John 4:17

“I have no husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said to her, “You are correct to say that you have no husband.

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

▾

KJV

The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

ASV

The woman answered and said unto him, I have no husband. Jesus saith unto her, Thou saidst well, I have no husband:

YLT

the woman answered and said, `I have not a husband.' Jesus saith to her, `Well didst thou say--A husband I have not;

DBT

The woman answered and said, I have not a husband. Jesus says to her, Thou hast well said, I have not a husband;

⋯

Commentary voices

loading…

Voices5

On this verse

To whom is it not now evident that the Saviour was not ignorant that she was bereft of any rightful husband and that He made the enquiry about her husband who was not, a plea for making known hidden things? For He was, He was thus with difficulty able to help her no longer marvelling at Him as one of us, but as now above man, by reason of His wondrous knowledge of her circumstances.

Cyril of Alexandria· Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 2, 444patristic

Related commentary

The woman answered and said, I have no husband,.... Which was a truth she would not have spoke at another time and place, or to any of her neighbours; but Christ being a stranger, and no odium incurring upon her by it; and this serving a purpose to excuse her going to call him, she declares the truth of the matter: Jesus said unto her, thou hast well said, I have no husband; this is the truth, it is really fact, and is the true state of the case, between thee and him, who goes for thy husband.

John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed

I have no husband - This was said, evidently, to evade the subject. Perhaps she feared that if she came there with the man that she lived with, the truth might be exposed. It is not improbable that by this time she began to suspect that Jesus was a prophet. Hast well said - Hast said the truth.

Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)evangelical

Conversation With a Samaritan Woman But he had to pass through Samaria. Now he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat right down beside the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me some water to drink." (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies.)

J.C. Ryle· Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition), 1869Reformed Evangelical / Low-Church Anglican / Calvinist / 19th-c. Protestant Reformation heir

In John 4, Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman is itself a Purim-style reversal the rejected becomes chosen, the overlooked becomes entrusted, and the outsider becomes the first to hear a clear declaration of Messiah.

Jane Hamon· PURIM – A TIME FOR REVERSALS!!, 2026Charismatic / Apostolic-Prophetic / Christian International / Vision Church / Prophetic-dreams stream

Voices on this verse

loading…

Rabbinic commentary

How the Hebraic tradition has read this verse: and Marcus Brown’s own reading of it.

Cross-references

2 linked verses

The verses this one reaches2

John 4:29
“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
Romans 11:20
That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.

Cross-references

loading…

The quotation web

loading…

Original language

loading…

Where the connections lead

loading…

Continue: John 4 →