In the discourse of John 4, John’s disclosure of the Samaritan woman’s verbalization of five references to the identity of Jesus can be connected to rhetorical parallels utilized throughout the Gospel. First, she refers to him as a “prophet προφήτης εἶ σύ” (John 4:19). Second, she refers to “knowing the Μεσσίας is coming, Οἶδα ὅτι Μεσσίας ἔρχεται (John 4:25). Parsing of the Greek cognate verb Οἶδα as a perfect indicative disclosed the Samaritan woman’s complete knowledge of the coming of the Μεσσίας. Also, she expressed that “he will reveal to us all things” ἀναγγελεῖ ἡμῖν πάντα. Third, “Come, see a man” δεῦτε ἴδετε ἄνθρωπον (4:29) is the expression used to influence the Samaritans at Sychar. Fourth, she engaged her fellow Samaritans in the question, “can this be the Christ?” μήτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός; (4:29). Fifth, the Samaritan villagers identify Jesus as the “Savior of the world,” ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου (4:42). When analyzing the five references from “inside” the Gospel of John, we notice consistent textual referents that are clear parallels to John 4. In contrast to referents of the Samaritans “outside” the Fourth Gospel including the Hebrew Bible, Samaritan Pentateuch, Tibåt Mårqe, Qumran Pre-Samaritan text, and Second Temple literature, which are not fully covered in the presentation but included in a broader sense.
In the discussion, the Μεσσίας referenced by the Samaritan woman is connected to the Jewish Μεσσίας (anointed one) of the Hebrew Bible as paralleled with Andrews’ usage, “we have found the Μεσσίας” (John 1:41) rather than the Taheb figure of the Samaritan 4th century Tibåt Mårqe. Also, the Samaritan woman’s reference to προφήτης is evoking the expected προφήτης like Moses of Deut 18:18 as paralleled with explicit references in the Gospel (i.e., John 1:21, 25; 6:14; 7:40; 7:52). Moreover, the imperative adverb δεῦτε ἴδετε ἄνθρωπον finds it counter verb Ἔρχεσθε καὶ ἴδετε “cone and see” expressed in similar instances (1:39; 1:46; 11:34). Furthermore, the use of Χριστός by the Samaritans confirms the Jewish Χριστός as the focus of the dialogue (i.e., John 1:20, 25; 6:69; 7:26; et.al.). Finally, σῴζω and its cognate σωτὴρ inform the reader regarding the continuity between the Samaritans recognition of ‘Jesus as the Savior’ of the world (i.e., John 3:17; 5:34; 10:9; 12:47) and his self-identification utilizing the language of “I, who speak to you, am He” (John 4:26; 8:24; 18:6).
I propose the significance of John’s disclosure of the five referents in the dialogue of John 4:4–43 –– connected to the rest of the Gospel –– is purposely construed to reveal a similar first century belief structure between the Samaritans and their Jewish contemporaries.