to harvest · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
receiveth
λαμβάνειlambanei
G2983
while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
wages
μισθὸνmisthon
G3408
pay for service (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
gathereth
συνάγειsunagei
G4863
to lead together · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
fruit
καρπὸνkarpon
G2590
fruit (as plucked) · noun — accusative singular masculine
unto
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
life
ζωὴνzōēn
G2222
life (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
eternal
αἰώνιον,aiōnion
G166
perpetual (also used of past time · adjective — accusative singular feminine
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
both
καίkaí
G2532
and
he that soweth
σπείρωνspeirōn
G4687
to scatter · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
and
καίkaí
G2532
and
he that reapeth
θερίζων.therizōn
G2325
to harvest · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
may rejoice
χαίρῃchairē
G5463
to be "cheer"ful · verb — present active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
together
ὁμοῦhomou
G3674
akin to G260 (ἅμα)) as adverb · adverb
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
James 5:19-20 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
1 Corinthians 3:5-9 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
Romans 1:13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fru…
Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
2 Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and eve…
Romans 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
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…
he that reapeth, &c.--As our Lord could not mean that the reaper only, and not the sower, received "wages," in the sense of personal reward for his work, the "wages" here can be no other than the joy of having such a harvest to gather in--the joy of "gathering fruit unto life eternal."
rejoice together--The blessed issue of the whole ingathering is the interest alike of the sower as of the reaper; it is no more the fruit of the last operation than of the first; and just as there can be no reaping without previous sowing, so have those servants of Christ, to whom is assigned the pleasant task of merely reaping the spiritual harvest, no work to do, and no joy to taste, that has not been prep…
And he that reapeth receiveth wages - Or, And already the reaper receiveth wages. By making the word ηδη, already, the beginning of this verse, on the authority of some excellent MSS. and versions, a more consistent sense is obtained than from the common arrangement, where ηδη terminates the preceding verse.
Already the heavenly sower, Jesus Christ, becomes the reaper of the produce of the seed which he had so lately sown; and receives the wages which he desired, the high gratification of saving immortal souls; and gathers in his fruit unto eternal life. So the sower and the reaper, who are here one and the same person, rejoiced together, having seen the seed time and the harvest take place…
The Church Fathers
(Tr. xv. c. 32) The Apostles and Prophets had different labours, corresponding to the difference of times; but both will attain to like joy, and receive together their wages, even eternal life.
(Tr. xv. c. 32) He was intent now on beginning the work, and hastened to send labourers: And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
Jesus calls himself a sower because he has begun to teach and preach. He calls the apostles reapers because they have taken their start from him and have thus been able to offer men and women as fruits to God. Therefore he adds … "and the reaper is already receiving wages," that is, not because the impetus and start of the work comes from me or because your labor will be without reward—which is not the case—but because you will also receive your wages according to your labor. So the benefit is held in common: it is mine because I sowed, but it is also yours because you reap. You rejoice in gathering the fruits, and I rejoice in seeing the seed grow. The truth of grace is revealed more clearly in this as well because, through the seeds sown by me, such a great power has been given to you that you will be enabled to lead many to faith because of the help you derive from me. And the fact that, empowered by me, you are able to do these things again confirms the excellence of my virtue.
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
Fruits · Illustrative: Of converts to the church — Illustrative: Of converts to the church
Reaping · Persons engaged in: Received wages — Persons engaged in: Received wages
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).
And he that reapeth receiveth wages,.... Angels are sometimes called reapers, and so are ministers of the Gospel here. The works and ministry of the apostles are here expressed by "reaping": for as in reaping, when the corn is ripe, the sickle is put in, and the corn is cut down, and laid to the ground, and then bound in sheaves, and gathered into the barn; so when things are ripe in providence, and God's set time is come to convert any of his people, he makes use of his ministers for the cutting them down, laying low the loftiness and haughtiness of man, stripping him of all his goodliness, and taking him off of a dependence on his own righteousness and works, and for the gathering them int…
John 4:35-38
35. Do you not say, There are yet four months, and harvest will come? Lo, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest. 36. And he who reapeth receiveth reward, and gathereth fruit into life eternal; that both he that soweth, and he that reapeth, may rejoice together. 37. For in this is the saying true, That there is one who soweth, and another who reapeth. 38. I sent you to reap that on which you did not labor; other men labored, and you have entered into their labors.
35. Do you not say? He follows out the preceding statement; for, having said that nothing was more dear to him than to finish the work of the Father, he now sh…
Four months between planting and harvest: Jesus cited a local parable to contrast the natural harvest with his own. It was harvest time in Samaria, and the fields were ripe. Jesus, however, had planted seed at the well and now was already reaping the harvest of belief among the Samaritans (4:39-42).
