The Samaritan Woman

FIRST WATER GIRL WITH INSIDE INFORMATION
JOHN 4:4-42

IMAGINE: Going from being the most ostracized to the most popular girl in town, just by going to a well for water.

The Samaritan woman’s name or age is not revealed in the story of her meeting with Jesus. However, the recorded conversation she has with Jesus at the well is the longest dialogue He has with anyone in Scripture.

Jacob’s well was there, and
Jesus, worn out from His
journey sat down at the well.
John 4:6a

Jesus and His disciples had left Judea and traveled north toward Galilee. Jacob’s well was located on the property originally owned by Jacob. (Gen. 33:18, 19). Wells were almost always located outside the city along the main road. This well was located about a half mile from the city of Sychar in Samaria.
Sychar is the Old Testament town of Shechem and the modern-day town of Askar. It is located within the West Bank. The well sits on the edge of Mount Ebal, opposite Mount Gerizim. The well appears to be both a dugout cistern and fed by an underground spring. This spring is still active today.
Although there were different routes this band of men could have taken, Jesus chose the one leading through Samaria. This was the shortest route, but not the most popular one, simply because of the long, standing hatred the Jews and Samaritans had for one another.
The Samaritans occupied the area formerly belonging to the tribe of Ephraim and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. (1 Kgs. 16:23, 24). Samaria had been taken captive by the Assyrians in 722 BC. (2 Kgs. 17:1-6). After being taken captive, Assyria led a great majority of the population of the ten northern tribes, which made up the Kingdom of Israel, into the region known as northern Iraq today. The two other tribes, Judah and Benjamin made up the southern Kingdom of Judah.
The Assyrians did not transport all the Jews from the area but kept some in the region and transported many non-Jews into the area to help keep the peace. (2 Kgs. 17:24). The two groups intermarried, and this mixed race were called Samaritans. This intermarried group of Jews with Gentiles then stopped the worship of Yahweh at Jerusalem and established worship at Mount Gerizim in Samaria. The group that did intermarry and were now being called Samaritans, accepted parts of the Jewish faith and intermingled them in with their pagan religions. (2 Kgs. 17:33).
The mixed race was impure according to the Jews who lived in the southern kingdom. They considered themselves faithful to their Jewish heritage and would have nothing to do with the Samaritans, considering them as unclean. The “pure” Jews hated this mixed, “unclean” race.
The Jews who returned from captivity regarded the Samaritans as heretics. This caused a great division between the two groups, and consequently tensions were high and contact with one another avoided.
Also, an added reason to avoid all contact, was the fact that Samaria was a place of refuge for all the outlaws of Judea. Jewish criminals and refugees from justice were welcomed in Samaria which only increased their hatred between the two nations. The “pure” Jews regarded the Samaritans as the worst of the worst of humans. (John 8:48). They refused to have anything to do with this dreaded clan of people. (John 4:9).

It was about six in the evening.
John 4:6b

Jews calculated time from sunrise, approximately 6:00 AM, which would make the time around noon. Roman time began at 12:00 PM which would make the sixth hour at 6:00 PM. The time of this story of “the woman at the well” is not made clear, other than John being a Jew possibly felt it was self-evident to his readers as to what the exact time was.

A woman of Samaria
came to draw water.
John 4:7a

To fetch water, the women of the town generally came in groups for safety sake. They also came early morning or later in the day around evening time to avoid the unbearable heat mid-day. (Gen. 24:11). This along with performing other daily chores, such as cooking and laundry, was generally carried out in the company of each other as these were the social highlights of their day.
This little lady with no name appears to come alone to fetch her water, leading one to believe the hour was possibly noon. For her to come to the well alone and at the time when the sun was the hottest, indicates she may have been a societal outcast. Even so, she unknowingly is getting ready to meet her Savior, and not only draw “wet” water but “living” water.

“Give Me a drink,” Jesus said
to her, for His disciples had
gone into town to buy food.
John 4:7b

Jesus was hot and thirsty after walking in the desert heat and stopped to rest. Jesus speaking to a woman alone was forbidden and violated all proprieties of the day. Public conversations between men and women were strictly prohibited. Rabbis did not even speak to their own wives in public.

 “How is it that You, a Jew, ask
for a drink from me, a
Samaritan woman?” she
asked Him. For Jews do not
associate with Samaritans.
John 4:9

By the time Jesus met the woman at the well, the Jews and Samarians had been bitter enemies for hundreds of years. To speak to a Samaritan, be it male or female, was unacceptable. For Jews and Samaritans to speak to one another was unheard of, especially being strangers and of the opposite sex.
For Him to speak to this woman, much less ask for a drink from her jug, would have been highly out of the ordinary. This would have been a circumstance of disbelief on the woman’s part. At this time in history, a Jew would have died from thirst before asking a Samaritan for a drink. According to tradition, if a Jew drank from a vessel belonging to a Samaritan, they would automatically be ceremonial unclean.
For Jesus to speak to this woman, much less ask for something as personal as a drink from her container, would not have been something thought of, and certainly not asked for. A religious leader would never be caught speaking with a woman, much less one with a questionable reputation.

Jesus answered, “If you knew
the gift of God, and who is
saying to you, ‘Give Me a
drink,’ you would ask Him, and
He would give you living water.”
John 4:10

What this woman did not understand was, Jesus asked her for a drink of well water to introduce her to the real ‘living water’, Himself. (Jer. 17:13; John 7:38). When Jesus spoke to her about living water, she would not have understood what He was saying. The Samaritans believed only in the first five books of the Scriptures or what is called the Books of Moses, the Torah (Hebrew) or Pentateuch (Greek), meaning five books. Jeremiah 2:13 and Zechariah 14:8 speak of the living water in a sense that it is the Holy Spirit, who gives eternal life.

“But whoever drinks from the water
that I will give him will never get
 thirsty again – ever! In fact, the
water I will give him will
become a well of water springing
up within him for eternal life.”
John 4:14

Jesus offers the woman living water. Jeremiah 2:13 and Revelation 22:17 both speak of the fountain of living water. In other words, this speaks of the knowledge of God and His grace which provides the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
The woman did not immediately catch on that Jesus was referring to her spiritual need. He was not referring to her physical need of water that would only sustain her for a short period of time, thus leading her continually to the well.

“Sir,” the woman said to Him,
“give me this water so I
won’t get thirsty and come
here to draw water.”
John 4:15

She would have very much wanted living water, to keep from having to go alone to a well for this need. She would no longer have to run the risk of embarrassment bumping into the women of the town.
This Samaritan woman had not yet caught on that this Jew, at the well with her, was talking about her spiritual need being more important than her physical need for water. This stranger knew her moral lifestyle and her spiritual condition, both of which He was about to change. The woman had confused the two waters, physical water for the body and spiritual water for the soul.

“I don’t have a husband,” she
answered. You have correctly said,
I don’t have a husband, Jesus said.
“For you’ve had five husbands,
and the man you now
have is not your husband.
What you have said is true.”
John 4:17, 18

It is interesting to note that Jesus does not condemn her and tell her to go and sin no more, as He had with others whom He had brought to repentance. Rather, on the contrary, He commends her for telling the truth.
To meet her spiritual need Jesus had to reveal her sin nature and sin choices, thus her need for His cleansing and her salvation. Jesus dealt with her most basic problem, sin. He told her to go and get her husband, suggesting He knew her condition and her circumstances. (John 2:25). In a few words Jesus revealed her life and her need, which was much more than well water.
This woman had been through five failed marriages. These would have ended due to divorce or death of her mate. It is not stated how she came to be with a sixth man who was not her husband.
In the Jewish and Samaritan culture, divorce could only be initiated by the husband. He had to state publicly that his wife was unclean, unlovable or incapable of fulfilling her wifely duties. Divorce among the Samaritans was allowed where there was considerable conflict, substantial dislike, physical defect, or incurable mental illness. Divorce brought much shame upon a woman.
Also, in this culture was war, famine, disease, or injury whereas men did not always live long lives, dying young and unexpectedly. It is feasible that all were not divorces that caused her to be available for marrying again. She may have been widowed once or several times, if not all five times.
Divorce brought immense shame and with it the probability of starvation and homelessness. A widow became either a beggar, a prostitute or a wife to another man. Remarrying would have been the better choice over begging or prostitution. Contrary to supposition concerning her past being shady, nothing is so stated within Scripture. She could have been abandoned, divorced against her will but out of her hands, or widowed.
There appears to be a great deal of heartache in this woman’s life, whether by choice or by circumstance. This woman’s life may have been scandalous or just plain tragic. She was probably not divorced through adulterous actions on her part, since an adulteress was to be put to death by stoning according to both Jewish and Samaritan law. (Lev. 20:10).
The Samaritan’s belief system did include the first five books of Scripture. One of these books is the Book of Deuteronomy in which contains the Levirate marriage law. (Deut. 25:5-10). This is mentioned in Matthew 22:23-28 and would indicate a woman could have husbands successively, in a lawful manner.
 Within the bounds of a Levirate marriage, a childless woman was to marry the deceased husband’s brother. The purpose intended was to produce an heir which would secure the inheritance of the family’s land. If the brother next in line was already married, he could take her as a concubine, thus she would not be a fully legal wife.
She may have been living with a brother-in-law, or a person she was solely dependent upon, but not necessarily in a sordid relationship with, at the time she meets Jesus at the well. Having been married five times, the probability arises she was not all that young, maybe middle age or older, thus past her childbearing years. In this case there would not have been a necessity to marry a deceased husband’s relative. The possibility arises that a deceased husband’s family member may have taken her in to keep her from starvation and homelessness.

“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see
that You are a prophet. Our 
fathers worshiped on this
mountain, yet you Jews
say that the place to
worship is in Jerusalem.”
John 4:19, 20

The Jews worshiped in Jerusalem at what is called the Temple Mount, aka Mount Zion, aka Mount Moriah. This is where Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice him to the Lord.
The Samaritans lived in and around Shechem, which was overlooked by Mount Gerizim, where their temple stood. The Samaritan temple was built around 388 BC on Mount Gerizim. The Samaritan temple was destroyed the 21^st of Kislev, 128 BC, but the mountain continued to be the holy place of the Samaritans.
Mount Gerizim is one of the highest peaks in the West Bank, rising 2,890 feet above sea level. Where Shechem is located, Mount Gerizim forms the southern side of the valley in which Shechem sits. Mount Ebal forms the northern side and is 230 feet taller than Mount Gerizim. In Samaritan tradition, Mount Gerizim is held to be the highest, oldest, and most central mountain in the world. Shechem is approximately thirty miles north of Jerusalem and is also known as Nablus.
The mountain, to this day, is the center of the Samaritan religion. Over 90% of the worldwide Samaritan population live close to Mount Gerizim, mostly in Kiryat Luza, the main village. Kiryat Luza today is under both Israeli and Palestinian control.
After Jesus commends her for telling the truth she appears to change the subject. Instead of admitting to any sin issues or needs for repentance she questions where one might rightfully worship. Jews seem to have one place and Samaritans another. She becomes somewhat inquisitive as to whether Jews or Samaritans have proper knowledge of things that are and things to come. Who was right?

Jesus told her, “Believe Me,
woman, an hour is coming
when you will worship the
Father neither on this
mountain nor in Jerusalem.”
John 4:21

“An hour is coming” refers to His death. Worship would no longer center in temples like those of Mount Zion and Mount Gerizim. Jesus educates her to the fact that a time was coming when worship would not be centered in temples or on mountains. She did not understand He was referring to His death, burial, resurrection, ascension and the ultimate sending of the Holy Spirit to live within those who accept Him as Lord and Savior.

You Samaritans worship what
you do not know. We worship what
we do know, because
salvation is from the Jews.”
John 4:22

Jesus informed this Samaritan woman that the Samaritans worship what they do not know, and salvation is from the Jews. What He meant was, that through Himself, salvation would come, as He was the Seed of Abraham.

The woman said to Him, “I know
that Messiah is coming (who is called
Christ). When He comes, He will
explain everything to us.”
John 4:25

The Samaritans also believed in the coming of a Messiah. They were waiting on a Messiah and expecting a Moses like figure who would solve all their problems. (Deut. 18:17, 18). The Jews, on the other hand, were awaiting a Messiah and expecting Him to be an anointed king of the Davidic line. This king would remove the Roman rule they were currently under. Many in both groups missed who Jesus was because of self-interest and preconceived ideas as to what and who this Messiah was.
The woman seems to be knowledgeable of the fact a Messiah was to be expected. He was to be a prophet. She had, at some point in time, become familiar with the Books of Moses. In the Samaritan synagogues, the men and women were not separated, as they were in the Jewish Synagogues. This woman appears to have had some religious teaching.

“I am He,” Jesus told her,
“the One speaking to you.”
John 4:26

 Jesus avoided claiming outright, Himself to be the Messiah, to the Jewish people. Yet, to this Samaritan woman, He tells her directly He is the Messiah. This is the first person He makes such a claim with.
Not only does He start up a conversation with Ms. Samaritan no name, but as the conversation progresses, He now reveals Himself to be the long, awaited Messiah. That He would reveal this news to a woman is not only surprising, but beyond belief that He reveals it to this specific woman, a “half-breed” Samaritan.
Because of His own Jewish people having their own paradigm conclusions as to the Messiah being politically and militarily persuaded, He avoided exposing to them His true identity. 
For Jesus to declare Himself the Messiah to this Samaritan was unusual in that, in Galilee and Judea He hid such a fact. Political repercussions, such as a revolt, would have possibly happened among the Jewish populations. Not so with the Samaritans as they were looking for a prophet, not a king.

Just then His disciples arrived,
and they were amazed that He
was talking with a woman.
Yet no one said, “What do
You want?” or “Why are
You talking with her?”
John 4:27

The disciples arrive as Jesus is speaking to the woman. They say nothing in the way of a greeting to her, nor does she acknowledge their arrival. Amazingly, the disciples were returning from town where they had gone to buy food, but it is this woman who goes into the same town to evangelize. She is the one who tells the men to come meet Jesus.

Then the woman left her water jar,
went into town, and told the men,
“Come, see a man who told me
everything I ever did! Could
this be the Messiah?”
John 4:28, 29

In her excitement, the Samaritan water girl appears to have never given Jesus the drink He had requested when they first met. He apparently gave up His physical need to meet her SPIRITUAL NEED.
The woman was not silent. She immediately ran to the village and shared her experience and voiced her learning of Jesus into the public arena stating: “He told me everything I ever did”. This was the declaration of her newfound faith. Some may have even been a bit nervous in that, if He knew her past, maybe He knew what they had been up to. This, for sure, would have gotten their attention.
Her question “could this be the Christ?”, needed to be asked instead of a dogmatic statement of Him being who He said He was, simply because she was a woman. Possibly a woman with a reputation, she had either made for herself or because of circumstances that had befallen her over time. Nonetheless, she ran to tell everyone of this Jesus she had met and suggested that He might just be the long, awaited Messiah.

They left the town and
made their way to Him.
John 4:30

Was this possibly the Moses like prophet they had so longed for?Interestingly the people listened to her, became curious, and decided to investigate the matter for themselves.

Now many Samaritans from that town
believed in Him because of what
the woman said when she testified,
“He told me everything I ever did.”
John 4:39

She led them to where Jesus was so that they too could come to know the Savior. Ms. Samaritan had become an evangelist on the run. Her testimony was short and to the point. “He told me everything I ever did”.
He met her right where she was. He met her just as she was. She did not have to clean up before the meeting could take place. She thus is given the distinction of being the first person to advance the Gospel in Samaria.

Therefore, when the Samaritans
came to Him, they asked Him
to stay with them, and
He stayed there two days.
John 4:40

Here had been severe animosity between the Jews and Samaritans for hundreds of years. Jesus, however, broke the barrier between the two groups. By speaking to the Samaritan woman, He was able to provide what she needed more than well water. She needed living water. The hungry disciples had previously gone to the village to get physical food, and now the hungry people of the village came out to get spiritual food.
Jesus is the one who initiated this process and brought it to fruition. All the woman and the village people brought to the situation was sin and unbelief.

Many more believed because
of what He said. And they told
the woman, “We no longer
believe because of what you
said, for we have heard for
ourselves and know that this
really is the Savior of the world.”
John 4:41, 42

His speaking with these Samaritans was the first instance of cross-cultural evangelism. Through this Samaritan woman it is apparent there are no barriers of culture, race, or religion in God’s economy. He will break through all circumstances to reconcile all people back to Himself that are willing to come to Him. This lady belonged to a race of people who were totally despised by the Jews. She may have also been an outcast and looked down upon by her own people.
She had been married five times and was now living with a sixth man who was not her husband. It is sad to think how this woman must have felt about herself having been widowed or ‘put away’ a total of five times. She may have been handed down from brother to brother, not bearing a child before each died, as could have been her position in a Levirate marriage.
The woman had probably been so beaten down; she possibly saw no value in her life. If one is looking for love in all the wrong or possibly even all the right places, JESUS proves He is the ONLY Person where TRUE LOVE and ACCEPTANCE come from. Jesus not only saw the value of her life but gave her life value as she is still spoken of to this day.
As mentioned, the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman is the longest conversation recorded between Him and any other person. Yet, this conversation took place between Himself and a non-Jewish woman, one with a possible reputation, at that.
This lady does not even have a name we know. She did not have a big Bible, a 4-step track, or a PhD in Theology, as great as all these might be. She had nothing but a story, and even it was not her story. It is HIS STORY on how HE FINDS US, REDEEMS US, and gives OUR LIFE VALUE, because WE ARE HIS.

Thought for the day:
We are all broken,
 that’s how the light gets in”.
Ernest Hemingway

Something to consider:
Don’t give up….
you have a lot of people
to prove wrong.