Verse Lens · Concise explanation
John 4:38 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 38. 38I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
John 4:38 brings Jesus Names Obedient Work as Food and the Fields as Harvest to its closing turn with wording that joins the preceding movement to what follows: “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours”.
Read It With
- John 4:31-38
Read John 4:38 with 4:31-38. In isolation, this contribution—brings Jesus Names Obedient Work as Food and the Fields as Harvest to its closing turn with wording that joins the preceding movement to what follows: “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours”—can be detached from its speaker, question, sign, festival, conflict, or outcome. The complete unit establishes: While disciples urge Jesus to eat, he speaks of completing the sender's work as food and invites them to see a harvest already ready, where sowers and reapers share joy.
Why This Verse Appears Here
John 4:38 brings Jesus Names Obedient Work as Food and the Fields as Harvest to its closing turn with wording that joins the preceding movement to what follows: “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours”. As the closing turn in Jesus Names Obedient Work as Food and the Fields as Harvest, it connects its immediate contribution to the unit's outcome: While disciples urge Jesus to eat, he speaks of completing the sender's work as food and invites them to see a harvest already ready, where sowers and reapers share joy.
What Remains True
John 4:38 brings Jesus Names Obedient Work as Food and the Fields as Harvest to its closing turn with wording that joins the preceding movement to what follows: “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours”. Its enduring force supports this passage-controlled response: Join God's work with gratitude for labor done by others, while treating people as neighbors rather than numbers and respecting embodied need.
How It Can Shape Life
- For John 4:38, practice this verse's particular contribution by doing the following without outrunning John 4:31-38: Join God's work with gratitude for labor done by others, while treating people as neighbors rather than numbers and respecting embodied need.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read John 4:31-38 — Jesus Names Obedient Work as Food and the Fields as HarvestSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: John 4:31-38, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and critical-text reading checked independently of the KJV.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/John.txt, 4:31-38
Open the John Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — John with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level syntax, older-English clarification, material variants, background, and alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible John PDF, John 4:31-38 and attached translator, study, and textual notes
Open the official NET John PDF ↗