The Samaritan View of the Messiah
F. Godet, D. D. John 4:25-26 The woman said to him, I know that Messias comes, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.… The Samaritans still expect a Messiah to whom they give the name of Assaief (from שׁרב, to return), which means "he who brings back" or converts, or else, "he who returns"; because the waiting of the Samaritans being founded on Deuteronomy 18:18, the Messiah is in their view a Moses who returns. At the present day they call him El-Muhdy. There is a remarkable contrast between this woman's notion and that of the worldly and political Jews. The Samaritan idea was incomplete; the Messiah was a prophet, not a king. But it did not contain anything else; and hence Jesus can appropriate itself to Himself, and here declare Himself the Christ, which He never did in Israel till the last moment (chap. John 17:3; Matthew 26:64). (F. Godet, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. WEB: The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah comes," (he who is called Christ). "When he has come, he will declare to us all things."