So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast.
Probably patris refers to Galilee in contrast to Samaria rather than in contrast to Judea. [Note: Brown, 1:187; Carson, pp. 235-36; John W. Pryor, "John 4:44 and the Patris of Jesus," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 49 (1987):254-63. For several other less probable solutions, see D. A. Carson, "Current Source Criticism of the Fourth Gospel: Some Methodological Questions," Journal of Biblical Literature 97 (1978):424, n. 50.] Jesus’ own country was Jewish turf rather than Samaritan territory. On Jewish turf Jesus had not experienced the honor that He had among the Samaritans (cf. John 2:18; John 2:20; John 2:22-25; John 3:10; John 4:1-3). The "so" or "therefore" that begins John 4:45 does not explain why Jesus went back into Jewish territory. He did not go there because the Jews typically rejected Him. The "so" or "therefore" introduces the reason for the Galileans’ reception of Him that follows. The people from the Prophet’s own country received Him because they had seen the miracles that He had done at Passover in Jerusalem, not because they honored Him as a prophet (cf. John 4:48). Thus John was contrasting the unbelief of the Jews with the belief of the Samaritans.