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Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
John 4:22 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews.
  • BSB You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from 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 passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
  • Isa 2:3And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
  • Rom 9:4–5Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
  • Luke 24:47And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
  • Ps 147:19He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
  • Acts 17:30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
  • Zeph 3:16–17In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
  • Rom 3:1–2What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
  • Zech 9:9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
  • Heb 7:14For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
  • Ps 68:20He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death.
  • Isa 46:13I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.
  • Isa 12:2Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
  • Gen 49:10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
  • Ezra 4:2Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.
  • 2 Chr 13:10–12But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:
  • Isa 12:6Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
  • 2 Kgs 17:27–41Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 4:22YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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.