Limitless Word
The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
John 4:25 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes, he who is called Christ. When he has come, he will declare to us all things.”
  • KJV The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
  • BSB The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”
  • NASB The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”
  • NLT The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

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

The woman says she knows Messiah is coming and will explain everything. Her words express genuine expectation that Jesus is about to fulfill.

Overview

Even the Samaritans awaited a coming Messiah who would reveal God's truth. Her statement of hope sets up Jesus' direct self-disclosure. It shows that her growing understanding has reached the threshold of recognizing the Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • John 1:49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!”
  • Dan 9:24–26Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
  • John 4:42They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
  • Matt 1:16Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
  • John 4:29“Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?”
  • John 1:41–42He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ ).
  • Deut 18:15–18Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him.
  • John 4:39From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I did.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 4:25YouTube · 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 4:25 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.