John 4:20-23

4:20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, ¹  and you people ²  say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” ³  4:21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, ⁴  a time ⁵  is coming when you will worship ⁶  the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 4:22 You people ⁷  worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. ⁸  4:23 But a time ⁹  is coming – and now is here ¹⁰  – when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks ¹¹  such people to be ¹²  his worshipers. ¹³ 

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¹ sn This mountain refers to Mount Gerizim, where the Samaritan shrine was located.

² tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate that the Greek verb translated “say” is second person plural and thus refers to more than Jesus alone.

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ sn Woman was a polite form of address (see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή 1), similar to “Madam” or “Ma’am” used in English in different regions.

⁵ tn Grk “an hour.”

⁶ tn The verb is plural.

⁷ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate that the Greek verb translated “worship” is second person plural and thus refers to more than the woman alone.

⁸ tn Or “from the Judeans.” See the note on “Jew” in v. 9.

⁹ tn Grk “an hour.”

¹⁰ tn “Here” is not in the Greek text but is supplied to conform to contemporary English idiom.

¹¹ sn See also John 4:27.

¹² tn Or “as.” The object-complement construction implies either “as” or “to be.”

¹³ tn This is a double accusative construction of object and complement with τοιούτους (toioutous) as the object and the participle προσκυνοῦντας (proskunounta") as the complement.

sn The Father wants such people as his worshipers. Note how the woman has been concerned about where people ought to worship, while Jesus is concerned about who people ought to worship.