Ἰωάννην 4:23

Greek Modern Translation

Πλην ερχεται ωρα, και ηδη ειναι, οτε οι αληθινοι προσκυνηται θελουσι προσκυνησει τον Πατερα εν πνευματι και αληθεια· διοτι ο Πατηρ τοιουτους ζητει τους προσκυνουντας αυτον.

Parallel Translations

SBL Greek New Testament (2010)
ἀλλὰ ἔρχεται ὥρα καὶ νῦν ἐστιν, ὅτε οἱ ἀληθινοὶ προσκυνηταὶ προσκυνήσουσιν τῷ πατρὶ ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ, καὶ γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ τοιούτους ζητεῖ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτόν·

Tischendorf 8th Edition
ἀλλὰ ἔρχεται ὥρα καὶ νῦν ἐστιν, ὅτε οἱ ἀληθινοὶ προσκυνηταὶ προσκυνήσουσιν τῷ πατρὶ ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ· καὶ γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ τοιούτους ζητεῖ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτόν.

Textus Receptus (1550/1894)
αλλ ερχεται ωρα και νυν εστιν οτε οι αληθινοι προσκυνηται προσκυνησουσιν τω πατρι εν πνευματι και αληθεια και γας ο πατης τοιουτους ζητει τους προσκυνουντας αυτον

Westcott/Hort UBS4 (1881)
αλλα ερχεται ωρα και νυν εστιν οτε οι αληθινοι προσκυνηται προσκυνησουσιν τω πατρι εν πνευματι και αληθεια και γαρ ο πατηρ τοιουτους ζητει τους προσκυνουντας αυτον

Byzantine/Majority Text
αλλ ερχεται ωρα και νυν εστιν οτε οι αληθινοι προσκυνηται προσκυνησουσιν τω πατρι εν πνευματι και αληθεια και γας ο πατης τοιουτους ζητει τους προσκυνουντας αυτον

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the hour: John 5:25, John 12:23

true: Isaiah 1:10-15, Isaiah 26:8, Isaiah 26:9, Isaiah 29:13, Isaiah 48:1, Isaiah 48:2, Isaiah 58:2, Isaiah 58:8-14, Isaiah 66:1, Isaiah 66:2, Jeremiah 7:7-12, Matthew 15:7-9, Luke 18:11-13

in spirit: Romans 1:9, Romans 8:15, Romans 8:26, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 3:3, Jude 1:20, Jude 1:21

in truth: John 1:17, Joshua 24:14, 1 Samuel 12:24, 1 Chronicles 29:17, Psalms 17:1, Psalms 32:2, Psalms 51:6, Isaiah 10:20, Jeremiah 3:10, Jeremiah 4:2

the Father seeketh: Psalms 147:11, Proverbs 15:8, Song of Solomon 2:14, Isaiah 43:21, Ezekiel 22:30, 1 Peter 2:9

Reciprocal: Ezra 4:3 - Ye have nothing Isaiah 62:12 - Sought out Isaiah 66:23 - shall all Malachi 3:3 - an John 4:21 - worship John 16:32 - the hour Acts 17:24 - dwelleth Romans 2:29 - which 1 Corinthians 14:15 - I will pray with the spirit Ephesians 5:19 - making Colossians 1:6 - in truth Colossians 1:12 - the Father 1 Timothy 2:8 - pray Revelation 21:22 - I saw Revelation 22:9 - worship God

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers,.... The worshippers of the true God, and who worship in a right manner, whether Jews or Samaritans, or of whatsoever nation:

shall worship the Father; the one true God, the Father of spirits, and of all flesh living:

in spirit; in opposition to all carnal conceptions of him, as if he was a corporeal being, or circumscribed in some certain place, dwelling in temples made with hands, or was to be worshipped with men's hands; and in distinction from the carnal worship of the Jews, which lay greatly in the observation of carnal ordinances: and this shows they should not worship with their bodies only, for bodily exercise profiteth little; but with their souls or spirits, with their whole hearts engaged therein; and by, and under the influence and assistance of the Spirit of God, without whom men cannot perform worship, neither prayer, praise, preaching, or hearing, aright:

and in truth; in opposition to hypocrisy, with true hearts, in the singleness, sincerity, and integrity of their souls; and in distinction from Jewish ceremonies, which were only shadows, and had not the truth and substance of things in them; and according to the word of truth, the Gospel of salvation; and in Christ, who is the truth, the true tabernacle, in, and through whom accent is had to God, prayer is made to him, and every part of religious worship with acceptance: so Enoch is said, פלח בקושטא, "to worship in truth", before the Lord, in the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, in Genesis 5:24. And it may be that the worship of all the three persons in the Godhead, as more distinctly performed under the Gospel dispensation, is here intended: for the words may be thus read, "shall worship the Father, with the Spirit", and with the truth; so the preposition εν, is rendered in Ephesians 6:2; and elsewhere; and then the sense is, they shall "worship the Father"; the first person in the Trinity, who is the Father of Christ, his only begotten Son, and together and equally with him "the Spirit"; the holy Spirit, as the Ethiopic version reads; and Nonnus calls it the divine Spirit: and the rather he may be thought to be intended, since it follows in John 4:24, "the Spirit is God"; for so the words lie in the Greek text; and are so rendered in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions; and therefore is the proper object of religious worship, whose temples the saints are, with whom they have communion, to whom they pray, and in whose name they are baptized: and also together "with the truth"; with Christ the way, the truth, and the life; who is the true God, and eternal life; and who is equally to be worshipped as the Father and Spirit, as he is by the angels in heaven, and by the saints on earth; who pray unto him, trust in him, and are also baptized in his name, as in the name of the other two persons: and the rather this may be thought to be the sense, since Christ is speaking, not of the manner, but of the object of worship, in the preceding verse:

for the Father seeketh such to worship him; it being agreeable to him to be worshipped in the manner, as above related; and his desire is, that the Son and Spirit should be honoured equally as himself; and such worshippers he has found, having made them such, both among the Jews and Gentiles; and such only are acceptable to him; see Philippians 3:3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But the hour cometh, and now is - The old dispensation is about to pass away, and the new one to commence. “Already” there is so much light that God may be worshipped acceptably in any place.

The true worshippers - All who truly and sincerely worship God. They who do it with the heart, and not merely in form.

In spirit - The word “spirit,” here, stands opposed to rites and ceremonies, and to the pomp of external worship. It refers to the “mind,” the “soul,” the “heart.” They shall worship God with a sincere “mind;” with the simple offering of gratitude and prayer; with a desire to glorify him, and without external pomp and splendor. Spiritual worship is that where the heart is offered to God, and where we do not depend on external forms for acceptance.

In truth - Not through the medium of shadows and types, not by means of sacrifices and bloody offerings, but in the manner represented or typified by all these, Hebrews 9:9, Hebrews 9:24. In the true way of direct access to God through Jesus Christ.

For the Father seeketh ... - Jesus gives two reasons why this kind of worship should take place. One is that God sought it, or desired it. He had appointed the old mode, but he did it because he sought to lead the mind to himself even by those forms, and to prepare the people for the purer system of the gospel, and now he sought or desired that those who worshipped him should worship him in that manner. He intimated his will by Jesus Christ.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 23. The true worshippers shall worship - in spirit — The worship of the Samaritans was a defective worship - they did not receive the prophetical writings: that of the Jews was a carnal worship, dealing only in the letter, and referring to the spirit and design, which were at a distance, by types and ceremonies. The Gospel of Christ showed the meaning of all these carnal ordinances, and the legal sacrifices, which had all their consummation in his offering of himself: thus a spiritual dispensation took the place of the carnal one which prefigured it. 2. The preaching of the Gospel discovered the true nature of God, of salvation, of the human soul, of earthly and of heavenly things; and, because of this, it is put in opposition to the defective Samaritan worship.