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In the Gospel of John, Jesus was going from Judea in the south toward Galilee. He was passing through Samaria at Sychar. Some suggested this was Shechem. Jesus met a woman by a well and talked to her while his disciples went into town to buy food. While conversing, he told the woman she had five husbands and the one she was currently going with was not her husband. The woman had never met Jesus before and concluded he was prophesying.
John 4:28 (WEB) So the woman left her water pot, went away into the city, and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?”
30 They went out of the city, and were coming to him. 31 In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33 The disciples therefore said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest?’ Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already. 36 He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you haven’t labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I did.”
I sometimes thought the part about four months until the harvest might have meant the olive harvest as olive groves are upon the hills and mountains of Samaria to this day. The olive harvest was September - November depending on the region and whether green or brown olives were being picked. Then Jesus talked about fields being white for the harvest already. I thought this harvest might mean instructing people in God’s ways. Jesus spoke in figures of speech, like in a previous verse Jesus talked about his food was to do the will of he who sent him. When barley ripened it turned from green to light brown, almost white. Barley ripened earlier than wheat. The barley harvest was from the end of March to the end of May in Israel, depending on region as it was hot along the Judea coast and cooler in northern Galilee. The wheat harvest was later than the barley harvest and continued until June. (This section was edited with more accurate harvest data).
It is difficult to discern what time of year Jesus was passing through Samaria. The Gospels seem to have chronological order in part, but other times the writers may have written about things Jesus did without preserving chronological order. In the Gospel of John the cleansing of the temple was near the beginning of the Gospel and in the other three Gospels it was near the end of the Gospel. I have a theory Jesus was passing through Samaria after the Passover, four months before the olive harvest.
Any ideas?
John 4:28 (WEB) So the woman left her water pot, went away into the city, and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?”
30 They went out of the city, and were coming to him. 31 In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33 The disciples therefore said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest?’ Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already. 36 He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you haven’t labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I did.”
I sometimes thought the part about four months until the harvest might have meant the olive harvest as olive groves are upon the hills and mountains of Samaria to this day. The olive harvest was September - November depending on the region and whether green or brown olives were being picked. Then Jesus talked about fields being white for the harvest already. I thought this harvest might mean instructing people in God’s ways. Jesus spoke in figures of speech, like in a previous verse Jesus talked about his food was to do the will of he who sent him. When barley ripened it turned from green to light brown, almost white. Barley ripened earlier than wheat. The barley harvest was from the end of March to the end of May in Israel, depending on region as it was hot along the Judea coast and cooler in northern Galilee. The wheat harvest was later than the barley harvest and continued until June. (This section was edited with more accurate harvest data).
It is difficult to discern what time of year Jesus was passing through Samaria. The Gospels seem to have chronological order in part, but other times the writers may have written about things Jesus did without preserving chronological order. In the Gospel of John the cleansing of the temple was near the beginning of the Gospel and in the other three Gospels it was near the end of the Gospel. I have a theory Jesus was passing through Samaria after the Passover, four months before the olive harvest.
Any ideas?
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