The Woman of Samaria
[The Saviour of the World] [Volume I] [Book III]
[Poem XIII] Poem XIV [Poem XV]
The Woman of Samaria. True Worship. Messiah.
(The Gospel History, Sections 24)
So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph: and Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman therefore saith unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a Samaritan woman? (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said unto him, I have no husband. Jesus saith unto her, Thou saidst well, I have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: this hast thou said truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father. Ye worship that which ye know not: we worship that which we know: for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh (which is called Christ): when he is come, he will declare unto us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
The Woman of Samaria
(The Saviour of the World, Vol I Book III Poem XIV)
The Son of Man sat, languid, in the shade
The plenteous leafage o’er the cool well made,
For it was noon, and He had walked all day
In the heat of the sun; ’twas Jacob’s well that lay
There in the green to invite His noontide rest,
And, as He was, He sat, by weariness opprest.
The Lord was thirsty, too; and, for awhile,
The need of water might His thoughts beguile
E’en from that spot of ground that Jacob bought
And gave to Joseph; dear to Jewish thought,
And dear to Him Who Israel had led
Through all their devious ways, and in green pastures fed.
He suffered thirst; His living creature there
Lay deep below, nor, of its Lord aware,
Leapt high to the well’s mouth His thirst to slake!
Never for use of His, the Christ might make
Other than as their wont His creatures act,
Though He an-hungered went, athirst, of ills compact.
A woman saw He, coming from afar,
Bearing, graceful, on her head her water-jar:—
Daughter of Sychar she, too bold of mien,
And eyed the stranger o’er with curious spleen:
For every Jew was hated of her race,
And Him a Jew she knew, both by His garb and face.
But His first word allayed her truculent mood:
“Give Me to drink,” as suppliant He sued;
And as she drew the gurgling water up,
Gave Him to drink of that refreshing cup,
At leisure she to ponder, Whose that face?
Who is’t that asks to drink with so benign a grace?
The woman of Samaria said to Him,—
“How is’t that Thou, a Jew, shouldst touch the brim
Of my pitcher? Through ages past the Jews
All common dealings with our race refuse!”
The Lord beheld her; saw, through flippant speech,
A thirsting soul that craved a draught beyond its reach.
Now Jesus passed her idle chatter by,
And answer made to that sincerer cry
He only heard, uplifting from her heart:
“Didst thou but know the gift of God, thy part—
And hadst but known Who water begged of thee—
Had been to ask, and get, a living draught from Me.”
Dim recollections crossed her untaught mind;
Here was a prophet, sure; one of the kind
Who struck the rock, and water issued thence.
What if He struck out stream, to wander hence
To her very door, what labour saved, in sooth!
“Now will I question Him, and learn the very truth!
“Sir, whence canst Thou get water for my drought?
The well is deep, Thou hast no vessel brought;
Where else canst living water get for me?
Greater than Jacob wouldst Thou claim to be
Which gave us the well, and thereof drank he too,
Our father, his sons, his flock;—and canst Thou greater do?”
How should this soul be taught to comprehend
Water, whose satisfaction hath no end?
“Who drinketh of this water thirsts again;
Who drinks water I give, shall know no pain
Of thirst for evermore; in him a well
Brimming with water of life shall spring perpetual.”
“A prophet, sure!” But not a thought can find,
Beyond the needs of the day, her darkened mind:
Still harping on that stream of Moses, she,—
“Sir, give this water, that no more I be
Thirsty, or weary, journeying to the well!”
Now, with long-suffering sweet, He seeks another spell:
“Go, call thy husband to thee, and come here.”
The rock is struck at last; a trickle, clear,
Of truth, flows out this most world-hardened soul;
“I have no husband,” saith she; and the whole
Of her besmirchèd life is in her view.
Then said the Holy Watcher, “In this thou speakest true.”
’Tis no slight thing to speak a shameful truth;
Nor would He try her further, but, in ruth,
Told of five husbands, and another man:
Assured, ashamed, attracted—faith began;
But not at once would she yield; with woman’s skill,
Another theme she opes; “Our fathers, on this hill,
“Contented, worshipped God; and ye would say,
“To worship in Jerusalem, the one way.”
And Jesus, tenderer grown for her true word,—
“Nor here, nor in Jerusalem, shall the Lord
Be worshipped, in a near” (how dreadful!) “hour;
Confinèd to no place believe the Father’s power.
“Not where they worship, but what men believe
Enables them God’s purpose to perceive.
The ignorant, who will not use his mind,
But worships that he knows not, shall he find
God here or there or in another place?
And such are ye; we know; salvation, of our race.”
“But comes the hour when not to Jews alone
Condition of true worship shall be known:
The Father for His faithful goes abroad
And seeks them by the searching of His word:
Not clime or nation shall affect His choice;
In spirit and in truth, who worship, shall rejoice:
“For God, a Spirit, intimate with man;
And, drawing near in spirit, all men can
Approach the Father.” How much understood
This ignorant shrewd woman, of all, would
The Master, lavish of high truth, impart?
To know herself untaught, she had the humble art.
Knew, too, no doom of darkness on her soul,—
“Messias cometh, shall declare the whole:
This thing I know.” A mighty word of faith,
Invites Messiah’s confidence; He saith,
(Blest woman, graced with News told first to thee!)—
“The Christ, indeed, hath come; lo, I that speak am He!”
St. John iv. 5–26.
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Commentary by J. R. Dummelow
Jn 4:5. Sychar] now ‘Askar, near Shechem. Jacob’s well still retains its name. The parcel of ground, etc.] This is a Samaritan tradition, not expressly authorised by the OT., but based on a comparison of Gn 33:19 with Gn 48:22. 6. Thus] i.e. wearied as He was. For Christ’s subjection to human infirmity, see also 11:35, 38 19:28.
The sixth hour] i.e. either noon or 6 p.m. The number of events which happened subsequently seems to require the earlier hour, but see on 1:39.
Jn 4:8. The later rabbis declared that to partake of Samaritan bread was like eating swine’s flesh, but in our Lord’s time Samaritan food was accounted clean. 9. The Jews have no dealings, etc.] Some ancient authorities omit this statement, which must be taken to refer only to intimate dealings. Our Lord had broken down the barrier by asking a favour. He wished to encourage her to ask a favour of Him, and so to give Him an opportunity of leading her to the truth. 10. The gift of God] i.e. all the blessings offered to us in Christ, especially the gift of eternal life (see vv. 13, 14). Living water] As Christ does not identify Himself with the ‘water,’ as He does with the ‘bread’ in c. 6, the ‘water’ must be ‘the grace and truth’ of which He is full (1:14), and which are communicated to believers through the Spirit (7:39). Both the thirst and the hunger of the soul (and these are felt even by such outcasts as the Samaritan woman) are satisfied by Christ. 11. The woman takes ‘living water’ literally, as meaning the running water of a spring or stream as distinguished from the stagnant water of a cistern or well (Gn 26:19 Lv 14:5, etc.). 12. In spite of their mainly heathen origin, the Samaritans claimed Israelitish descent. 14. Shall never thirst] ‘Every spiritual desire and aspiration of the soul shall be completely satisfied, and for ever, for the life which I give is eternal.’ 15. These mocking words show that the woman was still unimpressed.
Jn 4:16. Finding her impervious to gentleness, our Lord uses stronger measures. He reveals Himself to her as a prophet, and with a prophet’s authority reveals and rebukes her sin: cp. 2 S 12. 18. Although this woman had apparently been divorced by five husbands for unfaithfulness, and was now living in sin, our Lord did not deal with her harshly. For other examples of His considerate treatment of fallen women, see 8:1–11 and Lk 7:36–50.
Jn 4:20. The woman is ashamed, and seeks to change the conversation. Our Lord kindly permits it, knowing that the words He has spoken will bear fruit. She asks Him, since He is a prophet, to pronounce upon the main point in dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans argued from Dt 27:4 that Gerizim was the one divinely appointed place of sacrifice, because there God had commanded an altar to be raised and the Law inscribed. The Samaritan text reads Gerizim in this passage instead of Ebal.
Jn 4:21–24. Speaking as a prophet, our Lord draws a sublime picture of the religion of the future. All that is transitory, national, local, and ceremonial about the religion of Jerusalem and Gerizim is to pass away, and God will accept for the future only the worship of the spirit and the heart. In the meantime, however, Jerusalem, not Gerizim, is the true centre of worship, there Joheva has placed His name, there the Redeemer is to suffer, and there His religion is to be first established.
Jn 4:22. ‘We Jews understand the nature of the God we worship: you Samaritans do not. We have the Psalmists and Prophets to teach us the meaning of spiritual religion: you reject all but the ceremonial Law of Moses. Moreover, you show your ignorance of God by setting up an unauthorised worship in a place which He has not chosen.’ Salvation is of the Jews] alluding to the promises to Abraham (Gn 12), and to David (2 S 7:11–13, 16 Pss 89:3, 4 132:11), and to the historic fact that the gospel was to be preached to all nations ‘beginning at Jerusalem’ (Lk 24:47).
Jn 4:23. In spirit] i.e. with true inward reverence, as distinguished from mere outward observance. In truth] i.e. with true holiness of life. ‘Truth,’ in St. John, is not only correct belief, but also practical piety: see on 3:21.
Jn 4:24. God is a Spirit] or, rather, ‘God is spirit’ (RM). ‘Spirit’ is the name, in the NT., of the highest and most god-like faculties of the soul. Our Lord means, therefore, that God is the supreme understanding, knowledge, reason, will, love, holiness, etc., and hence must be worshipped with the corresponding faculties of the human soul, which is also ‘spirit,’ as made in His image.
Jn 4:25. Messias cometh] An excuse for delay. There is no need (says the woman) to trouble about a more spiritual worship until that distant day when the Messiah comes. 26. The Samaritan idea of the Messiah was religious, not political, and hence Jesus could here proclaim Himself as the Messiah without causing a political ferment: contrast His action among the Jews (6:15 10:24, etc.).
Our Lord’s teaching about worship in spirit and in truth (v. 24), though general in form, had special reference to the woman’s needs. Her religion was an external one of forms and ceremonies, and this accounted for her evil life. If she could but be taught that religion is the attitude of the heart towards God, all would be changed.