JOHN 4:19-20 NKJV

The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

JOHN 4:19-20 NKJV

John 4:19 Because of what Jesus told her about herself, the woman concluded that Jesus Christ was a prophet, a person divinely inspired with supernatural knowledge (1 Sam. 9:9).

John 4:20 By mentioning the two different worship sites, the woman was perhaps trying to shift the conversation away from the subject of her own sins to theological questions. Or perhaps she realized that she was a sinner (v. 18), and knew that she was required to offer a sacrifice. The woman probably assumed that because Jesus was a Jew, He would insist that the sacrifice be offered in the temple at Jerusalem. The Jews insisted that the exclusive place of worship was Jerusalem. But the Samaritans had set up a rival worship site on Mount Gerizim, which according to their tradition was where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac, and where later on he met Melchizedek. When the blessings and curses were read to the wilderness generation of Israel, the blessings were read from Mount Gerizim (Deut. 11:29; 27:12). Deuteronomy 27:4 instructed that an altar be erected on Mount Ebal, opposite Mount Gerizim. But the Samaritan scripture changed the verse to read “Mount Gerizim.” The Samaritans altered history and tampered with the text of Scripture to glorify Mount Gerizim. This woman had been reared to regard Mount Gerizim as the most sacred spot in the world and to despise Jerusalem. No wonder she brings up the issue of the place of worship. She thinks Mount Gerizim is the place of worship and sacrifice, and here is a Jew she is convinced is from God. She is sure He would tell her to go to Jerusalem.