They said to the woman, “We now believe not only because of your words; we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Savior of the world.”
Parallel translations
- WEB They 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.”
- KJV And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
- NKJV Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
- NASB and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One truly is the Savior of the world.”
- NLT Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”
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 Samaritans declared Jesus to be the Savior of the world, having heard him for themselves. Their faith matured from borrowed testimony to firsthand conviction.
Overview
This is one of the great confessions in John's Gospel: Jesus is not merely Israel's Messiah but the Savior of the world. Coming from Samaritans, it underscores the universal scope of his saving work. Mature faith must finally rest on Christ himself, known personally, not merely on the report of others.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 1 Jn 4:14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.
- 1 Tim 4:10To this end we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe.
- 1 Jn 5:20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
- John 1:29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- 2 Cor 5:19that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
- Acts 4:12Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
- John 6:68–69Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
- John 3:14–18Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
- Isa 45:22Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
- Isa 52:10The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
- Acts 17:11–12Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
- John 17:8For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
- John 4:29“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
- John 1:45–49Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
- Rom 10:11–13It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
- Luke 2:10–11But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:
- Luke 2:32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”
- Matt 1:21She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
- John 11:17When Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already spent four days in the tomb.
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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 4:42 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
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