Our fathers
This phrase refers to the Samaritan ancestors, who were a mixed population of Israelites and foreigners. The Samaritans claimed descent from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and they held onto certain traditions and religious practices distinct from the Jews. The use of "our fathers" indicates a deep-rooted cultural and religious identity that the Samaritan woman is expressing, highlighting the historical division between Samaritans and Jews.

worshiped
The Greek word used here is "προσκυνέω" (proskuneo), which means to bow down or to prostrate oneself in reverence. This act of worship is not merely a physical gesture but a profound expression of devotion and submission to God. The Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim, which they considered a sacred site, emphasizing the importance of location in their religious practice.

on this mountain
This refers to Mount Gerizim, which held significant religious importance for the Samaritans. Archaeological evidence suggests that a temple once stood on this mountain, serving as the center of Samaritan worship. The mountain's mention underscores the historical and theological conflict between Samaritans and Jews, as the latter considered Jerusalem the rightful place of worship.

but you Jews say
This phrase highlights the tension and division between the Samaritans and the Jews. The Jews, who followed the teachings of the Torah, believed that worship should be centralized in Jerusalem, where Solomon's Temple was located. This statement by the Samaritan woman reflects the longstanding debate over the correct location for worship, a debate rooted in differing interpretations of Scripture and tradition.

that the place where one must worship
The emphasis on "the place" underscores the importance both groups placed on the physical location of worship. For the Jews, the Temple in Jerusalem was the dwelling place of God's presence, as established in the Old Testament. This belief in a specific, divinely chosen location for worship was central to Jewish religious identity and practice.

is in Jerusalem
Jerusalem, the city of David, was the spiritual and political heart of Jewish life. It was home to the Temple, the center of Jewish worship and sacrifice. The insistence on Jerusalem as the place of worship reflects the Jewish understanding of God's covenant with Israel, which included the establishment of Jerusalem as the holy city. This belief was deeply ingrained in Jewish theology and was a point of contention with the Samaritans, who had their own sacred site.

(20) Our fathers worshipped.--She gives a sudden turn to the conversation. It is not that the question of worship is the all-engrossing problem of her mind, for which she seeks solution at this prophet's hands. Such questions hardly came then within the circle of a Samaritan woman's thoughts, and this woman's life had not been such as to make her an exception to the rule; but the heart, quivering before the eye that reads it as it never before had read itself, shrinks from the light that is let in upon it. She will speak of anything rather than of self. There is the mountain overhanging them, the theme of many a discussion between Samaritan and Jew; she will ask the prophet to decide that question.

Verse 20. - Our fathers. The "our" refers here to the Samaritans, just as the "ye" does to the Jews. She may be going back once more to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who worshipped and laboured at Shechem - but the mountain itself was not the site of a temple until the days of Nehemiah, and the temple in which the apostate Manasseh, son of Jaddua, offered sacrifices had been destroyed for nearly a hundred and fifty years. A chronological, if not more serious, difference is apparent between Nehemiah and Josephus (Josephus, 'Ant.,' 11:08. 2; Nehemiah 13:28). According to the former, the Samaritan schism which led to the erection of the temple was a hundred years before the period assigned by Josephus. For whereas Nehemiah says that the apostate priest whom he chased away was son-in-law of Sanballat, the Persian satrap in Samaria, Josephus makes Sanballat contemporary with Alexander, and represents the establishment of the Samaritan temple as originating with his approval. Josephus further ('Ant.,' 13:09, 1) says that the temple was destroyed by Hyrcanus, about B.C. 129, and adds that it had stood two hundred years. The temple was destroyed, but "the mountain of blessing" remained for the Samaritans as a place of prayer ('Ant.,' 18:04. 1; 'Bell. Jud.,' 1:02, 6). This was conserved, on the ground that Abraham and Jacob had here built altars (Deuteronomy 11:26; Deuteronomy 27:4-13). In Deuteronomy 27:4, however, Mount Ebal in mentioned as the place where an altar had been first built to Jehovah. In the Samaritan Pentateuch the word "Gerizim" had in this place been substituted for "Ebal;" and so it came to pass that Gerizim had been a place of prayer throughout the long interval When Jesus was at Jacob's well, he could see the ruins of the edifice where sacrifice and praises were being offered. Indeed, these have continued to the present day. The oldest shrine in the world for local worship still holds its own, hard by the very spot where the most complete overthrow of the principle of sacred places fell in divinest words from the lips of the Holy One. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain - Gerizim, where the ruins of the temple still abide - and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men must worship. Jerusalem is not mentioned in their sacred books - Jerusalem, whose unity of sanctuary was recognized at length as the τόπος where the Lord would put his Name, and where alone the sacrifices could possess their historic and symbolic validity. Whensoever the Pentateuch may have been finally edited, all critics will allow that, at the time of the Lord, and in the Samaritan Version of the Pentateuch, the idea of such unity of sanctuary was a fixed principle. The Samaritans claimed Gerizim, and the Jews Moriah, as the place where Abraham offered his typical sacrifice, and both regarded the worship celebrated in their favourite shrine - the daily offering, the annual feasts (the Passover especially) - as giving worthiness to all the prayers and praises which they might be induced to offer in all places where they might sojourn. The woman does not submit to our Lord that he may settle this great question for her, but she makes it clear enough that she would like to know his verdict. The worship was the sacrificial worship where sin such as hers could alone be cleansed, and where her conscience could be set free for calm and continuous communion with God.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Our
ἡμῶν (hēmōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

forefathers
πατέρες (pateres)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3962: Father, (Heavenly) Father, ancestor, elder, senior. Apparently a primary word; a 'father'.

worshiped
προσεκύνησαν (prosekynēsan)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 4352: From pros and a probable derivative of kuon; to fawn or crouch to, i.e. prostrate oneself in homage.

on
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

this
τούτῳ (toutō)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.

mountain,
ὄρει (orei)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3735: A mountain, hill. Probably from an obsolete oro; a mountain: -hill, mount(-ain).

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

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

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.

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

the
ὁ (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.

place
τόπος (topos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5117: Apparently a primary word; a spot, i.e. Location; figuratively, condition, opportunity; specially, a scabbard.

where
ὅπου (hopou)
Adverb
Strong's 3699: Where, whither, in what place. From hos and pou; what(-ever) where, i.e. At whichever spot.

[one] must
δεῖ (dei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1163: Third person singular active present of deo; also deon deh-on'; neuter active participle of the same; both used impersonally; it is Necessary.

worship
προσκυνεῖν (proskynein)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 4352: From pros and a probable derivative of kuon; to fawn or crouch to, i.e. prostrate oneself in homage.

is
ἐστὶν (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.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

Jerusalem.”
Ἱεροσολύμοις (Hierosolymois)
Noun - Dative Neuter Plural
Strong's 2414: The Greek form of the Hebrew name: Jerusalem. Of Hebrew origin; Hierosolyma


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NT Gospels: John 4:20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain (Jhn Jo Jn)