John 4:26

THE MESSAGE

"I am he," said Jesus. "You don't have to wait any longer or look any further."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”

King James Version (1611)
Iesus sayth vnto her, I that speake vnto thee, am hee.

King James Version
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

English Standard Version
Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."

New American Standard Bible
Jesus said to her, "I am He, the One speaking to you."

New Century Version
Then Jesus said, "I am he—I, the one talking to you."

Amplified Bible
Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you, am He (the Messiah)."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

Legacy Standard Bible
Jesus *said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

Berean Standard Bible
Jesus answered, "I who speak to you am He."

Contemporary English Version
"I am that one," Jesus told her, "and I am speaking to you now."

Complete Jewish Bible
Yeshua said to her, "I, the person speaking to you, am he."

Darby Translation
Jesus says to her, I who speak to thee am [he].

Easy-to-Read Version
Then Jesus said, "He is talking to you now—I am the Messiah."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Iesus said vnto her, I am he, that speake vnto thee.

George Lamsa Translation
Jesus said to her, I am he, who is speaking to you.

Good News Translation
Jesus answered, "I am he, I who am talking with you."

Lexham English Bible
Jesus said to her, "I, the one speaking to you, am he.

Literal Translation
Jesus said to her, I AM! the One speaking to you.

American Standard Version
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

Bible in Basic English
Jesus said to her, I, who am talking to you, am he.

Hebrew Names Version
Yeshua said to her, "I am he, the one who speaks to you."

International Standard Version
Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."Matthew 26:63-64; Mark 14:61-62; John 9:37;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
26 Jeshu saith to her, I am (he), I who speak with thee. [fn]

Murdock Translation
Jesus said to her: I, who talk with thee, am he.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Iesus sayth vnto her: I that speake vnto thee, am he.

English Revised Version
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

World English Bible
Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Jesus saith to her, I that speak to thee, am He.

Weymouth's New Testament
"I am He," said Jesus--"I who am now talking to you."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Jhesus seith to hir, Y am he, that spekith with thee.

Update Bible Version
Jesus says to her, I am he that speaks to you.

Webster's Bible Translation
Jesus saith to her, I that speak to thee am [he].

New English Translation
Jesus said to her, "I, the one speaking to you, am he."

New King James Version
Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

New Living Translation
Then Jesus told her, " I am the Messiah!"

New Life Bible
Jesus said to her, "I am the Christ, the One talking with you!"

New Revised Standard
Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Jesus saith unto her - I, that speak unto thee, am he.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Jesus saith to her: I am he, who am speaking with thee.

Revised Standard Version
Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Iesus sayde vnto hir: I that speake vnto the am he.

Young's Literal Translation
Jesus saith to her, `I am [he], who am speaking to thee.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Iesus sayde vnto her: I that speake vnto the, am he.

Mace New Testament (1729)
Jesus said to her, I that am talking with you am he.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Jesus stood up and said, "I AM God's Top Hand."

Contextual Overview

⁴To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon. ⁷A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.) ⁹ The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water." ¹¹The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water'? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?" ¹³Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life." ¹⁵ The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!" ¹⁶ He said, "Go call your husband and then come back." ¹⁷"I have no husband," she said. "That's nicely put: ‘I have no husband.' You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough." ¹⁹"Oh, so you're a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I that: John 9:37, Matthew 16:20, Matthew 20:15, Matthew 26:63, Matthew 26:64, Mark 14:61, Mark 14:62, Luke 13:30, Romans 10:20, Romans 10:21

Reciprocal: Luke 4:21 - This day John 4:10 - and who Acts 8:5 - preached

Cross-References

Genesis 4:15
God told him, "No. Anyone who kills Cain will pay for it seven times over." God put a mark on Cain to protect him so that no one who met him would kill him.

Genesis 4:17
Cain slept with his wife. She conceived and had Enoch. He then built a city and named it after his son, Enoch. Enoch had Irad, Irad had Mehujael, Mehujael had Methushael, Methushael had Lamech.

Genesis 12:8
He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there and prayed to God .

Genesis 26:25
Isaac built an altar there and prayed, calling on God by name. He pitched his tent and his servants started digging another well.

Isaiah 48:1
"And now listen to this, family of Jacob, you who are called by the name Israel: Who got you started in the loins of Judah, you who use God 's name to back up your promises and pray to the God of Israel? But do you mean it? Do you live like it? You claim to be citizens of the Holy City; you act as though you lean on the God of Israel, named God -of-the-Angel-Armies. For a long time now, I've let you in on the way I work: I told you what I was going to do beforehand, then I did it and it was done, and that's that. I know you're a bunch of hardheads, obstinate and flint-faced, So I got a running start and began telling you what was going on before it even happened. That is why you can't say, ‘My god-idol did this.' ‘My favorite god-carving commanded this.' You have all this evidence confirmed by your own eyes and ears. Shouldn't you be talking about it? And that was just the beginning. I have a lot more to tell you, things you never knew existed. This isn't a variation on the same old thing. This is new, brand-new, something you'd never guess or dream up. When you hear this you won't be able to say, ‘I knew that all along.' You've never been good listeners to me. You have a history of ignoring me, A sorry track record of fickle attachments— rebels from the womb. But out of the sheer goodness of my heart, because of who I am, I keep a tight rein on my anger and hold my temper. I don't wash my hands of you. Do you see what I've done? I've refined you, but not without fire. I've tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction. Out of myself, simply because of who I am, I do what I do. I have my reputation to keep up. I'm not playing second fiddle to either gods or people.

Isaiah 63:19
Who Goes There? The watchmen call out, "Who goes there, marching out of Edom, out of Bozrah in clothes dyed red? Name yourself, so splendidly dressed, advancing, bristling with power!" "It is I: I speak what is right, I, mighty to save!" "And why are your robes so red, your clothes dyed red like those who tread grapes?" "I've been treading the winepress alone. No one was there to help me. Angrily, I stomped the grapes; raging, I trampled the people. Their blood spurted all over me— all my clothes were soaked with blood. I was set on vengeance. The time for redemption had arrived. I looked around for someone to help —no one. I couldn't believe it —not one volunteer. So I went ahead and did it myself, fed and fueled by my rage. I trampled the people in my anger, crushed them under foot in my wrath, soaked the earth with their lifeblood." I'll make a list of God 's gracious dealings, all the things God has done that need praising, All the generous bounties of God , his great goodness to the family of Israel— Compassion lavished, love extravagant. He said, "Without question these are my people, children who would never betray me." So he became their Savior. In all their troubles, he was troubled, too. He didn't send someone else to help them. He did it himself, in person. Out of his own love and pity he redeemed them. He rescued them and carried them along for a long, long time. But they turned on him; they grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned on them, became their enemy and fought them. Then they remembered the old days, the days of Moses, God's servant: "Where is he who brought the shepherds of his flock up and out of the sea? And what happened to the One who set his Holy Spirit within them? Who linked his arm with Moses' right arm, divided the waters before them, Making him famous ever after, and led them through the muddy abyss as surefooted as horses on hard, level ground? Like a herd of cattle led to pasture, the Spirit of God gave them rest." That's how you led your people! That's how you became so famous! Look down from heaven, look at us! Look out the window of your holy and magnificent house! Whatever happened to your passion, your famous mighty acts, Your heartfelt pity, your compassion? Why are you holding back? You are our Father. Abraham and Israel are long dead. They wouldn't know us from Adam. But you're our living Father, our Redeemer, famous from eternity! Why, God , did you make us wander from your ways? Why did you make us cold and stubborn so that we no longer worshiped you in awe? Turn back for the sake of your servants. You own us! We belong to you! For a while your holy people had it good, but now our enemies have wrecked your holy place. For a long time now, you've paid no attention to us. It's like you never knew us.

Zephaniah 3:9
"In the end I will turn things around for the people. I'll give them a language undistorted, unpolluted, Words to address God in worship and, united, to serve me with their shoulders to the wheel. They'll come from beyond the Ethiopian rivers, they'll come praying— All my scattered, exiled people will come home with offerings for worship. You'll no longer have to be ashamed of all those acts of rebellion. I'll have gotten rid of your arrogant leaders. No more pious strutting on my holy hill! I'll leave a core of people among you who are poor in spirit— What's left of Israel that's really Israel. They'll make their home in God . This core holy people will not do wrong. They won't lie, won't use words to flatter or seduce. Content with who they are and where they are, unanxious, they'll live at peace."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Jesus saith unto her,.... Upon her making mention of the Messiah, of his coming, and of his work, he took the opportunity of making himself known unto her:

I that speak unto thee am [he]; the Messiah; see Isaiah 52:6. This is a wonderful instance of the grace of Christ to this woman, that he should make himself known in so clear and plain a manner, to so mean a person, and so infamous a creature as she had been: we never find that he ever made so clear a discovery of himself, in such express terms, to any, as to her, unless it were to his immediate disciples; and these he would sometimes charge not to tell who he was.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I that speak onto thee am - he I am the Messiah. This was the first time that he openly professed it. He did not do it yet to the Jews, for it would have excited envy and opposition. But nothing could be apprehended in Samaria; and as the woman seemed reluctant to listen to him as a prophet, and professed her willingness to listen to the Messiah, he openly declared that he was the Christ, that by some means he might save her soul. From this we may learn:

1. The great wisdom of the Lord Jesus in leading the thoughts along to the subject of practical personal religion.
2. His knowledge of the heart and of the life. He must be therefore divine.
3. He gave evidence here that he was the Messiah. This was the design of John in writing this gospel. He has therefore recorded this narrative, which was omitted by the other evangelists.
4. We see our duty. It is to seize on all occasions to lead sinners to the belief that Jesus is the Christ, and to make use of all topics of conversation to teach them the nature of religion. There never was a model of so much wisdom in this as the Saviour, and we shall be successful only as we diligently study his character.
5. We see the nature of religion. It does not consist merely in external forms. It is pure, spiritual, active - an ever-bubbling fountain. It is the worship of a pure and holy God, where the heart is offered, and where the desires of an humble soul are breathed out; for salvation.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 26. Jesus saith unto her, I - am he.] Our Lord never spoke in such direct terms concerning himself to his own countrymen; nor even to his own disciples, till a little before his death. The reason given by Bishop Pearce is the following: The woman being alone when Jesus said it, and being a Samaritan, he had no reason to apprehend that the Samaritans, if they knew his claim, would disturb his ministry before the time of his suffering came; which seems to have been the reason why he concealed it so long from his own countrymen.