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α With acc. " προσκυνήσετε τῷ πατρί. νετ. 23,
Iv.
22. “pets προσκυνεῖτε ὃ οὖκ otdarte-
etc, and ἡμεῖς προσκυνοῦμεν ὃ οἴδαμεν: ὅτι ἡ "σωτηρία ἐκ τῶν “loudaiwy
in older writers ; see
> , εστιν.
v2Kings « 4 XVii. 27. w Hereonly in John.
Lk. i. 69, ~ 7 προσκυγνειν. XiX. 9, only in Gospp. x Here andi. 42 only.
by this natural capital of the Holy Land, from which the outgoings to the world are sO many and so open, that the religion of Israel rose once for all above every geographical limit, and the charter of a universal worship was given”. ἐν “Ἱεροσολύμοις may either mean that the place of worship, the temple, is in jerusalem, or that Jerusalem is itself the place—more probably the latter.— Ver. 21. Γύναι, πίστενσόν por. . τῷ πατρί. One of the greatest announce- ments ever made by our Lord; and made to one sinful woman, cf. xx. 16. ---ἔρχεται Spa a time is coming; in ver. 23 καὶ νῦν ἐστίν is added. A great religious revolution has arrived. Localism in worship is abolished, οὔτε ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ, etc., “neither in this mounte‘n nor in Jerusalem,’ exclusively ο” ρτε- ferentially, ‘shall ye worship the Father”. What determines this ‘hour’? The manifestation of God in Christ, and the principle announced in ver. 24 and implied in τῷ πατρί; for God being abso- lutely ‘‘ the Father ”’ all men in all places must have access to Him, and being of a like nature to man’s He can only receive a spiritual worship. Cf. Acts xvii. 29.— Ver. 22. ὑμεῖς προσκυνεῖτε ὃ οὐκ οἴδατε. The distinction between Jewish and Sa- maritan worship lies not in the difference of place, but of the object of worship. The neuter refers abstractly to the object of worship. ‘‘ You do not know the object of your worship;” suggested by the τῷ πατρί of the preceding clause. Cf. Acts xvii. 23. ἡμεῖς προσκυνοῦµεν & οἴδαμεν. The Jews worshipped a God who had made Himself known to them in their history by His gracious and saving dealings with them. That it is this knowledge which is meant appears in the following clause: ὅτι 4 σωτηρία ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐστίν, that is to say, God has manifested Himself as Saviour to the Jews, and through them to all. ΜΑ powerful repudiation of the theory
ὁ πατὴρ τοιούτους LnTet τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτόν. , ‘4 4 - α. 3 / ‘ 7, ~ Θεός: καὶ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτὸν, ἐν mvedpaTe καὶ ἀληθεία, δεῖ
23. GAN’ έρχεται dpa καὶ viv ἐστιν, ὅτε οἱ ἀληθινοὶ προσ- Thayer. κυνηταὶ προσκυνήσουσι τῷ πατρὶ ἐν πνεύµατι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ: καὶ γὰρ
24. Πνεῦμα ὁ
25. Λέγει αὐτῷ ἡ γυνὴ, "Οἶδα ὅτι * Μεσσίας έρχεται. (6 λεγόμενος Χριστός :) “ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἐκεῖνος, ἀναγγελεῖ
which makes the author of this Gospel a Gentile of the second century with a Gnostic antipathy to Judaism and Jews,” Reynolds.—Ver. 23. There is this great distinction between Jew and Samaritan, ἀλλ᾽ ἔρχεται ὥρα . . . καὶ ἀληθείᾳ, but notwithstanding that it is to the Jews God has especially revealed Himself as Saviour, the hour has now come when the ideal worshippers, whether Jew or Samaritan, shall worship the one uni- versal Father in sfivit; not in either Gerizim or Jerusalem, and in truth, not in the symbols of Samaritan or Jewish worship, ἐν mwvevpatt καὶ ἀληθείᾳ. Two defects of all previous worship are aimed at; all that was local and all that was symbolic is to be left behind. Worship is to be (1) ἐν πνεύµατι [on ἐν here, see Winer, 528], in the heart, not in this place or that. The essential thing is, not that the right place be approached, but that the right spirit enter into worship. And (2) it is to be ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, in correspond- ence with reality, both as regards the object and the manner of worship. The Samaritans had not known the object of their worship: the Jews had employed symbolism in worship. Both these de- fects were now to be removed. καὶ γὰρ 6 πατὴρ . αὐτόν. καὶ γάρ is not merely equivalent to γάρ, but must be rendered, ‘‘ For of a truth”. The characteristics of the ideal worshippers have been declared; and now, in con- firmation, Jesus adds, ‘‘ For of a truth the Father seeks such for His worship- pers”,—Ver. 24. The reason of all this is found in the determining state- ment πνεῦμα 6 θεός, God is Spirit. Cf. God is Light; God is Love. The pre- dication involves much; that God is personal, and much else. But primarily it here indicates that God is not corporeal, and therefore needs no temple. Rarely is the fundamental fact of God’s spiritu- ality carried to all its conclusions. Cf. James i. 27; Rom, xii. 1.—Ver. 25. This