SEV Biblia, Chapter 4:37
Porque en esto es el dicho verdadero: Que uno es el que siembra, y otro es el que siega.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - John 4:37
Verse 37. Herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.] Or, One is the sower, and another is the reaper. In what respects you, of this business, this proverb is true-One is the sower, &c., for I have sent you to reap, to preach my Gospel, and gain converts, where ye have not laboured-have not sown the first seeds of eternal life. Others have laboured-the patriarchs and prophets, and ye are entered into the fruits of their labours. They announced the Messiah who was to come, and the expectation of the people was excited, and they longed for his appearance; but they were gathered to their fathers before they could see the fruit of their labour. You are come to tell the people that the kingdom of God is among them, and that God has visited his people. The proverb which our Lord mentions above was taken from what ordinarily happens in the course of the Divine providence, where one takes a great deal of pains to procure that of which another reaps the benefit. See instances of this proverb, Lev. xxvi. 16: Ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. Micah vi. 15: Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but not anoint thee with the oil. See also Hosea vii. 9. The Greeks had the same proverb: alloi men sperousi, alloi dan amhsontai. So had the Latins: Aliis leporem excitasti. You have beat the bush, and another has found the hare. See the famous verses of Virgil beginning with, Sic vos non vobis, in which the fowls, the sheep, the bees, and the oxen, are elegantly brought in as illustrations of the propriety of the proverb.
Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves.
Sic vos non vobis vellera fertis oves.
Sic vos non vobis mellificatis apes.
Sic vos non vobis fertis aratra boves.
So you, ye birds, of wondrous skill possest, Not for yourselves construct the curious nest.
So you, ye sheep, who roam the verdant field, Not for yourselves your snowy fleeces yield, So you, ye bees, who every flower explore, Not for yourselves amass the honied store.
So you, ye patient kine, inured to toil, Not for yourselves subdue the stubborn soil! Bishop Pearce gives this text a remarkable turn. The verse he translates thus: I sent you away, that ye might reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour; i.e. I did not send you to the city (ver. 8) for this purpose only, that ye might buy meat; but I sent you away chiefly with this intent, that there might be a harvest for you to reap upon your return; though you sowed no seed, and bestowed no labour for that purpose. While you were gone, I sowed spiritual seed in the heart of a Samaritan woman; and she is gone, and is about to return with many of her city, whom she has brought to believe, (ver. 39-42.) These, and the many more which will believe upon hearing my doctrine, (chap. iv. 41,) will all be a harvest arising out of the seed which I sowed in your absence, and on which, therefore, ye bestowed no labour. He farther adds, that the Greek qerizein, stands for tou qerizein, and such expressions are often used to signify, not the end and design, but the event only. Pearce's Comment.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 37. And herein is that saying true , etc.] This verifies that proverbial expression so much in use, and which may be applied to different persons and cases: one soweth, and another reapeth ; the prophets sowed, and the apostles reaped.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 27-42 - The disciples wondered that Christ talked thus with a Samaritan. Ye they knew it was for some good reason, and for some good end. Thus when particular difficulties occur in the word and providence of God, it is good to satisfy ourselves that all is well that Jesus Christ says an does. Two things affected the woman. The extent of his knowledge Christ knows all the thoughts, words, and actions, of all the children of men. And the power of his word. He told her secret sins with power She fastened upon that part of Christ's discourse, many would think sh would have been most shy of repeating; but the knowledge of Christ into which we are led by conviction of sin, is most likely to be soun and saving. They came to him: those who would know Christ, must mee him where he records his name. Our Master has left us an example, tha we may learn to do the will of God as he did; with diligence, as thos that make a business of it; with delight and pleasure in it. Chris compares his work to harvest-work. The harvest is appointed and looke for before it comes; so was the gospel. Harvest-time is busy time; all must be then at work. Harvest-time is a short time, and harvest-wor must be done then, or not at all; so the time of the gospel is season, which if once past, cannot be recalled. God sometimes uses very weak and unlikely instruments for beginning and carrying on a goo work. Our Saviour, by teaching one poor woman, spread knowledge to whole town. Blessed are those who are not offended at Christ. Thos taught of God, are truly desirous to learn more. It adds much to the praise of our love to Christ and his word, if it conquers prejudices Their faith grew. In the matter of it: they believed him to be the Saviour, not only of the Jews but of the world. In the certainty of it we know that this is indeed the Christ. And in the ground of it, for we have heard him ourselves.
Greek Textus Receptus
εν 1722 PREP γαρ 1063 CONJ τουτω 5129 D-DSM ο 3588 T-NSM λογος 3056 N-NSM εστιν 2076 5748 V-PXI-3S {VAR1: ο 3588 T-NSM } αληθινος 228 A-NSM οτι 3754 CONJ αλλος 243 A-NSM εστιν 2076 5748 V-PXI-3S ο 3588 T-NSM σπειρων 4687 5723 V-PAP-NSM και 2532 CONJ αλλος 243 A-NSM ο 3588 T-NSM θεριζων 2325 5723 V-PAP-NSM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
37. Herein (en toutw). Literally, in this. In this relation between sower and reaper.Is that saying true (o logov estin o alhqinov). Rev., properly, the saying; the common proverb. True: not only says the truth, but the saying is completely fulfilled according to the ideal in the sowing and reaping of which Jesus speaks. The literal rendering of the Greek, as given above, is, "the saying is the true (saying);" but several high authorities omit the article before true.
