John 4:3 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Again. — This word is almost certainly part of the original text, though it is not found in some MSS. Its omission is due to a difficulty of interpretation. What is the previous return into Galilee? The only one mentioned in this Gospel is that of John 1:43. We have had another note of time in John 3:24, from which we learn that this Judæan period of the ministry preceded the imprisonment of John, and therefore the commencement of the Galilean ministry recorded in Matthew 4:12 (see Note there) and Mark 1:14. This second return, then, is the starting-point of the history of our Lord’s work in Galilee as told by the earlier Gospels.