(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
Parallel translations
- WEB For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
- KJV (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
- NKJV For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
- NASB For His disciples had gone away to the city to buy food.
- NLT He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
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 disciples had gone into town to buy food, leaving Jesus alone with the woman. This explains the private setting of the conversation.
Overview
The detail accounts for why Jesus and the woman could speak one-on-one. It also heightens the later surprise of the disciples returning to find him talking with her. The narrative aside keeps the focus on the unfolding dialogue about living water.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Luke 9:13But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”
- John 6:5–7When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?”
- John 4:5So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
- John 4:39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:8 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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