festal occasion, where the chief joy necessarily belonged to but one, but in which, nevertheless, his friend, or paranymph, might gladly participate. He then declares his joy to be that of the friend, the paranymph. He rejoiced to hear of the success of JeInstead of jealous feelings being awakened lest his own glory should be obscured, his joy was full, his satisfaction complete.

sus.

30. He must increase, &c. A more generous, disinterested sentiment was never breathed from the heart of man. For although John was not aware of the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom, and could not foresee how much he himself had to suffer, he yet manifested that superiority to envy, and that spirit of selfforgetfulness, which constitute the highest elements of a godlike soul.

"Where is the love the Baptist taught,

The soul unswerving, and the fearless tongue,
The much-enduring wisdom, sought
By lonely prayer, the haunted rocks among?
Who counts it gain

His light should wane,
So the whole world to Jesus throng?"

31. The comparative excellence of Jesus' dispensation to his own, is farther set forth under the figures of the earthly and the heavenly; and he repeats, with reiterated emphasis, that he who came with the divine authority, which Jesus possessed, stood unrivalled, was above all, and therefore to him all should bow. Chap. i. 18. It is the conjecture of some eminent critics, that the words of

John the Baptist terminate with ver. 30, and that the remainder of the chapter is the testimony of the evangelist.

32. What he hath seen, &c. A similar sentiment to that in ver. 11. His testimony is as certain as that of an eye-witness. No man receiveth his testimony, i. e. comparatively few. This declaration could hardly have been made by John the apostle at a period when many flourishing churches of Christian believers had been established; yet that, perhaps, seems as probable as that the Baptist should have said it, immediately after the representations made to him in ver. 26.

33. The thought of this verse may be found expressed in a different form, in 1 John v. 10. He who receives the testimony of Christ, declares thereby that God is true, sets his seal to the profession, that God is true; whereas, in the converse proposition, "he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son."

34. He whom God hath sent. The superiority of the Father to the Son, is a truth, recognized on every page of the New Testament; one is represented as the Sender, the other as the Sent; one the Sovereign, the other the Ambassador; one the Person, the other the Image of that person; one the Original Glory, the other the Brightness of that Glory. -Speaketh the words of God.

So

35 him.

intimate is his union with the purposes of God. Giveth not the Spirit by measure, i. e. gives it most abundantly. Here the gift of the Spirit is described, as an endowment of Christ, not as an original function of his nature. God imparts to him spiritual communications without limit.

35. We are here taught, that love is the mighty bond, uniting the Father and the Son, and that Jesus is fully empowered by God in all things relating to his gospel, and to our sal

vation.

36. The consequences of belief and unbelief are here portrayed in the most impressive manner, and fitly conclude this sublime passage; which thrills us not through and through, when we read it, because familiarity with the language has blunted our perception of the divine tenderness and grandeur of the thoughts, which it conveys. That God, full of love and compassion, has sent his Son, breathing the same heavenly spirit, to speak to us the words of God; to say, as in the place of the Father himself, "My children, turn ye, and live to God and heaven, enter into the holy, serene, blissful, everlasting life of goodness," -Oh! what truths are these,

"That might create a soul Under the ribs of death!"

CHAPTER IV.

How

1. The Lord, i. e. Jesus. the Pharisees had heard, &c. The question arises, why the knowledge of this fact should have affected the plans of Jesus. The answer is, that he wished to avoid the hostility of the Pharisees, who were most powerful in Judea, and to preach his gospel in the more retired district of Galilee.

2. Jesus himself baptized not. He was occupied with the more important duties of preaching and working miracles. If, too, any had been baptized by Jesus himself, they might have claimed a superiority over the other disciples, and thus have introduced discord into the infant church. See 1 Cor. i. 14–16.

3. Left Judea. Where the scribes and Pharisees had been excited to jealousy by his increasing popularity, and had plotted his destruction.Departed again into Galilee. He had taught there before. This province afforded him comparative retirement from ecclesiastical persecution.

4. Must needs go through Samaria. We have the testimony of Josephus, that "it was the custom for

the Galileans, in their journeying to Jerusalem, to their feasts, to go through Samaria." There was, however, a circuitous route, sometimes taken, through Peræa, on the east side of the Jordan.

5. Sychar. The ancient name was Sichem, or Shechem. Gen. xii. 6; Josh. xxi. 21; Acts vii. 16. It was situated about fifteen miles southeasterly from the city of Samaria, between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. This city was afterwards called Neapolis, whence are derived the modern names Napolose and Nabulus. It now contains about 8000 people, chiefly Muhammedans. The term Sychar was originally given in reproach, as it means, according to its derivation, a lie or idol, or a drunkard, in allusion, as some have thought, to Is. xxviii. 17, because this city was in the tribe of Ephraim. "The Jews were fond of such slight, like-sounding perversions of proper names; so the change between Beelzebub and Beelzebul, so too Bethaven for Bethel." But in time such words lost their offensive signification, and were used for mere terms of designation, as, no doubt, the evangelist here employs the name of Sychar.- The parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. See Gen. xxxiii. 19, xlviii. 22, Josh. xxiv. 32.

6. Jacob's well. This is not mentioned except here. Wells are highly esteemed in the hot and dry regions of the east. This one bore the veritable name of the patriarch Jacob, under whose direction it was constructed. It was visited by Robinson, in his late travels, who says, that "the well bears evident marks of antiquity, but was now dry and

deserted; it was said usually to contain living water, and not merely to be filled by the rains. A large stone was laid loosely over, or rather in, its mouth; and, as the hour was now late, and the twilight nearly gone, we made no attempt to remove the stone, and examine the vaulted entrance below. We had, also, no line with us, at the moment, to measure the well; but, by dropping in stones, we could perceive that, it was deep." Maundrell says, "that it is dug in a firm rock, is about 15 feet in diameter, and 105 feet in depth, 15 of which we found full of water." The depth of water, however, varies at different seasons of the year. — Being wearied with his journey. This statement was contrary to the opinions of the Docetæ, a sect in John's day, who separated the emanation, or æon, which they called Christ, from the mortal Jesus, and held that our Saviour was superior to fatigue and pain. Thus. This word has greatly perplexed commentators. It has been construed variously, as meaning, afterwards, therefore, just as he was, Acts xxvii. 17, negligently, or at his ease. Some deem it redundant; others trace the term to the discourses of the apostles, in which they described how Jesus sat on, or by, the well. Winer, with more reason, understands it as "indicating the repetition of the participial idea, fatigued, he sat down so, (in the condition of fatigue.")- Sixth hour, i. e. twelve o'clock, at noon.

7. A woman of Samaria. Or, a Samaritan woman, one belonging to the country, not the city of Samaria. Her interview with Jesus presents one of the most vivid and interesting pictures in the whole Bible. In the

space of twenty or thirty verses, the number of customs, opinions, historical facts, and religious principles, which are touched upon, is almost incredible to one who has not made it a special matter of reflection. - To draw water. An office which females in the east often perform. No system of religion has so much ameliorated the condition of woman as Christianity. — Give me to drink. It was the middle of the day, and, fatigued and thirsty, he, who was "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," asks for a draught of cold water to satisfy the craving of nature. It is a remark of Emerson, in his Letters from the Egean, that "to him, who has never panted beneath the burning sun of Asia, or trod its scorched and glowing soil, whose eye has never turned upon its cloudless skies, or shot wistfully along its parched and endless deserts, the frequent mention of water, and its important uses in the Bible, can come but with little weight; and he alone who has toiled through the privations of India, or writhed beneath the withering sunbeams of the east, can enjoy in their full richness and luxury the sublime allusions of the Scriptures."

8. Gone away unto the city to buy meat. The well was without the city, at some distance from it. Jesus, perhaps more wearied, remains at the well, while his followers go to the city market to procure food.

9. How is it that thou, being a Jew, &c. For it was unusual for a Jew to ask any favor of a Samaritan, or to eat

or drink, or to sit at the same table, with one of that nation. Hence the surprise of the woman at the request of one, whom she recognized at once as a Jew.-For the Jews have no dealings, &c., i. e. no friendly dealings with the Samaritans. This sentence is parenthetical, and introduced by the evangelist to explain to his readers the reason of the woman's question. That there was some intercourse between the two nations, at least in the way of business, is evident from ver. 8. The causes of the deadly enmity, alluded to in the text, were various. The Samaritans were not genuine Israelites, but a mixed race, partly descended from heathen colonists. 2 Kings xvii. 24 41. They are supposed to have rejected all the books of the Old Tesment, except the Pentateuch, or books of Moses. They vehemently opposed the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem, after the Babylonish captivity, Neh. ii. 19, iv. 1, 2, vi., and built a temple of their own on Mount Gerizim, which, they contended, was "the place where men ought to worship." Deut. xxvii. 12. On account of these reasons, sanguinary feuds had sprung up between the two provinces, and a more intense hatred prevailed, than towards the heathen themselves, Eccl. i. 25, 26, illustrating the general principle, that the more nearly religious parties approach each other in belief and worship, the more bitter often are their animosities. John viii. 48.

10. If thou knewest the gift of God. Or, better, the favor or kindness of

God, in granting such an opportunity. -Living water, i. e. fresh running water. Our Lord, with his usual wisdom, and power of drawing illustrations from objects around him, turns the conversation into a spiritual channel, and, under this figure of living water, describes the nature of his spiritual doctrines. He happily illustrated his own saying, that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, by the ease with which he always directed conversation to the great truths of religion.

11. Thou hast nothing to draw with. As the well was very deep, a bucket and long line were required to draw up water. The woman understood Jesus literally.

12. Our father Jacob. The Samaritans, though hostile to the Jews, respected the memory of the patriarch. The fact that Jacob had made and used this well, threw around it precious associations, and to this day, Jews, Samaritans, Christians, and Muhammedans, feel the sacredness of the tradition.

13, 14. Jesus would explain his illustration, as referring to something within man, and not to literal water, like that in the well. Whosoever drinketh of this water, shall thirst again. Bodily thirst, though quenched for a time, soon returns. But whosoever drinketh of the water. The spiritual satisfaction of the teachings

of Jesus would not be thus shortlived, but endure forever. In other words, the gospel contains unfailing nourishment for the soul of man. John vi. 51. The loftiest mind cannot rise above it, nor the wisest nor the holiest outgrow it. The best of our race have resorted to it, and found it all-sufficient to meet the deepest wants of their nature, both in life and in death. The purest form of civilization on earth, has been but a distant approximation to Christ's idea of human society. The noblest Christian, that ever lived, has been but a dim and faded copy of his stainless, glorious Original. — In him. These words are emphatic. Jesus would open within man a never-failing spring of improvement and happiness. He, above all other teachers, has taught us, that the outward never can satisfy man; that the accumulated riches, honors, and pleasures of the whole world cannot cool the fever of his heart; that passion and appetite might exhaust the universe, and still cry, "Give, give." But, on the other hand, if the spiritual fountain of his soul be unsealed, he then has a source within himself, of clear, deep, everflowing, and everlasting happiness.

"Within the pious heart it plays,
A living fount of joy and praise."

Religion is not to be an act, a