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 in the South to travel approximately 80-90 miles North (three days walk) to shine his Divine light in Galilee (Is. 8:23-9:1). In first-century Palestine, Jews often bypassed Samaria because there was longstanding animosity between Jews and Samaritans, rooted in historical and religious differences. John the Evangelist does not give the reason for Jesus having to pass through Samaria.
The Samaritans consisted of Jews who were conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC. Many Israelites were deported, foreign populations were settled in the region, and the Jewish religion and customs were adulterated over time. The Samaritans had their version of the Pentateuch, and their religious center was on Mount Gerizim. The Jews used the Masoretic Text (Tanakh) as their authoritative version of the Pentateuch, the Prophets (Nevi'im), and the Writings (Ketuvim) for religious guidance. Their main centers of worship were in Jerusalem. Jews and Samaritans held contempt for each other (Lk. 9:51-55; Mt. 10:5).
This event takes place in Sychar near Jacob’s well which lies at a major fork in the road. Jesus was tired from his journey and sat by the well around noon, the sixth hour. 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. 33:18-19; Gen 48:21). A woman came with a rope and a bucket to draw water from the well. Noon was an unusual time to draw water as it was normally drawn in the morning or evening. Jesus, who was alone because his disciples had gone to buy food, asked the woman for a drink. The woman recognized that Jesus was a Jew and was surprised. Jews considered themselves ritually pure and sought to avoid any contamination by association with Samaritans, whom they regarded as unclean or impure.
When Jesus first addressed the woman, she did not understand the double meaning of what he was saying to her and she took Jesus’ words literally. 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 could 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 gave them the well. 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!
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References
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.
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.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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