You worship what you do not know;This phrase addresses the Samaritans' worship practices. The Samaritans had a syncretistic religion, blending elements of Judaism with their own traditions. They accepted only the Pentateuch and rejected the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures, leading to an incomplete understanding of God. This lack of full revelation resulted in worship that was not based on the full truth of God's nature and His redemptive plan. The Samaritans worshiped at Mount Gerizim, which was contrary to the Jewish understanding of worship centered in Jerusalem, as prescribed in the Law and the Prophets.
we worship what we do know,
Here, Jesus speaks from the perspective of the Jews, who had the complete Hebrew Scriptures, including the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. This comprehensive revelation provided a fuller understanding of God's character and His covenant promises. The Jews had the temple in Jerusalem, which was the center of worship as ordained by God. This phrase emphasizes the importance of worshiping God with a correct understanding based on His revealed Word.
for salvation is from the Jews.
This statement highlights the Jewish people's role in God's redemptive plan. The Jews were chosen as the people through whom God would bring salvation to the world. This is seen in the covenants with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the promises of a Messiah. Jesus, as the fulfillment of these promises, was born a Jew, fulfilling prophecies such as those found inIsaiah 53 andMicah 5:2. The phrase underscores the continuity of God's plan from the Old Testament to the New Testament, with Jesus as the culmination of Jewish expectation and the source of salvation for all humanity.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
JesusThe central figure in this passage, Jesus is speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, revealing profound truths about worship and salvation.
2.
Samaritan WomanA resident of Samaria, she represents a group with a distinct religious tradition that diverged from mainstream Jewish worship.
3.
SamariaA region with historical tensions between Jews and Samaritans, stemming from differences in worship practices and beliefs.
4.
JewsThe ethnic and religious group to which Jesus belonged, who held the belief that they were the custodians of God's revelation and salvation history.
5.
Mount GerizimAlthough not directly mentioned in this verse, it is the location where Samaritans worshiped, contrasting with the Jewish focus on Jerusalem.
Teaching Points
Understanding True WorshipJesus emphasizes the importance of knowing whom we worship. True worship is rooted in a correct understanding of God and His revelation.
Salvation's Jewish RootsRecognize the Jewish roots of Christian faith. Jesus affirms that salvation history is deeply connected to the Jewish people, as they were the initial recipients of God's promises.
Breaking Down BarriersJesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman shows His willingness to break social and religious barriers, teaching us to reach out beyond our comfort zones.
The Role of Knowledge in WorshipWorship should be informed by Scripture and sound doctrine. This calls for a commitment to studying God's Word to deepen our understanding.
Unity in DiversityWhile acknowledging differences, Jesus points to a future where true worshipers will worship in spirit and truth, transcending ethnic and cultural divisions.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of John 4:22?
2.How does John 4:22 highlight the importance of knowing whom we worship?
3.What does "salvation is from the Jews" mean in the context of John 4:22?
4.How can John 4:22 deepen our understanding of Old Testament prophecies about Jesus?
5.How does John 4:22 encourage us to seek truth in our worship practices?
6.In what ways can John 4:22 guide our evangelism efforts to non-believers?
7.What does "salvation is from the Jews" mean in John 4:22?
8.How does John 4:22 relate to the concept of chosen people?
9.Why did Jesus emphasize worship in spirit and truth in John 4:22?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from John 4?
11.Is salvation derived from the Jewish people?
12.What is unknowingly worshiping according to the Bible?
13.What is unknowingly worshiping according to the Bible?
14.Is salvation derived from the Jewish people?What Does John 4:22 Mean
You worship what you do not knowJesus is looking the Samaritan woman in the eye and lovingly exposing a spiritual gap.
• The Samaritans had mixed the Pentateuch with pagan customs since the Assyrian resettlement (2 Kings 17:28-34), so their worship was sincere yet misdirected.
• Ignorance in worship is no small matter;Hosea 4:6 warns, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
• Paul later meets similar devotion without truth in Athens: “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23).
• Jesus’ words remind us that zeal must be anchored to revealed truth, not family tradition, culture, or emotion alone (Romans 10:2).
We worship what we do knowNow the Lord speaks from within His own earthly people, Israel.
• The Jews possessed the covenants, the Law, and the prophets (Romans 3:1-2), giving them a clear picture of the one true God.
• “HE declares His word to Jacob… He has done this for no other nation” (Psalm 147:19-20).
• Even the temple mount where the Samaritans were excluded shouted God’s holiness and mercy in every sacrifice (Leviticus 16).
• Jesus does not say “they worship” but “we worship,” identifying Himself with Israel’s revealed faith while standing ready to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17).
For salvation is from the JewsThis closing clause is the heart of the sentence; it looks forward to the cross while rooting it in God’s promise to Abraham.
• The Messiah had to come “from the tribe of Judah” (Genesis 49:10) and “a shoot from the stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1).
• Through Abraham’s seed “all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3), a promise echoed when Simeon held the infant Jesus: “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory to Your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32).
• Salvation is not merely offered to Israel; it originates there and then flows outward, as pictured inRomans 11:17 where Gentiles are grafted into the cultivated olive tree.
• Rejecting or minimizing Israel’s role undercuts the credibility of Scripture’s storyline and the identity of Jesus Himself (John 1:11, 4:22).
summaryJesus contrasts uninformed worship with informed worship and anchors redemption in God’s covenant with Israel. The Samaritans’ zeal without knowledge points us to our need for revelation; Israel’s stewardship of truth highlights God’s faithfulness; and the Messiah’s Jewish lineage secures our salvation. Right worship flows from knowing the revealed Savior who sprang from Israel yet now invites the whole world to drink of the living water.
(22)
For salvation is of the Jews.--This verse has sorely tried critics who seek to construct the Gospel out of their judgments of what it should be. It can be no difficulty to those who seek to form their judgments from the Gospel as it is. Assume that the Gospel belongs to the Greek thought of the close of the second century, and the verse must be omitted, though it is certainly part of the original text; accept the Gospel as belonging to the Hebrew thought of the first century, and this touch of Jewish theology is in entire harmony with it. The contrast between the Samaritan and the Jewish worship lay in its history, its state at that time, and its rejection of the fuller teaching of the prophetical books of the Old Testament. "In every way the Jews had much advantage, but chiefly that unto them were committed the oracles of God." Little as they knew the treasure they possessed, they were the guardians of spiritual truth for the world, and in a sense deeper than they could fathom, "salvation was of the Jews." (Comp.
Romans 3:2;
Romans 9:4-5, Notes;
Isaiah 2:3;
Micah 4:2.)
The "we" of this verse is in answer to the "ye" ofJohn 4:20. She identifies Him with those who claim Jerusalem as the place of worship. That "ye" contained its own answer. In using it she had said that the Messiah was of the Jews. . . .
Verse 22 -
Ye worship that which (not "him whom")
ye know not. "That which" points to the essence and inner character of the object of their worship. They gave him a name, but they were comparatively ignorant of, and confessedly hostile as a people to, the revelation that the Father had made. They fell back on a past of rigid orthodoxy but of limited range. They rejected every portion of the Old Testament with the exception of the Pentateuch,
i.e. the entire historical treatment of the primeval faith; even that very essence of it which involved the progressive and expanding conception of the character of God - the perpetuity and continuous renovation of relations, the prophetic insight into providence, the sublime liturgy of a ceaseless worship, the prediction of a Messianic glory which, in the fulness of the times, should complete and complement all that preceded. They were, by their prejudices and hostility, kept ignorant of and unacquainted with the Name that was above every name. In contradistinction from this, we Jews, to whom as a nation you rightly conclude I belong, and as a representative of whom I speak -
We worship that which we know. Christ in this place, more distinctly perhaps than in any portion of the four Gospels, places himself as a worshipper side by side with his hearers. Here, moreover, he identifies himself with the Jews - becomes their interpreter and mouthpiece and representative. When a question arises, which of the two has the larger amount of truth, Jew or Gentile, Jew or Samaritan, he pronounced in stringent terms in favour of the Jew. The revelation advancing beyond the narrow limitations of Samaritan nationality as to place, and time, and historic fact, with its pregnant ritual, has revealed the Father to us Jews, in
thisrespect and because the salvation of which Moses partly dreamed, but which has been the burden of every prophecy and psalm - the "salvation" which gives meaning to all our knowledge,
is from (
ἐκ, not "belonging to," but "proceeding from,"
John 1:46;
John 7:22, 52)
the Jews. The Jews have been the school where the highest lessons have been taught, the richest experiences felt, the noblest lives lived, the types and shadows of good things to come most conspicuous. We cannot avoid reading between the lines the sublime enthusiasm which Paul gathered from this class of teaching ("To whom pertaineth the adoption,...and covenant,...whose are the fathers, and to whom were committed the oracles of God,... and from whom as concerning the flesh Christ came"). The utterance is profoundly significant, as it is a powerful repudiation of the theory which makes the author of this Fourth Gospel a Gentile of the second century, with a Gnostic antipathy to Judaism and Jews. The contradiction to this theory indubitably involved in this verse has led to the wildest conjectures - even the suggestion of a Jewish gloss on some ancient manuscripts of the Gospel has been one desperate device to save the theory.
Taut pis pour les fairs.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
Youὑμεῖς(hymeis)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771:You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.worshipπροσκυνεῖτε(proskyneite)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4352:From pros and a probable derivative of kuon; to fawn or crouch to, i.e. prostrate oneself in homage.whatὃ(ho)Personal / Relative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3739:Who, which, what, that.you do not know;οἴδατε(oidate)Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 1492:To know, remember, appreciate.weἡμεῖς(hēmeis)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473:I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.worshipπροσκυνοῦμεν(proskynoumen)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 4352:From pros and a probable derivative of kuon; to fawn or crouch to, i.e. prostrate oneself in homage.whatὃ(ho)Personal / Relative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3739:Who, which, what, that.we do know,οἴδαμεν(oidamen)Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1492:To know, remember, appreciate.forὅτι(hoti)Conjunction
Strong's 3754:Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.salvationσωτηρία(sōtēria)Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4991:Feminine of a derivative of soter as noun; rescue or safety.isἐστίν(estin)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510:I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.fromἐκ(ek)Preposition
Strong's 1537:From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.theτῶν(tōn)Article - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.Jews.Ἰουδαίων(Ioudaiōn)Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 2453:Jewish. From Iouda; Judaean, i.e. Belonging to Jehudah.
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NT Gospels: John 4:22 You worship that which you don't know (Jhn Jo Jn) 
