long enough for many more to hear his message and believe.
Parallel translations
- WEB Many more believed because of his word.
- KJV And many more believed because of his own word;
- BSB And many more believed because of His message.
- NKJV And many more believed because of His own word.
- NASB Many more believed because of His word;
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
Many more Samaritans came to believe through hearing Jesus' own word. Direct encounter with Christ's teaching deepens and multiplies faith.
Overview
The woman's testimony began the work, but it was Jesus' own word that brought a larger harvest of belief. John highlights the power of Christ's word to create faith. This shows the priority of hearing Christ himself, the living Word, over secondhand report alone.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Cor 2:4–5My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
- Acts 1:8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
- Acts 8:25They therefore, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the Good News to many villages of the Samaritans.
- Matt 7:28–29When Jesus had finished saying these things, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching,
- Acts 8:12But when they believed Philip preaching good news concerning God’s Kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
- John 6:63It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
- John 7:46The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!”
- Acts 15:3They, being sent on their way by the assembly, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. They caused great joy to all the brothers.
- Heb 4:13There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.
- Gen 49:10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be.
- Luke 4:32and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority.
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 4:41 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.