{Upon this} (epi tout(9369)). This idiom only here in N.T. At
this juncture. Apparently the woman left at once when the
disciples came. {They marvelled} (ethaumazon). Imperfect active
describing the astonishment of the disciples as they watched
Jesus talking with a woman. {Was speaking} (elalei). As in
 2:25 , so here the tense is changed in indirect discourse from
lalei to elalei, an unusual idiom in Greek. However, hoti
here may be "because" and then the imperfect is regular. It is
not "with the woman" (meta t(8873) gunaikos), but simply "with a
woman" (meta gunaikos). There was a rabbinical precept: "Let no
one talk with a woman in the street, no, not with his own wife"
(Lightfoot, _Hor, Hebr_. iii. 287). The disciples held Jesus to
be a rabbi and felt that he was acting in a way beneath his
dignity. {Yet no man said} (oudeis mentoi eipen). John
remembers through the years their amazement and also their
reverence for Jesus and unwillingness to reflect upon him.