24:32 and Acts 7:9, 13–14, 18]) and His disciples went “shopping food” (vv. 8, 27) in this city. The tired Jesus “sat down” for a rest “by the well” a simple cistern and not a spring or fountain “about the sixth hour”305 (cf. John 19:14) of the Jewish daytime that means at 12 o’clock (= noon).
- The Dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (vv. 7–26) and His Disciples (vv. 31–38)
+ The First Dialogue/s (vv. 7–26)
# Part I: Discussion of the so-called “Living water” (vv. 7–15)
The conversation between Jesus (cf. vv. 7d, 10b–f, 13b–14g, 16b–d, 17d–18d, 21b–24b, 26b–c) and the Samaritan woman (cf. vv. 9b–c, 11b–12d, 15b–e, 17b, 19b–20d, 25b–f) has three main themes which are discussed: The “living water” (cf. vv. 7–15) and her relationship with “five men” (cf. vv. 16–19) as well as His identity and the true worship (cf. vv. 20–26).
v. 7: A “Samaritan woman” of the “town” of “Sychar” (cf. v. 28b) also came to the “well” (v. 6a) of Jacob “to scoop/draw306 water” (vv. 7b, 15f and John 2:8–9; Genesis 24:11, 13; 29:2; Exodus 2:16) and to take it home in a “water pot/jar” (cf. v. 28a). That was her daily task to get fresh water for cooking, drinking, washing, cleaning and so on. The “tired”307 (v. 6b) and “thirsty” (vv. 13c, 14c, 15c) (as well as hungry [vv. 8b, 31c]) Jesus who also had the human/essential needs started a dialogue with her, requesting her: “Give me” – note the imperative in Greek “dós” in vv. 7d, 10d, 15b) – “to drink”308 (cf. v. 10d). At the time of Jesus, it was a scandal for Jesus as a Jewish man (cf. v. 9b) to speak with a woman (cf., for example, 1 Kings 17:24; Ezra 4:1–3) from Samaria in public who was not married with her common law spouse (cf. v. 18a–c). He ignored all these social and religious barriers with the risk of losing His reputation as a rabbi/teacher.
v. 8: The Evangelist comments that His “disciples”309 (cf. vv. 8a, 27a, 31a, 33a) – including John – were absent because of their “shopping310 food” in the “town” of “Sychar” (v. 5a – cf. Luke 9:52). A commentary of the Evangelist in verse 27 states that they came to Jesus and talked with Him (cf. vv. 27, 31–38).
v. 9: She, a Samaritan, requested Jesus, the “Jew” (v. 9b): “How” – note the interrogative pronoun “põs” in John 3:4, 9 – “/can/ you as a Jew ask … contact me” as a Samaritan for a “drink”? (vv. 7d, 9c, 10d, 12c, 13b, 14a311). Jesus was a Jew from His Birth (cf. Luke 2:21–24) until His Death (cf. John 19:19/Mark 15:26; Matthew 27:37; Luke 23:38) – note verse 22 who visited the synagogues (cf. John 6:59; 18:20; Mark 1:21–28; 3:1; 6,1–6a; Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 12:9; 13:54–58; Luke 4:15, 16–30, 31–38, 44; 6:6; 13:10) and the pilgrim feasts (cf. John 2:13, 23; 5:1; 6:4; 7:2, 14, 37; 10:22; 11:55) and the Temple in Jerusalem (cf. John 2:13–22; Mark 11:15–19, 27–13:2; Matthew 21:10–17, 23–24:2; Luke 2:41–42; 19:45–48; 20:1–21:6). The Fourth Evangelist explains with the help of a “commented parenthesis”312 (cf. vv. 2a–b, 8a–b, 9c) the historical centuries-old trouble between Jews and the Samaritans due to the Assyrian exile since 722 B.C.313:
v. 10: The verbs “ask”314 and “drink” are the catch- respectively keywords for His statement of the “living water” (cf. vv. 11d, 13–15 and John 7:37–38[; 19:34]) in the spiritual sense – note also the “living bread” (6:51) as God’s gift. Jesus will be the “giver” of it all in His name. He emphasizes with His (identity) question – “who is315 who”/He (v. 10c) – the reflection on His identity as the “living water” respectively the “living bread” (6:35, 51).
vv. 11–12: She respectfully – “Lord” (note the vocative in vv. 11b, 15b, 19b) – asked Jesus a question (cf., for example, 1:48; 2:9; 3:8) because of her thinking in human terms and thus misunderstanding Him: “Where /do/ ( ) you (have/get) the living water” (v. 11d) – without a “ladle”316 (cf. v. 11b) on a rope for the “(deep) well ( )” (v. 11c)? And her second question was: “Are you greater than (our) father/ancestor ( ) Jacob” (v. 12a – cf. v. 5c) – note also the comparative in 8:53 (Abraham) – who “gave … the well” (v. 12b – cf. v. 6a) and for drinking water from it himself, “(his) sons ( )” and “(His) livestock317 ( )” (cf. Genesis 29:10; Exodus 2:16) as well as the citizen of Sychar.
vv. 13–14: Jesus, the “giver” (cf. v. 14b) of “the (living) water ( )” (vv. 10f, 11d) on God’s/the Holy Spirit’s behalf (cf. John 14:14, 23), contrasts the “normal” water (cf. v. 13b and Exodus 17:1–7; Psalm 105:41) and the (divine) “living water” in an antithesis respectively a correction in verse 14a–g (“not … but” in v. 14c, d): Everyone who “drinks (v. 13a) “normal” “water will be thirsty318 again” (v. 13b–c), however whoever “drinks” (v. 14a) the living “water will never319 be thirsty” (v. 14c – cf. v. 15b–c and John 6:35; 7:37 – note also God’s promise in Isaiah 49:10) again. More: This living water will become like a “well”/“spring” (cf. Isaiah 58:11) for a fulfilled life first on earth and “(eternal/everlasting320) life ( )” (v. 14g) in Heaven.
v. 15: Similar to His request in verse 7d (“give me to drink”), she requests Him “the Lord” (cf. vv. 11b, 15b, 19b), in her literal misunderstanding321 of His (spiritual/divine) “living water” (cf., for example, Psalm 42:1; Jeremiah 17:13: drinking in vv. 7d, 9c, 10c, f, 11d, 12c–d, 13b–15e], and food [vv. 8b, 31c, 32b–34b]) to “give” her this “special” water in the sense of “running water” now, so that it is practical for her: She “will not get thirsty” and will not “scoop/draw water” (v. 7b) again.
# Part II: The Samaritan Woman and Her Men (vv. 16–19)
v. 16: Jesus changed the topic with an invitation in the form of an order – three imperatives:
“Go, call322 (your) man/husband ( ) and come back”.
v. 17: She briefly answered Him: “( ) I have (no) man/husband” (v. 17b, e).
vv. 18–19: The result of Jesus’ prophetical knowledge (cf. John 1:42, 47–48) of her private situation with “five men” (cf. vv. 17e–18d323) was that she confessed Him as “Lord” – note the vocative in verses 11b, 15b, 19b – and as a (Mosaic) “prophet” (v. 19c – cf. John 1:21; 6:14; 7:40; 9:17; Luke 7:39) in consideration of Deuteronomy 18:15–18. Four possibilities regarding her five husbands are discussed by the scholars:
- “The woman’s past would be considered sinful”324 (cf. John 7:53–8:11)
- That she married five men in the context of the so-called levirate marriage325 legislation according to Deuteronomy 25:5
- The “five men” have been interpreted symbolically as the five gods of the five foreign nations the Assyrians brought to inhabit Samaria (cf. 2 Kings 17:24–41; Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews IX 288)
- “The five books of Moses” are “the only part of the Jewish Scriptures the Samaritans acknowledged”326.
# Part III: The Worship of God in Jerusalem and on Mount Gerizim (vv. 20–26)
v.