Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 4:30
Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
30. went out and came ] Literally, went out and were coming. The change of tense from aorist to imperfect gives vividness. We are to see them coming along across the fields as we listen to the conversation that follows, 31 38.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They went out of the city – The men of the city left it and went to Jesus, to hear and examine for themselves.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 30. They went out of the city] Such effect had the simple testimony of the woman on their minds.
And came unto him.] Or, Were coming to him; for they did not reach him immediately; all that discourse between him and his disciples, mentioned Joh 4:31-39, inclusive, having taken place before the people of Sychar got to the well. See Joh 4:40.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Sitting still at the well, they (many of them at least) did not contemn the news as the relation of a woman, but went (possibly but out of curiosity) to see and to hear this man.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
30. Then they went out, &c.Howdifferent from the Jews! and richly was their openness to convictionrewarded.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then they went out of the city,…. “The men”, as the Syriac version expresses it; the inhabitants of Sychar left their business, and came out of the city:
and came unto him; to Christ, to see him, and converse with him, that they might know who he was: for though the woman had been a woman of ill fame, yet such was the account that she gave of Christ, and such power went along with her words, that what with the strangeness of the relation, and the curiosity with which they were led, and chiefly through the efficacy of divine grace, at least in many of them, they were moved to regard what she said, and to follow her directions and solicitations.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They went out (). Second aorist (effective) indicative of , at once and in a rush.
And were coming to him ( ). Imperfect middle, graphically picturing the long procession as they approached Jesus.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Then. Omit.
Went out – came unto Him [ – ] . Went out is the aorist tense, denoting the coming forth from the city as a single act at a point of time. Came is the imperfect, denoting action in progress. The observance of the distinction makes the narrative more graphic. They were coming. Unto should be toward [] . The imperfect also is required by the following words : “In the mean while” (while the woman was still absent and the Samaritans were coming toward Him) “the disciples were praying” Him to eat. This last imperfect is overlooked by the Rev..
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Then they went out of the city,” (ekselthon ek tes poleos) “They (then) went out of and away from the city,” the city of Sychar where both they and the once fallen Samaritan woman resided. Joh 4:5.
2) “And came unto him.” (kai erchonto pros auton) “And come to where he was, of their own will and accord,” upon the testimony of the woman. They chose to consider what this changed, glowing new convert had told them. She was a prime example of God’s blessing the testimony of converts who will obediently go and tell others what the Savior has done for them and is willing to do for others, for you; Jesus told her to go and bring her husband: She did more, Joh 4:16; Joh 4:28-29; Ecc 11:1-6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(30) Came unto him.Literally, were coming unto Him. They were still on the way when the conversation in Joh. 4:31-38 took place. The general expectation of the Messiah, and the receptive spirit of the Samaritans, is shown in her alacrity to go and tell the men of the place, and in their desire at once to see Him for themselves. Many, indeed, were convinced by her statement only (Joh. 4:39-40).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
30. They went out of the city There must have been power in the woman’s words and influence in her character, to send these men on their mission to this Messias.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘They went out of the town and were coming to him.’
Her hearers were so intrigued that they left the town and returned with her. ‘They were coming to Him.’ Again we have a Johannine double meaning. They were coming to see the man she spoke of but they were also coming to Him as the One Who had brought life for the world.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
Ver. 30. Then they went out ] More to see the news than else; as Moses’ curiosity led him nearer the bush, wherehence he was called. It is good to come to the ordinances, though but for novelty; absence is without hope. What a deal lost Thomas by being out of the way but once.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
30. ] were coming , had not arrived, when what follows happened.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 4:30 . . The men, moved by the woman’s question, left the city and were coming to Jesus.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Then. All the texts omit.
out of. Greek. ek. App-104.
came = were coming.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
30.] -were coming,-had not arrived, when what follows happened.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 4:30. , they went out) They readily assented to the woman, or [some perhaps] even left their dinner. Others might have thought it beneath them, so readily to go forth from their home and their city gate. [And they would have had many objections which, not without show of reason, they might have started; Was it to be thought likely, that precisely at that point of time, and in that very place, the Messiah, so long expected, has appeared to such a woman?-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 4:30
Joh 4:30
They went out of the city, and were coming to him.-This aroused enough interest or curiosity to cause the people to go out and see and talk with this newly-found prophet. [Her success was immediate. I take it they were not skeptical people, but were waiting for the Deliverer.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Isa 60:8, Mat 2:1-3, Mat 8:11, Mat 8:12, Mat 11:20-24, Mat 12:40-42, Mat 20:16, Luk 17:16-18, Act 8:5-8, Act 10:33, Act 13:42, Act 28:28, Rom 5:20
Reciprocal: Mar 8:2 – and have Joh 4:35 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0
The people of the city accepted the invitation of the woman to meet the man who had told her so much. The result of the meeting will be seen later.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 4:30. They went out of the city, and were on their way unto him. This verse is here introduced partly to show the immediate success of the womans message (no slight evidence of the preparedness of Samaria for the gospel), and partly to make plain the words of Jesus in a later verse (Joh 4:35).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Ver. 30. They went out of the city, and were coming towards him.
The Samaritans, gathered by her, arrive in large numbers. The imperfect, they were coming, contrasted with the aorist, they went out, forms a picture; we see them hastening across the fields which separate Sychar from Jacob’s well. This historical detail gives the key to Jesus’ words, which are to follow. The therefore must be rejected from the text; the attention is wholly turned to thethey were coming, which follows.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
The men, probably the community leaders, proceeded out to the well to investigate Jesus’ identity. Some of them may have wanted the secrets of this woman’s past, perhaps secrets involving themselves, to remain buried.