John 4:35
New International Version
Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.

New Living Translation
You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.

English Standard Version
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

Berean Standard Bible
Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.

Berean Literal Bible
Do you not say that it is yet four months and the harvest comes? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and see the fields, because they are already white toward harvest!

King James Bible
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

New King James Version
Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

New American Standard Bible
Do you not say, ‘There are still four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields, that they are white for harvest.

NASB 1995
“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest ‘? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.

NASB 1977
“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.

Legacy Standard Bible
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.

Amplified Bible
Do you not say, ‘It is still four months until the harvest comes?’ Look, I say to you, raise your eyes and look at the fields and see, they are white for harvest.

Christian Standard Bible
“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
“Don’t you say, There are still four more months, then comes the harvest? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest.

American Standard Version
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Do you not say, 'After four months the harvest comes?' Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and behold the fields that are white and are ready to harvest even now.

Contemporary English Version
You may say there are still four months until harvest time. But I tell you to look, and you will see that the fields are ripe and ready to harvest.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Do you not say, There are yet four months, and then the harvest cometh? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and see the countries; for they are white already to harvest.

English Revised Version
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Don't you say, 'In four more months the harvest will be here'? I'm telling you to look and see that the fields are ready to be harvested.

Good News Translation
You have a saying, 'Four more months and then the harvest.' But I tell you, take a good look at the fields; the crops are now ripe and ready to be harvested!

International Standard Version
You say, don't you, 'In four more months the harvest will begin?' Look, I tell you, open your eyes and observe that the fields are ready for harvesting now!

Literal Standard Version
do not say that it is yet four months, and the harvest comes; behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and see the fields, that they are white to harvest already.

Majority Standard Bible
Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.

New American Bible
Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.

NET Bible
Don't you say, 'There are four more months and then comes the harvest?' I tell you, look up and see that the fields are already white for harvest!

New Revised Standard Version
Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.

New Heart English Bible
Do you not say, 'There are yet four months until the harvest?' Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see the fields, that they are white for harvest already.

Webster's Bible Translation
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

Weymouth New Testament
Do you not say, 'It wants four months yet to the harvest'? But look round, I tell you, and observe these plains-- they are already ripe for the sickle.

World English Bible
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.

Young's Literal Translation
do not say that it is yet four months, and the harvest cometh; lo, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and see the fields, that they are white unto harvest already.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Disciples Return and Marvel
34Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work. 35Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest. 36Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together.…

Cross References
Isaiah 49:18
Lift up your eyes and look around. They all gather together; they come to you. As surely as I live," declares the LORD, "you will wear them all as jewelry and put them on like a bride.

Matthew 9:37
Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Matthew 9:38
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest."

Luke 10:2
And He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.


Treasury of Scripture

Say not you, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

for.

John 4:30
Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

Matthew 9:37,38
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; …

Luke 10:3
Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

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Already Cutting Eyes Fields Four Grain-Cutting Harvest Lift Months Observe Open Plains Ripe Round Sickle There Time Wants White
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Already Cutting Eyes Fields Four Grain-Cutting Harvest Lift Months Observe Open Plains Ripe Round Sickle There Time Wants White
John 4
1. Jesus talks with a woman of Samaria, and reveals his identity to her.
27. His disciples marvel.
31. He declares to them his zeal for God's glory.
39. Many Samaritans believe on him.
43. He departs into Galilee, and heals the ruler's son that lay sick at Capernaum.














(35) Say not ye, There are yet four months.--The emphasis in this verse should be laid upon "ye." It follows immediately out of the contrast between the natural and spiritual food. Every outer fact is the sign of an inner truth. They here, as the woman in John 4:11, as the teacher of Israel (John 3:4), as the Jews (John 2:20), speak in the language of the outer facts only. He speaks of the spiritual realities. Looking on the fields of springing corn, they would say that in four months there would be harvest. He sees signs of life springing up from seed sown in receptive hearts; and eyes lifted up and directed to the wide fields of the world's nations would see that the fulness of time was come, and that the fields were even now white to harvest. The Samaritans coming to Him are as the firstfruits, the earnest of the abundant sheaves which shall follow.

Four months.--This gives us probably a note on time. There is no evidence that it was a proverbial saying, and the form of the sentence is against the supposition. The legal beginning of harvest was fixed (Leviticus 23:10; Deuteronomy 16:9) for the 16th of Nisan (April). This would give us in that year, which was a Jewish leap-year, with a month added (Wieseler's Synopsis, Eng. Trans., p. 187), some time about the middle of the month Tebeth (January) as the date of this conversation. (Comp. John 5:1.) For the idea of the harvest, comp. Matthew 9:36-38, and the parable of the Sower, Matthew 13:3 et seq. . . .

Verse 35. - Say not ye - has not your talk with one another been, as you have passed through the springing corn, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? This cannot be a proverbial expression for the time which elapses between sowing and harvest, as some (Lucke and Tholuck) have supposed, because, firstly, there is no mention of sowing at all; and secondly, because six months was the customary period between seed time and ingathering; and also because the "say not ye?" would then be inappropriate. I cannot doubt that it was a chronological hint that the time at which Jesus spake was four months from either the barley or wheat harvest. These harvests generally occurred between the middle of March and the middle of April. The time must, therefore, have been either the middle of November or of December. Tristram (Westcott) says the (wheat?) harvest began about the middle of April and lasted till the end of May. This would bring the time forward another month. This makes our Lord to have spent some eight months since the Passover, either in Jerusalem or in the Judaean land, on his earliest mission, which as yet had brought no obvious results. Men had come to his baptism, but had not appreciated or accepted his claims. The faith already awakened had been of the evanescent character, based on "signs," outward not inward, a "milk faith," to which he did not entrust himself (ch, 2:240. Behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; they are whitening unto harvest. Our Lord now uses another metaphor - he bids the disciples glance across these rich cornfields, to observe the obvious effect already produced by the sowing of good seed in Samaritan soil. The people are flocking towards him. The harvest of souls is ripening, and it is great. You must wait four months before this springing corn will need the sickle. But I say unto you, The time is come. The kingdom is come. The reaper must prepare for instant service. Again, we have a note of personal identity between the Jesus of the Fourth Gospel and the Author of the parables of the sower and the harvest. The very rapidity with which he passes from the symbolism of water to the symbolism of food, and then to that of seed time and harvest, reminds us of One who "without a parable spake not." The words so far have universal application in every age. The harvest has always been ripening. The word λευκός is used in this place only for the aspect of ripening corn. It has elsewhere the meaning of glittering, translucent whiteness, and perhaps it is used here for "dead ripe." The golden grain in late summer becomes white, and this intensifies the force of the image. It seems to say, "These fields will be sacrificed, these fruits will be wasted, these souls will be lost, unless they are reaped and brought into the heavenly garner."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
{Do} you
ὑμεῖς (hymeis)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

not
οὐχ (ouch)
Adverb
Strong's 3756: No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.

say,
λέγετε (legete)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

‘There are
ἐστιν (estin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

still
Ἔτι (Eti)
Adverb
Strong's 2089: (a) of time: still, yet, even now, (b) of degree: even, further, more, in addition. Perhaps akin to etos; 'yet, ' still.

four months
τετράμηνός (tetramēnos)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5072: Of four months, a period of four months. Neuter of a compound of tessares and men; a four months' space.

[until]
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

the
(ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

harvest’?
θερισμὸς (therismos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2326: Reaping, harvest; met: the harvest, crop. From therizo; reaping, i.e. The crop.

I tell
λέγω (legō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

you,
ὑμῖν (hymin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

lift up
ἐπάρατε (eparate)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 1869: To raise, lift up. From epi and airo; to raise up.

your
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

eyes
ὀφθαλμοὺς (ophthalmous)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3788: The eye; fig: the mind's eye. From optanomai; the eye; by implication, vision; figuratively, envy.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

look at
θεάσασθε (theasasthe)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Middle - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 2300: A prolonged form of a primary verb; to look closely at, i.e. perceive; by extension to visit.

the
τὰς (tas)
Article - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

fields,
χώρας (chōras)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 5561: Feminine of a derivative of the base of chasma through the idea of empty expanse; room, i.e. A space of territory.

for
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

they are
εἰσιν (eisin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

ripe
λευκαί (leukai)
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Plural
Strong's 3022: White, bright, brilliant. From luke; white.

for
πρὸς (pros)
Preposition
Strong's 4314: To, towards, with. A strengthened form of pro; a preposition of direction; forward to, i.e. Toward.

harvest.
θερισμόν (therismon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2326: Reaping, harvest; met: the harvest, crop. From therizo; reaping, i.e. The crop.


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