Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Art thou greater, etc.—already perceiving in this Stranger a claim to some mysterious greatness.
our father Jacob—for when it went well with the Jews, they claimed kindred with them, as being descended from Joseph; but when misfortunes befell the Jews, they disowned all connection with them [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 9.14,3].
How is it that thou—not altogether refusing, yet wondering at so unusual a request from a Jew, as His dress and dialect would at once discover Him to be, to a Samaritan.
for, etc.—It is this national antipathy that gives point to the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37), and the thankfulness of the Samaritan leper (Luke 17:16, Luke 17:18).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing John 4:12:
Isaiah 63:16
John 6:26
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