You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Parallel translations
- WEB You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews.
- KJV Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
- NKJV You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
- NASB You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.
- NLT You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus affirms that salvation is from the Jews and that Samaritan worship is uninformed. He upholds the truth of God's revelation through Israel even while widening its reach.
Overview
Jesus does not flatten all religion as equal; the Samaritans worshiped in ignorance, lacking the full revelation given to the Jews. 'Salvation is from the Jews' affirms that God's saving plan comes through Israel and culminates in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus himself. This grounds the universal offer of salvation in the particular history of God's covenant people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Acts 17:23For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.
- Isa 2:3And many peoples will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
- Rom 9:4–5the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.
- Luke 24:47and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
- Ps 147:19He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel.
- Acts 17:30Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.
- Zeph 3:16–17On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp.
- Rom 3:1–2What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
- Zech 9:9Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
- Heb 7:14For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.
- Ps 68:20Our God is a God of deliverance; the Lord GOD is our rescuer from death.
- Isa 46:13I am bringing My righteousness near; it is not far away, and My salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion and adorn Israel with My splendor.
- Isa 12:2Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”
- Gen 49:10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.
- Ezra 4:2they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”
- 2 Chr 13:10–12But as for us, the LORD is our God. We have not forsaken Him; the priests who minister to the LORD are sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties.
- Isa 12:6Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”
- 2 Kgs 17:27–41Then the king of Assyria commanded: “Send back one of the priests you carried off from Samaria, and have him go back to live there and teach the requirements of the God of the land.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 4:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.