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John 4:22
ESV You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
NIV You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
NASB You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.
CSB You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.
NLT You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.
KJV Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

What does John 4:22 mean?

The nation of Israel is God's chosen people. This was the line which God chose to produce Jesus Christ, the Messiah (Romans 9:4–5). The truths of God's prophets came through this nation. Other people, such as the Samaritans, were not given this full level of revelation. They were allowed to see the same creation as all other people (Revelation chapter 1), but they did not "know" God as the Israelites did. This did not leave them incapable of knowing anything about God, but it did mean there was a limit to what they could understand.

Jesus is in the process of correcting the Samaritan woman's concept of God. Unlike Nicodemus, this woman was uneducated, poor, disrespected, outcast, and living in sin. And yet, those who worship God in spirit and truth are His: He wants those people to worship Him. This will be an incredibly uplifting message for a woman beaten up and thrown aside by the world. Verses 23 and 24 will put this new perspective into clear terms.

This section of John shows how Jesus' life on earth was meant to complete the old, imperfect, and temporary means of reconciliation with God. Jesus came as the new sacrifice for sin (John 1:29), replacing the old ways of atonement (John 2:6–9), with His body the new temple (John 2:19–21), bringing a new birth (John 3:1–7), a new and living water (John 4:11).
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