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25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one called Christ);[a] “whenever he[b] comes, he will tell[c] us everything.”[d] 26 Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”

The Disciples Return

27 Now at that very moment his disciples came back.[e] They were shocked[f] because he was speaking[g] with a woman. However, no one said, “What do you want?”[h] or “Why are you speaking with her?”

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Footnotes

  1. John 4:25 tn Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “the one who has been anointed.”sn The one called Christ. This is a parenthetical statement by the author. See the note on Christ in 1:20.
  2. John 4:25 tn Grk “that one.”
  3. John 4:25 tn Or “he will announce to us.”
  4. John 4:25 tn Grk “all things.”
  5. John 4:27 tn Or “his disciples returned”; Grk “came” (“back” is supplied in keeping with English usage). Because of the length of the Greek sentence it is better to divide here and begin a new English sentence, leaving the καί (kai) before ἐθαύμαζον (ethaumazon) untranslated.
  6. John 4:27 tn BDAG 444 s.v. θαυμάζω 1.a.γ has “be surprised that” followed by indirect discourse. The context calls for a slightly stronger wording.
  7. John 4:27 tn The ὅτι (hoti) could also be translated as declarative (“that he had been speaking with a woman”) but since this would probably require translating the imperfect verb as a past perfect (which is normal after a declarative ὅτι), it is preferable to take this ὅτι as causal.
  8. John 4:27 tn Grk “seek.” See John 4:23.sn The question “What do you want?” is John’s editorial comment (for no one in the text was asking it). The author is making a literary link with Jesus’ statement in v. 23: It is evident that, in spite of what the disciples may have been thinking, what Jesus was seeking is what the Father was seeking, that is to say, someone to worship him.

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ)(A) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”(B)

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27 Just then his disciples returned(C) and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

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