John 4:41,42 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And many more believed— This was the more extraordinary, as they not only had a natural prejudice against him asa Jew; but, living near mount Gerizim, had a particular interest in maintaining the usual worship there, which must have been very advantageous to the neighbourhood in a temporal point of view. Perhaps on this they would no longer worship there, which might irritate the rest of the Samaritans, and mightin part excite the ill usage which Christ afterwards met with in this country. Luke 9:52-53. It is observable, that the Samaritan woman expressed her expectation of the Messiah; that Jesus made a clear declaration to her of his being so; that she believed him to be so; that she went hastily into Sychar, full of the interesting discovery; that at the importunate request of the inhabitants, Christ continued in the town at the foot of Gerizim for two days; and that many of the Samaritans, through divine grace, were such candid judges, so ingenuously disposed to embrace the truth, that without the cogency of miracles they confessed, We have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world; a confession of faith higher by some degrees, as Dr. Lightfoot remarks, than the Jews' common creed concerning the Messiah; for they held him only for a Saviour of the Jewish nation: whence we may see how deeply and cordially these Samaritans had drunk in the water of life, so as to acknowledge Christ in his proper character. Probably the Samaritans might have collected from Genesis 49:10 thatChrist was to be the Saviour of the world; that the Gentiles were to receive some benefit from the Messiah's coming, and one way or other to be subjected to him; and our Lord's discourse might confirm that apprehension: but there is no reason at all to believe, that they perfectly understood the doctrine of the calling of the idolatrous Gentiles, which was so long a mystery even to the apostles themselves?