This translation is from the New Revised Standard Version. Additional translations can be accessed here.
Information about the meaning the original Greek of what seem to be key words is provided in blue.
Portions highlighted in yellow tell us something about God’s nature or our relationship to Him. They are also collected at the end of this post.
Portions ingreen text tell us about something God wants us to do. They are also collected at the end of this post.
Links to collections of other scriptures addressing principles similar to those set out in this scripture are provided at the end of this post.
John 4:1-42
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” 2 —although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized— 3 he left Judea and started back to Galilee. 4 But he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
gift = δωρεά= dōrea Blue Letter Bible denotes “free gift,” stressing its gratuitous character; a gratuity; freely, for naught, gratis, gratuitously; without just cause, unnecessarily; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon gift, present, esp. bounty; a free gift, freely
asked = αἰτέω= aiteō Blue Letter Bible to ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require; to ask for oneself, request for oneself; suggests the attitude of a suppliant, the petition of one who is lesser in position than he to whom the petition is made;Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon Beg; demand; claim; Richard Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament submissive and suppliant, indeed the constant word for the seeking of the inferior from the superior
given = δίδωμι = didōmi Blue Letter Bible bestow, the implied idea being that of giving freely; grant; offer; yield, produce; to supply, furnish, necessary things; to furnish, endue; to cause, profuse, give forth from one's self; minister; to give one to someone to care for his interests; give up for; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicongive freely, to be ready to give, offer; provide well for
living = ζάω = zaō Blue Letter Bibleto live, be alive;to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead); to enjoy real life; to be in full vigour; active, powerful, efficacious; quick; living and thriving; to be no longer dead, to recover life, be restored to life; life in its absolute fullness; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-EnglishLexicon living at ease; to be in full life and strength, to be fresh, be strong
11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”
13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
drinks = πίνω = pinō Blue Letter Bibleto receive into the soul what serves to refresh strengthen, nourish it; use a thing for drink; to suck in, absorb, imbibe
thirsty = διψάω = dipsaō Blue Letter Bible suffer from thirst; painfully feel their want of, and eagerly long for;Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon to be thirsty, parched; thirst after a thing
give—see “given” above
gushing = ἅλλομαι = hallomai Blue Letter Bible to leap; to spring up, gush up; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexiconspring; leap upon or against or over; throb
life = ζωή= zōē Blue Letter Bible the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate;of the absolute fulness of life, both essential and ethical; life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.”
17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
worship = προσκυνέω = proskyneō Blue Letter Bible to make obeisance, do reverence to; an act of homage or reverence; to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence; to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence; kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication; homage shown to men and beings of superior rank: absolutely; do reverence to, adore; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon make obeisance to; do reverence to; prostrating oneself before kings and superiors
spirit = πνεῦμα = pneuma Blue Letter Bible breath, wind; the vital principal by which the body is animated; a simple essence, devoid of all or at least all grosser matter, and possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding, and acting;the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son; never referred to as a depersonalised force; God's power and agency; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon blast, wind; breeze or influence; breathed air, breath; breath of life; divine inspiration
truth = ἀλήθεια = aletheia Blue Letter Bible the reality lying at the basis of an appearance; the manifested, veritable essence of a matter; that candour of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit; sincerity of mind and integrity of character, or a mode of life in harmony with divine truth; veracity;Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon the opposite of lie or mere appearance; reality
seek = ζητέω = zeteo Blue Letter Bibleto seek after, endeavor; inquire for; require, demand; strive after, endeavor, to desire; metaphorically, to “seek” by thinking, to “seek” how to do something; strive after, desire; to seek (i. e. in order to find out) by thinking, meditating, reasoning; to inquire into; to seek in order to find; to crave, demand something from someone; aim at;Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexiconinquire for; search after, search out; inquire into, investigate, examine; require, demand; desire; feel the want of
25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
speaking = λαλέω =laleō Blue Letter Bible to say, utter, talk; to utter a voice or emit a sound; to utter articulate sounds; to use words in order to declare one's mind and disclose one's thoughts; preach; tell; promulgate; converse; commanding;Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon talk, chat; speak
27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36 The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
do = ποιέω = poieō Blue Letter Bibleto do, make; used of spending a time or tarrying, in a place; to acquire, to provide a thing for one's self; to produce, bear, shoot forth; to carry out, to execute; to celebrate, keep; to perform; abide; continue; perform; to labor, to do work; to be operative, exercise activity; accomplish Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon make, produce; create, bring into existence; bring about, cause;make, render;do; practice;to be doing, act; be efficacious
will = θέλημα = thelēma Blue Letter Bible that which is willed; what one wishes or has determined shall be done; commands, precepts; choice, inclination, desire, pleasure; determination; choice; purpose
sent = πέμπω = pempō Blue Letter Bible to bid a thing to be carried to one; to send (thrust or insert) a thing into another; to dispatch
complete = τελειόω = teleioō Blue Letter Bible to bring to an end, in the sense of completing or perfecting; fulfill; to make perfect, complete; to carry through completely, to accomplish, finish, bring to an end; to accomplish; consummate; add what is yet lacking in order to render a thing full; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon make perfect, complete; accomplish; to be fulfilled; bring to perfection or consummation; bringfruit to maturity, come to maturity
work = ἔργον = ergon Blue Letter Bible work, employment, task; business, employment, that which any one is occupied; that which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking; to work; toil (as an effort or occupation); any product whatever, anything accomplished by hand, art, industry, mind; a benefaction; what harmonizes with the order of society, a good deed, noble action; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon works of industry; tillage, tilled lands; occupations; deed, action; that which is wrought or made, work; result of work, profit or interest; business; hard work, difficult to do
39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
believed = πιστεύω = pisteuō Blue Letter Bible to be persuaded of, and hence, to place confidence in, to trust, signifies, in this sense of the word, reliance upon, not mere credence; to entrust, commit to; to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in; the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of soul; credit; to have a faith directed unto, believing or in faith to give oneself up to; to commit oneself trustfully;Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicontrust, put faith in, rely on; comply; feel confident that a thing is
asked =ἐρωτάω = erōtaō Blue Letter Bible to beseech; to make request; pray; to request, entreat, beg, beseech; suggests that the petitioner is on a footing of equality or familiarity with the person whom he requests
What this scripture tells us about God/His ways:
the gift of God
he would have given you living water
those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty
The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth
Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work”
we know that this is truly the Savior of the world
What this scripture tells us to do:
asked him
worship the Father in spirit and truth
worship in spirit and truth
do the will of him who sent me
complete his work
ask[] him to stay
Scriptures addressing similar principles are collected at Wisdom Principles—God Loves and Calls Us to Him, In Spite of our Sin and Don't Discriminate Against Foreigners
