesus had shown of her character elevated him in her esteem as one who was at least a prophet. 15. Sir, give me, &c. The woman did not yet apprehend our Lord's meaning. She was not accustomed to think on such subjects and had 20. In consequence of her now scarcely any elevation of mind. Per-esteeming him to be a prophet, she haps, too, some word in the last re- thought him capable of settling the mark of the Saviour, on which the question which was agitated between meaning of the whole depended, was the Jews and the Samaritans respectcapable of being variously understood, ing the proper place of worship. Our especially by a person of a grovelling fathers worshipped in this mountain. disposition. From the time of Manasseh's going over to the Samaritans (see on v. 9) and officiating in the temple which his father-in-law, Sanballat, had built for him, the Samaritans had become strongly attached to mount Gerizim as the place of worship. The temple on mount Gerizim was at a subsequent period, by compulsion of the 16. Jesus, perceiving that the woman did not apprehend his meaning, changed the topic of conversation. His remarks, however, would not be lost. Hereafter, she would recall them, and understand them by the aid of further light from heaven. He well knew her character, and by the gravi |