Believe Me
The call to "Believe Me" is an invitation to trust in Jesus' words and authority. The Greek word "πιστεύω" (pisteuō) means "to believe" or "to have faith." This is a central theme in the Gospel of John, where belief in Jesus is presented as the pathway to eternal life. Jesus is urging the Samaritan woman, and by extension all readers, to place their faith in Him as the revealer of God's truth.

woman
The term "woman" (Greek: "γύναι," gynai) is a respectful form of address, similar to "madam" or "lady" in English. Jesus uses this term to engage the Samaritan woman in a serious theological discussion, breaking cultural norms of His time. This interaction highlights Jesus' mission to reach out to all people, regardless of gender or ethnicity, and to offer them the living water of His teaching.

a time is coming
The phrase "a time is coming" points to a future event or era. The Greek word "ὥρα" (hōra) can mean "hour" or "time," and it often signifies a divinely appointed moment. In the context of John's Gospel, this phrase frequently refers to the coming of the Kingdom of God through Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection. It signals a transformative period in salvation history.

when you will worship
"Worship" (Greek: "προσκυνέω," proskuneō) means to bow down or to show reverence. This word conveys the idea of adoration and submission to God. Jesus is indicating a change in the nature of worship, moving from a focus on physical locations to a more spiritual and personal relationship with God.

the Father
Referring to God as "the Father" emphasizes the intimate and relational aspect of God in Christian theology. This term is central to Jesus' teaching, highlighting the familial relationship believers are invited into through faith in Christ. It underscores the personal nature of worship that Jesus is advocating.

neither on this mountain
"This mountain" refers to Mount Gerizim, the central place of worship for Samaritans. Historically, the Samaritans built a temple on Mount Gerizim, which was destroyed by the Jews in the 2nd century BC. Jesus' statement challenges the idea that worship is confined to a specific geographic location, pointing instead to a more universal and spiritual form of worship.

nor in Jerusalem
"Jerusalem" was the center of Jewish worship, home to the Temple where sacrifices were made. By saying "nor in Jerusalem," Jesus is indicating that the coming era of worship will transcend traditional Jewish practices and locations. This foreshadows the New Covenant, where worship is not tied to a specific place but is accessible to all believers through the Spirit.

In this mountain.--Sychar was between Ebal and Gerizim, and she would point out the holy mountain with the ruins of the temple then in sight.

The contrast between "our fathers" and the emphatic "ye" carries back the thoughts to the rival temple and worship on Mount Gerizim from the time of Nehemiah. The enmity took its rise in the refusal to accept the help of the Samaritans in the restoration of the temple at Jerusalem (Ezra 4:2; comp. 2Kings 17:24 et seq.). The next step is recorded in Nehemiah 13:28. Manasseh, the son of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, had married a daughter of Sanballat, and was chased from Jerusalem. Sanballat thereupon supported his son-in-law in establishing a rival worship, but it is not clear that the temple was built until a century later, in the time of Alexander the Great. The authority for the details of the history is Josephus (Ant. xi. 8, ? 2), but he seems to confuse Sanballat the Persian satrap, with Sanballat the Horonite. In any case, from the erection of the temple on Mount Gerizim, the schism was complete. The temple was destroyed by John Hyrcanus, about B.C. 129 (Ant. xiii. 9, ? 1), but the mountain on which it stood continued to be, and is to this day, the holy place of the Samaritans. All travellers in the Holy Land describe their Passover, still eaten on this mountain in accordance with the ritual of the Pentateuch. They claimed that this mountain, and not Jerusalem, was the true scene of the sacrifice of Isaac, and Gentile tradition marked it out as the meeting-place with Melchizedek (Euseb. Pr?p. Evang. ix. 22). In accordance with their claim, they had changed in every instance the reading of the Pentateuch, "God will choose a spot" (Deuteronomy 12:14; Deuteronomy 18:6, &c.), into "He has chosen," i.e., Gerizim. "Ebal," in Deuteronomy 27:5, had become "Gerizim," and the Ten Commandments in Exodus and Deuteronomy are followed by an interpolated command to erect an altar in Mount Gerizim. Jerusalem, on the other hand, had never once been named in the Pentateuch, which was the only part of the Jewish canon which they accepted. It was but a modern city in comparison with the claim that Gerizin was a holy place from the time of Abraham downwards. . . .

(d) The spiritual nature of God and his worship. Verse 21. - Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me - a unique expression of Jesus, answering to the Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν, of many other passages, where the acknowledgment of his Divine commission had been virtually ceded; this expression is peculiarly suitable to the occasion - that an hour is coming. He does not add, as in ver. 23, "and now is." The Divine order which links the events of God's providence together, has not made it possible as yet in its fulness, as it will do when the revelation is complete, but the hour is drawing near, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will ye worship the Father. Christ did not say that either Samaritans or Jews were exclusively right in their preference for one local shrine or place of sacrificial worship; but he declared the sublime truth that the worship of the Father would soon prove itself to be independent of both alike and of all the limitations of place and ceremony. Every place would be as sacred and as hallowed as these notable shrines, when the full character and real nature of the object of worship became fully known. The Father was a name for God not unknown to Jew or Gentile; but so overlaid, suspected, defamed, forgotten, that the emphasis which Jesus laid upon it came with the force of a new revelation of God's relation to man. Man is born in the image of God, and partakes of the nature and essence of the Supreme Being, and it is in God's true nature and veritable relations with men that he will be eventually adored. When Christ speaks of "my Father" he refers to the specialty of revelation of the fatherhood in his own incarnation. The Father was only partially known in and by all the dispensations of nature and grace, but he was especially revealed in the whole of the prolonged series of facts and symbols and prophetic teachings which constituted the religion of Israel; and Christ will not allow this great revelation of the Father to pass unaccredited or to be ignored by one whom he essays to teach.

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