John 4:32

But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
But	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
said	εἶπεν eipen	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
them	αὐτοῖς· autois	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
I	ἐγὼ egō	G1473	I · personal pronoun — 1st person nominative singular
have	ἔχω echō	G2192	to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
meat	βρῶσιν brōsin	G1035	(abstractly) eating (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
to eat	φαγεῖν phagein	G5315	to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist active infinitive
that	ἣν hēn	G3739	the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun · relative pronoun — accusative singular feminine
ye	ὑμεῖς hymeîs	G5210	you (as subjective of verb)
know	εἴδω eídō	G1492	used only in certain past tenses
not	οὐκ ouk	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Psalms 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
John 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Proverbs 18:20 A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
Jeremiah 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD…
Psalms 63:5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
Psalms 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
Proverbs 14:10 The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 4:27-42

We have here the remainder of the story of what happened when Christ was in Samaria, after the long conference he had with the woman. I. The interruption given to this discourse by the disciples' coming. It is probable that much more was said than is recorded; but just when the discourse was brought to a head, when Christ had made himself known to her as the true Messiah, then came the disciples. The daughters of Jerusalem shall not stir up nor awake my love till he please. 1. They wondered at Christ's converse with this woman, marvelled that he talked thus earnestly (as perhaps they observed at a distance) with a woman, a strange woman alone (he used to be more reserved), especially with a…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 4:32

meat ye know not of--What spirituality of mind! "I have been eating all the while, and such food as ye dream not of." What can that be? they ask each other; have any supplies been brought Him in our absence? He knows what they are saying though He hears it not.

Adam Clarke on John 4:32

I have meat to eat that ye know not of - Our blessed Lord seizes every opportunity to raise the minds of his apostles to heavenly things, through the medium of earthly matters. Nor does he force these things into such service. Properly understood, earthly substances are the types, representatives, and shadows of heavenly things.

John Gill on John 4:32

But he said unto them,.... That is, "Jesus", as the Persic, or the Lord Jesus, as the Ethiopic versions express it: I have meat to eat that ye know not of: meaning the conversion of the Samaritan woman, and of other Samaritans, who were flocking in great numbers to him, which he knew, though his disciples did not; and the harvest of souls he had a prospect of, see John 4:35, was as meat unto him, delightful and refreshing; and his mind and thoughts were so taken up with these things, that he had no inclination to any corporeal food.

The Church Fathers

(Tr. xv. c. 31) What wonder that the woman did not understand about the water? Lo, the disciples do not understand about the meat.
— Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Skilfully does the Saviour fashion His answer from what was before Him. He all but says darkly, that if they knew that the conversion of the Samaritans was at the doors, they would have persuaded Him rather to cling to that as a delicacy than to nourish the flesh. From this again we may learn how great love for man the Divine Nature hath: for It considereth the return of the lost unto salvation as both meat and treat.
— Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 2

"I," says the Lord, "have meat to eat that ye know not of. My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me." You see another kind of food which, similarly with milk, represents figuratively the will of God. Besides, also, the completion of His own passion He called catachrestically "a cup," when He alone had to drink and drain it. Thus to Christ the fulfilling of His Father's will was food; and to us infants, who drink the milk of the word of the heavens, Christ Himself is food.
— Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 1

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Crucifixion — A common mode of punishment among heathen nations in early times. It is not certain whether it was known among the ancient Jews; probably it was not. The modes of capital punishment according to the…
Samaritans — The name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the original…
Converts · .The Samaritans — .The Samaritans
Samaria · .Jesus travels through — .Jesus travels through
Shechem · .Jesus visits; disciples ma — .Jesus visits; disciples ma

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

John 4:32

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 4:27-42

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 4:32

Adam Clarke on John 4:32

John Gill on John 4:32

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John 4:32

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 4:27-42

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 4:32

Adam Clarke on John 4:32

John Gill on John 4:32

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on John 4:27-34

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 4:32-34