What Does John 4:39 Mean?
And many of the Samaritans of that city leaned their weight on him because of the word of the woman, who testified, He told me all that I ever did.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.THE KEY
A woman’s account of being fully known becomes a doorway through which many place their trust.
THE MEANING
An account of being fully known can open trust in people who have not yet encountered the one being described. One person’s words carry that experience outward until many trust him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Trust is real only when it rests on what I have witnessed for myself.
THE ROOT
ἐπίστευσαν
episteusan
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust, lean your full weight on, entrust yourself.
“leaned their weight on him” in this verse is episteusan. The verb belongs to the Greek trust-family: this is more than accepting a claim; it is placing trust in a person. The woman’s witness is the means by which many begin to entrust themselves to him.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust; leaning your full weight on.
πίστις
The noun names the trust that the verb enacts: hearing her account opens a path to relying on him.
pistos: Firm, steady, trustworthy.
πιστός
This branch shows trust in relation to the one trusted: her words point the hearers toward someone they can rely on.
μαρτυρούσης
martyrousēs
GROWS FROM
μαρτυρ-
martyr-
Bear witness; attest.
The word family behind “testified” also gives Greek μάρτυς (martys), “witness,” the source of English “martyr.” The verse presents the woman’s speech as witness-bearing: her words carry what she has encountered into the lives of others.
ALSO GROWS
martys: Witness.
μάρτυς
This branch brings out the woman’s role: she bears witness to what she has encountered.
martyria: Testimony; witness.
μαρτυρία
This branch names the witness she bears, through which many begin to trust.
THE PATTERN
Trust can take root through a witness’s words before the hearer encounters the one being described.
You are my witnesses, says the LORD, and my servant, whom I have chosen, so that you may perceive and lean your weight on me, and understand that I AM. Before me no God was shaped, and behind me there shall be none.So then trust comes out of hearing, and hearing comes through the word of God.Nor do I ask for these alone, but for those also who will lean their full weight on me through their word.THE THREAD
And many more trusted because of his own word.The same Greek πιστ- (pist-, trust) word-family appears in “believed” here and in the next verse. Trust begins through the woman’s testimony, then deepens for many through his own word.
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