What Does John 4:39 Mean in the King James?
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 analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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.
“believed 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.
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;THE THREAD
And many more believed 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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