Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 4:12
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
12. Art thou greater ] ‘Thou’ is very emphatic; Surely Thou art not greater. Comp. Joh 8:53. The loquacity of the woman as contrasted with the sententiousness of Nicodemus is very natural, while on the other hand she shews a similar perverseness in misunderstanding spiritual metaphors.
our father Jacob ] The Samaritans claimed to be descended from Joseph; with how much justice is a question very much debated. Some maintain that they were of purely heathen origin, although they were driven by calamity to unite the worship of Jehovah with their own idolatries: and this view seems to be in strict accordance with 2Ki 17:23-41. Renegade Jews took refuge among them from time to time; but such immigrants would not affect the texture of the nation more than the French refugees among ourselves. Others hold that the Samaritans were from the first a mongrel nation, a mixture of heathen colonists with Jewish inhabitants, left behind by Shalmaneser. But there is nothing to shew that he did leave any behind (2Ki 18:11); Josephus says ( Ant. ix. xiv. 1) that ‘he transplanted all the people.’ When the Samaritans asked Alexander the Great to excuse them from tribute in the Sabbatical year, because as true sons of Joseph they did not till their land in the seventh year, he pronounced their claim an imposture, and destroyed Samaria. Our Lord calls a Samaritan a ‘stranger’ (Luk 17:18), literally ‘one of a different race.’
which gave us the well ] This has no foundation in Scripture, but no doubt was a Samaritan tradition. She means, the well was good enough for him, and is good enough for us; hast Thou a better?
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Art thou greater? – Art thou wiser, or better able to find water, than Jacob was? It seems that she supposed that he meant that he could direct her to some living spring, or to some better well in that region, and that this implied more knowledge or skill than Jacob had. To find water and to furnish a good well was doubtless considered a matter of signal skill and success. It was a subject of great importance in that region. This shows how ready sinners are to misunderstand the words of Christ, and to pervert the doctrines of religion. If she had had any proper anxiety about her soul, she would at least have suspected that he meant to direct her thoughts to spiritual objects.
Our father Jacob – The Samaritans were composed partly of the remnant of the ten tribes, and partly of people sent from Chaldea; still, they considered themselves descendants of Jacob.
Which gave us – This was doubtless the tradition, though there is no evidence that it was true.
And drank thereof … – This was added in commendation of the water of the well. A well from which Jacob, and his sons, and cattle had drank must be pure, and wholesome, and honored, and quite as valuable as any that Jesus could furnish. People like to commend that which their ancestors used as superior to anything else. The world over, people love to speak of that which their ancestors have done, and boast of titles and honors that have been handed down from them, even if it is nothing better than existed here – because Jacobs cattle had drunk of the water.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. Our father Jacob] The ancient Samaritans were undoubtedly the descendants of Jacob; for they were the ten tribes that revolted in the reign of Rehoboam: but those in our Lord’s time were not genuine Israelites, but a corrupted race, sprung from a mixture of different nations, sent thither by Salmanezer, king of the Assyrians. See 2Kg 17:24.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
She asks him if he judged himself wiser than Jacob, whom she calleth their father? It is often observed, that the Samaritans would ordinarily claim kindred with the Jews when the Jews were in prosperity; but in their adversity constantly disowned any relation to them. There were some Jews, (Ephraimites especially), mixed with a far greater number of Assyrians, which made up this body of people called the Samaritans. Now, saith the woman, Jacob, who was the father of Joseph, from whom we claim, was a wise man, and he could find no better water here abouts for himself and family than that of this well; art thou wiser than he?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. Art thou greater, c.alreadyperceiving in this Stranger a claim to some mysterious greatness.
our father Jacobforwhen it went well with the Jews, they claimed kindred with them, asbeing descended from Joseph but when misfortunes befell the Jews,they disowned all connection with them [JOSEPHUS,Antiquities, 9.14,3].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Art thou greater than our father Jacob,…. A person of greater worth and character than he, who was content to drink of this water; or wiser and more knowing than he, who could find out no better fountain of water in all these parts? she calls Jacob the father of them, according to the common notion and boasting of these people, when it served their turn; otherwise they were not the descendants of Jacob; for after the ten tribes were carried away captive by the king of Assyria, he placed in their room, in the cities of Samaria, men from Babylon, Cuthah Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, Heathenish and idolatrous people; see 2Ki 17:24. And from these, the then Samaritans sprung; only upon Sanballat’s building a temple on Mount Gerizzim, for Manasseh his son-in-law, when put away from the priesthood by the Jews, for his marriage of his daughter, several wicked persons of the like sort, came out of Judea, and joined themselves to the Samaritans: and such a mixed medley of people were they at this time, though they boasted of Jacob as their father, as this woman did; and so to this day, they draw their genealogy from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and particularly call Joseph their father, and say, from whence are we, but from the tribe of Joseph the just, from Ephraim w? as they formerly did x;
“R. Meir saw a Samaritan, he said to him, from whence comest thou? (that is, from what family;) he answered, from the (tribe) of Joseph.”
Which gave us the well; Jacob gave it indeed to Joseph and his posterity, along with the parcel of ground in which it was; see Joh 4:5; but not to this mixed company:
and drank thereof himself and his children, and his cattle; which shows both the goodness and plenty of the water: though our Lord had spoken of living water, this woman understood him of no other water, but spring water; called living water, from its motion, because it is continually springing up, bubbling, and ever running: so carnal persons, when they hear of spiritual things under earthly metaphors, think of nothing but carnal things; as Nicodemus, when Christ talked of being born again; and the Jews at Capernaum, when he discoursed concerning eating his flesh, and drinking his blood; for spiritual things are neither known nor received by the natural man.
w Epist. Samar. ad Scaliger. in Antiqu. Eccl. Oriental. p. 123, 124, 126. x Bereshit Rabba, sect. 94. fol. 82. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Art thou ( ). Expecting a negative answer.
Greater than our father Jacob ( ). Ablative case after the comparative adjective (positive ). The Samaritans claimed descent from Jacob through Joseph (tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh).
Cattle (). Old word from , to nourish, nursling, child, flock, cattle. Only here in N.T.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Art thou greater [ ] . The interrogative particle indicates that a negative answer is expected : Surely thou art not. The su, thou, first in the sentence, is emphatic, and possibly with a shade of contempt.
Our father Jacob. The Samaritans claimed descent from Joseph, as representing the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
Children [] . Rev., correctly, sons.
Cattle [] . Only here in the New Testament. From [] to nourish. A general term for whatever is fed or nursed. When used of animals – mostly of tame ones – cattle, sheep, etc. It is applied to children, fowls, insects, and fish, also to domestic slaves, which, according to some, is the meaning here; but, as Meyer justly remarks, “there was no need specially to name the servants; the mention of the herds completes the picture of their nomadic progenitor.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Art thou greater than our father Jacob,” (me su meizon ei tou patros hemon lakob) “Are you greater than Jacob our father;- The Samaritans, like the Moslems, as well as the Jews, claimed both Jacob and Abraham as their father. This Samaritan woman thus claims a kinship with Jesus.
2) “Which gave us the well,” (hos edoken hemin to phrear) “Who gave the well to us,” upon the parcel of ground that he also set aside for a burial place of Joseph’s bones, Gen 33:19; Gen 48:22; Jos 24:32.
3) “And drank thereof himself,” (kai autos eks autou epien) “And drank out of or from it himself,” was nourished from its waters, as well as his domestics.
4) “And his children, and his cattle?” (kai hoi huioi autou kai ta thremmata autou) “And his sons and his cattle?” who had to use a pail to draw out the water. Are you a greater one than any or all of them? This is the question. He was not only greater than, the temple, Lord of the sabbath, before Abraham, greater than Solomon, Moses, and Jonah, but also greater than Jacob, as a provider of a well of water, a fountain of water of life, that never shall run dry, Joh 4:14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
12. Art thou greater than our father Jacob? She proceeds to charge him with arrogance in exalting himself above the holy patriarch Jacob. “ Jacob, ” she says, “was satisfied with this well for his own use and that of his whole family: and hast thou a more excellent water?” How faulty this comparison is, appears plainly enough from this consideration, that she compares the servant to the master, and a dead man to the living God; and yet how many in the present day fall into this very error? The more cautious ought we to be not to extol the persons of men so as to obscure the glory of God. We ought, indeed, to acknowledge with reverence the gifts of God, wherever they appear. It is, therefore, proper that we should honor men who are eminent in piety, or endued with other uncommon gifts; but it ought to be in such a manner that God may always remain eminent above all — that Christ, with his Gospel, may shine illustriously, for to him all the splendor of the world must yield.
It ought also to be observed that the Samaritans falsely boasted of being descended from the holy Fathers. In like manner do the Papists, though they are a bastard seed, arrogantly boast of the Fathers, and despise the true children of God. Although the Samaritans had been descended from Jacob according to the flesh, yet, as they were altogether degenerated and estranged from true godliness, this boasting would have been ridiculous. But now that they are Cutheans by descent, (2Kg 17:24,) or at least collected out of the profane Gentiles, they still do not fail to make false pretensions to the name of the holy Patriarch. But this is of no avail to them; and such must be the case with all who wickedly exult in the light of men, so as to deprive themselves of the light of God, and who have nothing in common with the holy Fathers, whose name they have abused.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Art thou greater . . .?Again, the pronoun is the emphatic word, Thou surely art not greater. The well used to satisfy the wants of the patriarch, and his household, and his flocks, and has come down from him to us. It is surely sufficient for all our wants. This claim of Jacob as their father was through Ephraim and Joseph, and the well was part of the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his .son Joseph (Joh. 4:5). There was abundance of water near to it, but a patriarchal household could not depend for a necessity of life upon neighbours who may be hostile, and Jacob had dug this well in his own purchased plot. It was sacred, then, as the very spot where their asserted ancestor had digged his well and built his altar. There was an unbroken continuity in the history of the place, and it was prized the more because it was not so in the history of the people.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Greater than Jacob For Jacob could furnish his water only by digging a well, and no better water could he furnish for self and household.
Our father Jacob She ostentatiously claims to be in the true line of descent from the great father.
“Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?”
She was a little in awe and certainly felt that this man was something special. But surely not that special? So she asked Him whether He was claiming to be even greater than Jacob who first gave them the well. Jacob had had to dig the well to find water. Could this man obtain water in any other way? In both cases she uses ‘phrear’ for well, which means any well, not necessarily one fed by a living spring. The reader would pick up the contrast as representing the attitude of mind, prosaic rather than inspirational.
‘Our father Jacob, who gave us the well.’ The Samaritans too traced their ancestry back to Jacob and were proud of the fact. They also saw the well as given to them by Jacob. We can regard it as certain that this therefore resulted in a kind of veneration of the well. It was Jacob’s gift to them and spoke of their religious past. This gift contrasts with the ‘gift of God’ in Joh 4:10. Jesus is agreeing that He is greater than Jacob and is offering to turn the old into the new, to as it were turn water into wine, to replace all that they had looked to with something new, that is with Himself, a direct gift from God.
Joh 4:12. Art thou greater than our Father Jacob, “Are you a person of greater power, or more in favour with God, than our common father Jacob, that you can procure water for yourself by supernatural means?He was obliged to dig this well for the supply of himself and his family; can you create water?”The mention of Jacob as a progenitor was highly proper in an address to a Jew; who might be supposed to reverence that patriarch in the highest manner, as well as the Samaritans, and could never be suspected guilty of the least disrespect to so venerable a na
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
Ver. 12. Our father Jacob ] Josephus tells us that these Samaritans, while the Jews prospered, would needs be their dear cousins; but when they were in adversity (as under Antiochus) they would utterly disown and disavow them. They wrote to Antiochus, because he tormented the Jews, to excuse themselves as none such; and they styled Antiochus, the mighty God. Oh, baseness!
Art thou, &c., or Surely Thou art not (App-105).
thereof = out of (Greek. ek. App-104.) it.
and. Figure of speech Polysyndeton. App-6.
children = sons. App-108.
cattle. Greek. Plural of thremma. Occurs only here.
Joh 4:12. , greater) as being one, who demandest, or can make good greater things. Comp. ch. Joh 8:53 Art Thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? Whom makest Thou Thyself?- , than our Father Jacob) So the Samaritans had persuaded themselves: but falsely, Mat 10:5, Into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.-, Jacob) who was most thoroughly skilled in the things of pastoral life and the procuring of water, and was most successful in the concerns of his household [in managing his property].-, to us) in the person of Joseph; Joh 4:5, the parcel of ground, that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. She speaks thus on that false hypothesis [prevailing among the Samaritans] as to Jacob being their father.-, he drank) The patriarchs used water rather than wine. The woman means this: The patriarch himself was content with this water, nor did he ask for better water.- , and his cattle) oxen and sheep. Of course the men-servants and maid-servants, who generally feed the cattle, also drank of it. The well therefore was abundantly supplied and of ancient date.
Joh 4:12
Joh 4:12
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle?-She gives the tradition concerning Jacobs digging and using and giving the well to his descendants. How much of this is real, how much tradition we can never tell, as the traditions never grow less as time passes concerning such things. They had come to reverence Jacob as a saint, second only to Abraham as the father of the Israelites. She felt it was presumptuous for any one to promise more in the way of water than that found in Jacobs well, which had slaked the thirst of their fathers for nearly two thousand years.
Joh 8:53, Isa 53:2, Isa 53:3, Mat 12:42, Heb 3:3
Reciprocal: Mat 12:41 – behold Joh 3:4 – How Rev 22:14 – may have
2
Art thou greater. The last word is from MEGAS, which has a wide range of meaning. As it is used in this passage it means, “stronger or more able or better equipped.” Jacob was certainly as well prepared as anyone need be to get water from this well, for he used it to supply his family and also his cattle. Yet even he had to use some means such as a cord to obtain the water. Father is from PATER, and Thayer’s first definition is, “Generator or male ancestor,” and it was in this sense the woman used the word, for the Samaritans claimed to have blood relation with the Jewish race. This was true to a limited extent, which may be learned from 2Ki 17:24-33, which is commented upon in volume 2 of the Old Testament Commentary:
Joh 4:12. Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle? It was from Joseph that the Samaritans were wont to claim descent; all the district around belongs! to his children. But Jacob here receives special mention as the giver of the well. The well was his; he drank of it himself. Again the thought is forced upon us, that the Samaritan woman had sought this well partly on account of its connection with the fathers of her people. The feeling may have been tinged with superstition, but it was honourable in itself. The first part of her answer (Joh 4:11) showed how limited the range of the womans thoughts still was: in the words of this verse we see her dawning conviction of the Strangers greatness, and the impression made upon her by His manner and His words.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament