John 4:21 Woman, believe me,

To the Samaritan woman after she says her people worship on the mountain, not in Jerusalem.

KJV

John 4:21 Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither on this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

NIV

John 4:21 “Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

LISTENERS HEARD

Trust me, lady, that it arrives. an hour, when neither on the mountain here nor in Jerusalem will you bow down to the Father.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

The word translated as "worship" means specifically "to bow down". It specifically indicates a humiliating physical behavior to humble yourself before a figure of authority. There are more general words in Greek for worship. This word was not first used by Jesus but by the woman with whom he is talking. The verb is the second-person plural, so it is a reference to the woman and her people.

The "on" in "on this mountain" is odd because that meaning should take an accusative object, but the object here is dative, which has the sense of "in." However, in the dative form the word not only means "mountain" but "mule." Jesus uses this wordplay in a humorous way in Matthew 21:21.

MY TAKE

Places and ways of worship change.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page)

John 4:21 Πίστευέ μοι, γύναι, ὅτι ἔρχεται ὥρα ὅτε οὔτε ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ οὔτε ἐν Ἰεροσολύμοις προσκυνήσετε τῷ πατρί.

MW - Missing Word -- The word "that" is not shown in the English translation.
IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" doesn't exist in the source.
CW - Confusing Word -- The "on" does not capture the specific meaning of the word with a dative object.
IW - Inserted Word -- The word "yet" doesn't exist in the source.

MW - Missing Word -- The word "that" is not shown in the English translation.
CW - Confusing Word -- The "on" does not capture the specific meaning of the word with a dative object.
IW - Inserted Word -- The word "yet" doesn't exist in the source.

EACH WORD of KJV

Woman, - -- The word translated as "woman" is the Greek word that means "woman (as opposed to man)," "wife," "spouse," "mortal woman (as opposed to a goddess)," and "female mate (among animals)." It is closer to our "female."

believe -- The Greek word translated as "believe" does not apply to religious belief as much as it does trusting in other people, especially their word. Christ usually uses it in contexts, as the one here, that apply to trusting words. The negation of "belief" with the objective, instead of subjective, negative, equates trust with a fact.

me, -- The "me" is in the indirect object form on the first-person pronoun, so usually "to me," though the form has other uses in Greek.

missing "that" -- (MW) The untranslated word "that" introduces a statement of fact or cause, "for what," "because," "since," and "wherefore."

the -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "the" in the Greek source.

hour - The word translated as "hour" means a period of time equal to the one-twelfth part of the daylight, like an "hour."

cometh, -- The word translated as "come" primarily means "to start out" but Christ usually uses it to mean "come" but not always. It indicates movement, especially its beginning, without indicating a direction toward or away from anything, so it works either as "start," "come," or "go," but it is more like our phrase "being underway." Our English word "show up" captures both the "start" and "come" ideas. See this article for more.

when - "When" is from an adverb/conjunction that means "when," "as when," "at the time when," and "sometimes."

ye -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

shall -- This helping verb "shall" indicates that the verb is the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

neither -- "Neither" is a Greek conjunction that means "and not," and "neither/nor" when used in a series.

on -- (CW) The word translated as "one" means "in," "within," "with" (an instrument), "during" (time), or "among" with a dative object as the one here. With the accusative, it means "into," "on," and "for." The odd thing here is that the "mountain" is dative, meaning "in."

this -- The word translated as "this" means "from here" or "this/that thing. It comes after the following noun, emphasizing it.

missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more.

mountain, --The word translated as "mountain" means "mountain" or "hill" but it could also be the word that means "mule." The two words are spelled the same in the dative, which is used here. Jesus may use the dative to create the double meaning.

nor -- "Nor" is a Greek conjunction that means "and not," and "neither/nor" when used in a series.

yet -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "the" in the Greek source.

at -- The word translated as "at" means "in," "within," "with" (an instrument), "during" (time), or "among" with a dative object as the one here. With the accusative, it means "into," "on," and "for." When referring to time, it means "during." It can mean "on," "at," or "by" in the sense of "near."

Jerusalem, -- The word "Jerusalem" denotes the city or its inhabitants. Two different forms of this word appear in the NT. It is only used once in Mark, but not in Jesus's words. It isn't used at all in John. It appears three times in Jesus's words in Matthew. This version is used most heavily in Luke, mostly in his narration, but a few times in Jesus's words. It seems to be the more formally Greek version of the name.

worship - - "Worship" if from a verb that means "make obeisance," "fall down and worship," and specifically means to prostrate yourself before authority, as we would use the Chinese term, "kowtow."

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.

Father. -- "Father" is the Greek noun that means "father" or any male ancestor so "forefathers." It is the word that Christ uses to address his own Father.

EACH WORD of NIV

Woman, - -- The word translated as "woman" is the Greek word that means "woman (as opposed to man)," "wife," "spouse," "mortal woman (as opposed to a goddess)," and "female mate (among animals)." It is closer to our "female."

believe -- The Greek word translated as "believe" does not apply to religious belief as much as it does trusting in other people, especially their word. Christ usually uses it in contexts, as the one here, that apply to trusting words. The negation of "belief" with the objective, instead of subjective, negative, equates trust with a fact.

me, -- The "me" is in the indirect object form on the first-person pronoun, so usually "to me," though the form has other uses in Greek.

missing "that" -- (MW) The untranslated word "that" introduces a statement of fact or cause, "for what," "because," "since," and "wherefore."

a -- There is no indefinite article in Greek, but when a word doesn't have a definite article, the indefinite article can be added in English translation.

time - The word translated as "hour" means a period of time equal to the one-twelfth part of the daylight, like an "hour."

is -- This helping verb indicates the present tense of the verb.

coming -- The word translated as "coming" primarily means "to start out" but Christ usually uses it to mean "come" but not always. It indicates movement, especially its beginning, without indicating a direction toward or away from anything, so it works either as "start," "come," or "go," but it is more like our phrase "being underway." Our English word "show up" captures both the "start" and "come" ideas. See this article for more.

when - "When" is from an adverb/conjunction that means "when," "as when," "at the time when," and "sometimes."

you -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

will -- This helping verb "will " indicates that the verb is the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.