Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
Say not ye? (Oux umeiv legete). It is not possible to tell whether Jesus is alluding to a rural proverb of which nothing is known about there being four months from seedtime to harvest (a longer time than four months in fact) or whether he means that it was then actually four months to harvest. In the latter sense, since harvest began about the middle of April, it would be December when Jesus spoke.
There are yet four months (eti tetramhnov estin). The use of eti (yet) and the fact that the space between seedtime and harvest is longer than four months (tetra, Aeolic for tessara, and mhn, month) argue against the proverb idea.
And then cometh the harvest (kai o qerismov erxetai). "And the harvest (qerismov, from qerizw, rare in Greek writers) comes." The possible Iambic verse here is purely accidental as in John 5:14.
Lift up your eyes (eparate touv ofqalmouv umwn). First aorist active imperative of epairw. Deliberate looking as in John 6:5 where qeaomai also is used as here.
Fields (xwrav). Cultivated or ploughed ground as in Luke 21:21.
White (leukai). Ripened grain like grey hair (Matthew 5:36).
Already unto harvest (prov qerismon hdh). Probably hdh (already) goes with verse John 4:36. The Samaritans could already be seen approaching and they were the field "white for harvest." This is the meaning of Christ's parable. If it is the spring of the year and Christ can point to the ripened grain, the parable is all the plainer, but it is not dependent on this detail. Recall the parable of the sower in Mat. 13.
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Luke 10:21
John 1:14
John 4:36
John 6:5
John 17:1
Acts 8:7
1 John 4:3
Revelation 14:15
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