Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself was not baptizing, just his disciples), 3 he left Judea and returned to Galilee. 4 He had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 [The woman] said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
JBap was now in prison and Jesus knew that the Pharisees would turn their attention to him as his fame spread and his followers grew in number. Judea became a dangerous place for Jesus so he left Judea (South) to shine his Divine light in Galilee (North) as prophesied by Isaiah (Is. 8:23-9:1). In first-century Palestine, Jews often bypassed Samaria. John the evangelist does not give the reason for Jesus passing through Samaria.
This event takes place by Jacob’s well. This is the only reference in the Bible to Jacob’s well, but the plot of land Jacob bought for 100 pieces of money in Shechem that was given to Joseph was mentioned in Genesis (Gen. 33:18-20; Gen 48:21). The Jews had nothing to do with the Samaritans and avoided them (Mt. 10:5). The Samaritans consisted of Jews who were conquered by the Assyrians (722 BC) and mixed in with five other foreign nations. The Jewish religion and customs were adulterated hence they were despised by the Jews who strictly followed the Law of Moses.
A woman came with a rope and a bucket to draw water and Jesus, who was alone, asked her for a drink. The woman recognized that Jesus was a Jew and was shocked because the Jews regarded Samaritan women as ritually impure and were forbidden to drink from any vessel they had touched. When Jesus first addressed the woman, she could not possibly have understood what he was telling her and she took Jesus’ words literally. But Jesus was telling the woman that He is the gift of God and the source of living water. He asked her for a drink but through God’s love and grace, he can give her living water.
The woman addressed Jesus as “Sir” but still did not understand how Jesus could give her water when he had no rope or bucket to draw water. She asked Jesus if he was greater than the Patriarch Jacob who made the well (v. 12). Jesus told her that whoever drinks water from Jacob’s well will be thirsty again. but whoever drinks the water that he gives will never thirst. It becomes a perpetual spring of sanctifying grace leading to eternal life. The woman still did not understand what Jesus was telling her.
Lord Jesus, forgive us when we do not understand and help our understanding. Forgive us when we do not believe and help our unbelief. Forgive us when our faith is weak and strengthen our faith. Forgive us when we do not see and remove our blindness. Forgive us when we do not hear and open our ears. Raise us up from our lowliness so we can serve you in truth and love. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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