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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Yhn C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
Yhn 4 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51 V53
OET (OET-LV) The woman is_saying to_him:
I_have_known that the_chosen_one/messiah is_coming, who is being_called The_chosen_one/messiah, whenever that one may_come, he_will_be_declaring all things to_us.
OET (OET-RV) The woman said, “I’m aware that the messiah is coming—God’s chosen one. Whenever he appears, he’ll teach us everything.”
In this section Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman who had come to get water from a well. Jesus asked her for a drink of water. The woman was surprised that he spoke to her. Jesus was a Jew, and most Jewish people hated the Samaritans. But Jesus stayed and talked with the woman.
Jesus told the woman that he could give her living water, and he told her that he was the Messiah. The women went back to her town and brought many of the other Samaritan people to Jesus.
It is good to translate the section before giving it a title. Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus brought good news to the hated Samaritan people
The conversation at the well
The woman next asked Jesus about where people should worship God. The Samaritans said it was right to worship on Mount Gerizim, but the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem. Jesus said that where people worship is not important. It is how they worship that is important.
Jesus also said that the Samaritans really did not know whom they worshiped. The Jewish people knew whom they worshiped, and it was through them that all people will be saved. The woman mentioned the Messiah or Chosen Savior who was coming. Jesus told her that he was the Messiah. This is a very important part of the story.
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming.
¶ The woman replied, “I know that the Messiah is coming.” (She was referring to the one called Christ, anointed one.)
¶ “I have heard that the Messiah will come soon,” answered the woman. (He is the Christ, the anointed/chosen one.)
Messiah: The word Messiah is a Hebrew title that means “Anointed One.” The Jews used this title to refer to the King and Savior whom God had appointed and promised to send. See Christ, Messiah in KBT.
(called Christ): It is not clear in the Greek text who explains the meaning of Messiah. There are two possibilities:
John the author is the one who explains that the Messiah is called Christ. For example:
“I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will tell us everything.” (Messiah is the one called Christ.) (GW)
(BSB, NET, NIV, NCV, REB, NRSV, GW)
The woman is the one who explains that the Messiah is called Christ. For example:
“I know that the Messiah will come. He is the one we call Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” (CEV)
(ESV, NASB, CEV, NLT, RSV, NJB)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) as do many scholars. The woman probably did not think that she needed to explain the word “Messiah” to a Jew.
Christ: Here the word Christ is used as a title. The title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” and the two words have the same meaning, “anointed one.” See “Messiah” in 1:41b and the note there. See also Christ, Messiah in KBT.
When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”
When he comes, he will inform/tell us(excl) about everything.”
“After he arrives, he will make everything about God known to us(excl).”
When He comes: This clause refers to the coming of the Messiah. The woman did not know that the Messiah had already come, and that Jesus was in fact the Messiah. In some languages it may be necessary to make it explicit that He refers to the Messiah. For example:
When the Messiah comes (NCV)
He will explain everything: The Greek word that the BSB translates as explain means “to inform,” “to announce,” or “to tell.” Some English translations translate this verb as “proclaim” (NRSV). The word may imply the idea of explain, but it is recommended that you translate the regular meaning of the word. For example:
he will tell us everything (NET)
He will declare all things to us (NASB)
he will make everything known to us
Jesus the Messiah had already told the people many things. However, the woman did not know that Jesus was the Messiah. So you should use the future tense, as she did.
to us: The pronoun us is exclusive here and refers to the Samaritans in general. In some languages you may need to make that explicit. For example:
When the Messiah comes, he will proclaim/explain everything to us(excl) Samaritans.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / pastforfuture
λέγει
˓is˒_saying
Here John uses the present tense in past narration in order to call attention to a development in the story.
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστός
who_‹is› ˓being˒_called ˓the˒_Anointed|Christ
Christ is the Greek translation of Messiah. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [the one called Christ in the Greek language]
Note 3 topic: writing-pronouns
ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἐκεῖνος
whenever ˓may˒_come that_‹one›
Here, he and that one refer to the Messiah. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [When the Messiah may come, the Messiah]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐκεῖνος, ἀναγγελεῖ ἡμῖν ἅπαντα
that_‹one› ˱he˲_˓will_be˒_declaring ˱to˲_us all_‹things›
The words declare everything imply all that the people need to know. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [he will tell us all that we need to know]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive
ἡμῖν
˱to˲_us
When the woman said “us,” she was including the people to whom she was speaking, so this would be inclusive. Your language may require you to mark this form.
4:1-42 At a historic well in Samaria, Jesus offered himself as living water. Jesus engaged and confronted people with the revelation of God, and they either followed or fell away.
• The Samaritan woman contrasted with Nicodemus at every turn: a woman (not a man), a Samaritan (not a Jew), a sinner (not righteous), and an outcast (not one of Israel’s rabbis). While Nicodemus fell silent and never responded to Jesus’ challenges (3:1-21), this woman acknowledged Jesus as Lord, remained in the light, and exhibited signs of discipleship (see 1:35-51).
OET (OET-LV) The woman is_saying to_him:
I_have_known that the_chosen_one/messiah is_coming, who is being_called The_chosen_one/messiah, whenever that one may_come, he_will_be_declaring all things to_us.
OET (OET-RV) The woman said, “I’m aware that the messiah is coming—God’s chosen one. Whenever he appears, he’ll teach us everything.”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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