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Tuesday, August 26th, 2025
the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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Read the Bible

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

John 4:4

Now He had to pass through Samaria.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Canaan;   Galilee;   Jesus, the Christ;   Roads;   Samaria;   Shechem;   Scofield Reference Index - Bible Prayers;   Thompson Chain Reference - Samaria;   Samaritans;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Galilee;   Samaria, Modern;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Judea;   Samaria;   Shechem;   Wells and Springs;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Galilee;   Jesus christ;   John, gospel of;   Judea;   Samaria, samaritans;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Woman;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Commentary;   Patience;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Samaria;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Aenon;   Galilee;   Gospels;   Jesus Christ;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Hour;   Jesus, Life and Ministry of;   John, the Gospel of;   Marriage;   Woman;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Messiah;   Mss;   Woman;   World;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - City;   Humanity of Christ;   Individuality;   John (the Apostle);   Ministry;   Palestine;   Peraea;   Reality;   Roads;   Samaria, Samaritans;   Sychar ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Samaria ;   36 Ought Must;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Mount samaria;   Samaria;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Sama'ria;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Samaria;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Jesus of Nazareth;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for May 9;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He had to travel through Samaria;
King James Version (1611)
And hee must needs goe thorow Samaria.
King James Version
And he must needs go through Samaria.
English Standard Version
And he had to pass through Samaria.
New American Standard Bible
And He had to pass through Samaria.
New Century Version
But on the way he had to go through the country of Samaria.
Amplified Bible
Now He had to go through Samaria.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
And He had to pass through Samaria.
Legacy Standard Bible
And He had to pass through Samaria.
Contemporary English Version
This time he had to go through Samaria,
Complete Jewish Bible
This meant that he had to pass through Shomron.
Darby Translation
And he must needs pass through Samaria.
Easy-to-Read Version
On the way to Galilee, he had to go through the country of Samaria.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And he must needes goe through Samaria.
George Lamsa Translation
He had to go through Samaritan territory.
Good News Translation
on his way there he had to go through Samaria.
Lexham English Bible
And it was necessary for him to go through Samaria.
Literal Translation
And it was needful for Him to pass through Samaria.
American Standard Version
And he must needs pass through Samaria.
Bible in Basic English
And it was necessary for him to go through Samaria.
Hebrew Names Version
He needed to pass through Shomron.
International Standard Version
Now it was necessary for him to go through Samaria.
Etheridge Translation
AND he needed that in going he should pass through among the Shomroyee;
Murdock Translation
And in going, he had occasion to pass through the midst of the Samaritans.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For [it was so that] he must needes go through Samaria.
English Revised Version
And he must needs pass through Samaria.
World English Bible
He needed to pass through Samaria.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he must needs go thro' Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria,
Weymouth's New Testament
His road lay through Samaria,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And it bihofte hym to passe bi Samarie.
Update Bible Version
And he must surely pass through Samaria.
Webster's Bible Translation
And he must needs go through Samaria.
New English Translation
But he had to pass through Samaria.
New King James Version
But He needed to go through Samaria.
New Living Translation
He had to go through Samaria on the way.
New Life Bible
He had to go through the country of Samaria.
New Revised Standard
But he had to go through Samaria.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now he must needs pass through Samaria.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he was of necessity to pass through Samaria.
Revised Standard Version
He had to pass through Samar'ia.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And it was so that he must nedes goo thorowe Samaria.
Young's Literal Translation
and it was behoving him to go through Samaria.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But he must nedes go thorow Samaria.
Mace New Testament (1729)
but being obliged to pass through Samaria,
THE MESSAGE
To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
Simplified Cowboy Version
Jesus was riding through Samaria and

Contextual Overview

4Now He had to pass through Samaria.5So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Since Jacob's well was there, Jesus, weary from His journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9"You are a Jew," said the woman. "How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered, "If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." 11"Sir," the woman replied, "You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living water? 12Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?" 13Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Matthew 10:5, Matthew 10:6, Luke 2:49, Luke 9:51, Luke 9:52, Luke 17:11

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 13:32 - in the cities 1 Kings 16:24 - the name of the city 1 John 5:11 - God

Cross-References

Genesis 4:16
So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Genesis 4:17
And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch.
Genesis 4:19
And Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.
Genesis 4:20
And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock.
Genesis 15:17
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses.
Exodus 13:12
you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.
Leviticus 9:24
Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
Numbers 16:35
And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
Numbers 18:12
I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits.
Numbers 18:17
But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he must needs go through Samaria. Not the city, but the country of Samaria; for the way to Galilee from Judea, lay through the midst of Samaria; nor was there any other way, without going a great way about; see Luke 9:51; and which is also confirmed by Josephus c: and this accounts for his going through Samaria, consistently with his forbidding his apostles going in the way of the Gentiles, or into any of the cities of the Samaritans; since here was a necessity for it, or otherwise he himself would not have gone, where he forbid his disciples; though the prohibition may be understood, not of barely going into a Samaritan city; for it was lawful for them, notwithstanding that, to go into one of them, as appears from John 4:8; but of going to preach there,

Matthew 10:5. And besides this necessity, there was another thing that lay upon him, and obliged him to take this tour, and that is, the calling and conversion of a certain woman, and other Samaritans, whom the Father had given to him, and he was to redeem by his blood; and the time of whose effectual calling was now come; and therefore he must needs go this way, and at this particular time. The Arabic and Persic versions represent it, as a purpose and determination in his mind to go this way.

c Antiqu. Jud. 50:20. c 5. & in vita sua, p. 1019.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he must needs go through Samaria - Samaria was between Judea and Galilee. The direct and usual way was to pass through Samaria. Sometimes, however, the Jews took a circuitous route on the east side of the Jordan. See the notes at Matthew 2:22.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse John 4:4. And he must needs go through Samaria. — Or, It was necessary for him to pass through Samaria: for this plain reason, and no other, because it was the only proper road. Samaria lay northward of Judea, and between the great sea, Galilee, and Jordan; and there was therefore no going from Galilee to Jerusalem but through this province. Luke 17:11; Luke 17:11. From Jerusalem to Galilee through Samaria, according to Josephus, was three days' journey. See his own life.


 
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