Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, cyan:dative/indirect object, magenta:vocative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULTThe woman says to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.
USTThe woman said to Jesus, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
BSB“Sir,” the woman said “I see that You are a prophet.
Wymth"Sir," replied the woman, "I see that you are a Prophet.
ASVThe woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
DRAThe woman saith to him: Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
YLTThe woman saith to him, 'Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet;
DrbyThe woman says to him, Sir, I see that thou art a prophet.
RVThe woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. (The woman saith/says unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou/you art a prophet. )
SLTThe woman says to him, Lord, I see that thou art a prophet.
WbstrThe woman saith to him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
KJB-1769The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. (The woman saith/says unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou/you art a prophet. )
KJB-1611The woman saith vnto him, Sir, I perceiue that thou art a Prophet. (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation)
ClVgDicit ei mulier: Domine, video quia propheta es tu.[fn] (Sayit to_him woman: Master, seeo because a_prophet you_are you(sg). )
4.19Quia propheta tu es. Mulier ex auditis proficiens, jam cœperat aliquatenus habere intellectum, unde et prophetam vocat, sed non plenum, quia non credit venisse Christum.
4.19Because a_prophet you(sg) you_are. Mulier from listensisproficiens, already cœperataliquatenus to_have intellectum, whence and prophet he_calls, but not/no plenum, because not/no he_believes I_camesseChristum.
4:19a prophet: Jesus revealed knowledge about the woman (4:16-18) that was inaccessible to the average person (cp. 1:48). • As the woman’s understanding of Jesus unfolded, her names for him became increasingly well informed. Earlier she recognized him as a Jew (4:9) and called him sir (4:11, 15, 19). Later she thought he might be the Messiah (4:29). Finally, the people of the village recognized him as Savior of the world (4:42). Her growing understanding of Jesus’ identity is a testimony to John’s readers (see 20:31).
The woman uses see to refer to understanding something. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [I understand that you are a prophet]
As the story of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman demonstrates, even simple geography–the divine arrangement of places where God leads us in life–can position us for fruitful ministry if we are willing to reach out to those along our journey. This episode in Jesus’ ministry occurred immediately after Jesus had cleared the Temple in Jerusalem and was gaining even more followers than John the Baptist (John 2:13-25; 4:1-3). Likely wanting to avoid a direct clash with Jewish leadership so early in his ministry, Jesus chose instead to return to Galilee. The most direct route from Jerusalem to Galilee passed through Samaria, and, as the Jewish historian Josephus notes, this was the route normally chosen by most Jews at the time (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XX:6). The city of Samaria (renamed Sebaste by Jesus’ time) was originally the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, but in 722 B.C. the Assyrians exiled many Israelites to other parts of their empire and relocated other foreign peoples in Israel (2 Kings 15:29; 17:1-24; 1 Chronicles 5:26; also see “Israelites Are Exiled to Assyria”). This diverse population then developed a new religion that mixed elements of Israelite worship with pagan worship (2 Kings 17:24-41), and centuries later they set up their own temple on Mount Gerizim. Because of their mixed ancestry and religion, Samaritans were often detested by many Jews (John 4:9), and hostilities periodically erupted between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus himself would later be refused entry into Samaria while traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem (Luke 9:52-56; also see “Jesus’ Final Journey to Jerusalem”), and Josephus notes that about 20 years after this time a number of Galileans were killed by Samaritans as they attempted to make their way to Jerusalem through the village of Ginae. Probably because of these hostilities, some Jews preferred to take alternate routes that bypassed Samaria. Still other Jews chose these routes to avoid even associating with Samaritans. Jesus, however, appears to have chosen the more direct route through Samaria, which led him to the village of Sychar–right next to the ancient site of Shechem and Mount Gerizim. There he met a Samaritan woman by a well and spoke to her about God’s gift of living water for her soul. He also revealed supernatural knowledge about her, so she asked him whether Mount Gerizim or Jerusalem was the proper place to worship. Jesus gently rebuked her belief in Samaritan worship practices, but he also assured her that one day the physical location of worshipers will no longer matter. Instead, all true believers will worship God in spirit and truth. When Jesus revealed to the woman that he was the Messiah, she left her water jar and told the townspeople about Jesus. Meanwhile, Jesus’ disciples returned, and Jesus urged them to recognize that the fields were ripe for harvesting, presumably meaning that many Samaritans were ready to believe in him. Because of the Samaritan woman’s testimony, many of the townspeople believed in Jesus and persuaded him to stay there two more days before returning to Galilee. Years later the apostle Philip found fruitful ministry among the Samaritans as well, and many came to faith in Jesus (Acts 8:5-13; also see “The Ministries of Philip and Peter”).
