CHAPTER IV.
1‐4. *Jesus sets out from Judea to Galilee.*
5‐26. *Arrival in Sichar, and discourse with the Samaritan woman.*
27‐38. *Discourse with the disciples.*
39‐42. *Stay with the people of Sichar.*
43‐54. Continuation of the journey into Galilee, and healing of the ruler’s son.
1. Ut ergo cognovit Iesus quia 1. When Jesus therefore audierunt pharisaei quod Iesus understood that the Pharisees plures discipulos facit, et had heard that Jesus maketh baptizat, quam Ioannes, more disciples, and baptizeth _more_ than John,
1. *When Jesus therefore understood*, &c. Christ is spoken of as if on this occasion He gained knowledge of which He had been ignorant, because though, as God, He knew all things, every inmost thought of the Pharisees, yet, _as man_, like other men, He gathered knowledge from His fellow‐men. See Mald.
*That Jesus.* Not that He Himself; because the report which the Pharisees had heard is given verbatim, “that” (ὅτι) merely introducing it.
2. (Quamquam Iesus non 2. (Though Jesus _himself_ did baptizaret sed discipuli not baptize, but his eius,) disciples,)
2. Jesus Himself did not usually baptize; probably because, like St. Paul (1 Cor. i. 14‐16), His mission was to preach and teach. It by no means follows from this verse that He never baptized anyone; and many writers are of opinion that He baptized some Himself.
3. Reliquit Iudaeam, et abiit 3. He left Judea, and went iterum in Galilaeam; again into Galilee.
3. Because His time to suffer had not yet come, and much of the work of His public mission still remained to be accomplished, He left Judea, the headquarters of the Pharisees, whose jealousy He knew would be aroused by the report mentioned in verse 1, and went again (see John i. 43) into Galilee.
4. Oportebat autem eum 4. And he was of necessity to transire per Samariam. pass through Samaria. 5. Venit ergo in civitatem 5. He cometh therefore to a Samariae, quae dicitur Sichar: city of Samaria which is iuxta praedium quod dedit called Sichar; near the land Iacob Ioseph filio suo. which Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
4, 5. Not choosing to cross to the east of the Jordan, and go up through Peraea, as some of the stricter Jews did, who wished to avoid all possible contact with the Samaritans, He was obliged to pass through Samaria. Of the three provinces of Palestine west of the Jordan, Samaria was in the centre, with Judea to the south, and Galilee to the north. “St. John is thus careful to note that this was no mission to the Samaritans which the Lord undertook. On the contrary, the law which He imposed on His disciples: ‘And into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not’ (Matt. x. 5), this, during the days of His flesh, He imposed also on Himself. He was not sent ‘but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Matt. xv. 24; Acts xiii. 46); and if any grace reached Samaritan or heathen, it was, so to speak, but by accident, a crumb falling from the children’s table.”(38) Samaria had been the portion of the tribe of Ephraim and of half the tribe of Manasses. The province derived its name from its chief city, Samaria, which, in turn, got its name from Mount Somer (or Semer), on which it was built (3 Kings xvi. 24). See A Lap. The city called Sichar(39) (the modern Nabulus) by St. John is the ancient Sichem, where Abram built an altar to the Lord (Gen. xii. 7), under the turpentine tree behind which Jacob buried the idols of his household (Gen. xxxv. 4), and where the bones of the twelve patriarchs were laid to rest (Acts vii. 16).
*Near the land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph.* See Gen. xxxviii. 18, 19; Josue xxiv. 32.
6. Erat autem ibi fons Iacob, 6. Now Jacob’s well was there. Iesus ergo fatigatus ex Jesus therefore being wearied itinere, sedebat sic supra with his journey, sat thus on fontem. Hora erat quasi sexta. the well. It was about the sixth hour.
6. *Jacob’s well*, which he had dug or bought, was there; and Jesus, weary because of His journey, sat _thus_ (_sic._, “hoc est, fatigatus ut erat,” Beel.) by the well.
*It was about the sixth hour.* See on i. 39.
7. Venit mulier de Samaria 7. There cometh a woman of haurire aquam. Dicit ei Iesus: Samaria to draw water. Jesus Da mihi bibere. saith to her: Give me to drink.
7. There cometh a woman of Samaria, not of the city of Samaria, for that was six miles distant, but of the country of Samaria, a Samaritan woman, to draw water.(40)
8. (Discipuli enim eius 8. For his disciples were gone abierant in civitatem ut cibos into the city to buy meats. emerent.)
8. Because He had no one else to give Him to drink, He asks her to do so, and thus leads up naturally to the following discourse.
9. Dicit ergo ei mulier illa 9. Then that Samaritan woman Samaritana: Quomodo tu Iudaeus saith to him: How dost thou, cum sis, bibere a me poscis, being a Jew, ask of me to quae sum mulier Samaritana? drink, who am a Samaritan non enim coutuntur Iudaei woman? For the Jews do not Samaritanis. communicate with the Samaritans.
9. The Samaritans, with whom, as here stated, the Jews avoided all intercourse, were either pure Assyrians or a mixture of Jews and Assyrians, at best a mongrel race. Very probably some Jews were left behind in Samaria at the time of the Assyrian captivity, under Salmanassar, 721 B.C.; and from these intermarrying with the imported Easterns sprang the Samaritans. The Jews regarded the Samaritans with special aversion for many reasons. They were the descendants of the Assyrian conquerors; they held what was the rightful inheritance of the Jews; they corrupted Jewish worship; they endeavoured to prevent the rebuilding of the Temple under Zorobabel (1 Esd. iv. 2, 7, 8), and were always prepared to harbour the false friends or open enemies of the Jews. Hence this woman, recognising in Christ’s dress and accent His Jewish origin, wonders that He would speak to, much less drink from, a Samaritan. The last clause: *For the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans*, is added by the Evangelist as an explanation of the woman’s question for Gentile readers.
10. Respondit Iesus, et dixit 10. Jesus answered and said to ei: Si scires donum Dei, et her: If thou didst know the quis est qui dicit tibi, Da gift of God, and who he is mihi bibere; tu forsitan that saith to thee, Give me to petisses ab eo, et dedisset drink; thou perhaps wouldst tibi aquam vivam. have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
10. *The gift of God* is not the Holy Ghost, nor Christ Himself, nor the opportunity now offered her, but most probably the gift of grace, the “living water” spoken of in the end of the verse. Hence Christ’s words mean: If you knew that there is a spiritual water which slakes the thirst of man in the desert of this world, and that He who can bestow it speaks to you, *thou perhaps wouldst have asked*, &c. *Perhaps* (_forsitan_) is not represented in the Greek, in which we have an ordinary conditional sentence; and certainly Christ knew without doubt what would have been the result. The Vulgate translator, probably added “forsitan” to indicate that she would still be _free_ to reject the grace offered.
*Living water.* There is the same diversity of opinion here as in regard to the “gift of God,” with the addition that some have held the reference here to be to the waters of baptism. We take it that the reference again is to grace. Living water properly signifies _running water_, in opposition to the stagnant water of pools or cisterns. Here, however the words seem to be used in their highest sense, of waters which come from God and bestow _life_ upon all who drink of them.
11. Dicit ei mulier: Domine, 11. The woman saith to him: neque in quo haurias habes, et Sir, thou hast nothing wherein puteus altus est: unde ergo to draw, and the well is deep: habes aquam vivam? from whence then hast thou living water? 12. Numquid tu maior es patre 12. Art thou greater than our nostro Iacob, qui dedit nobis father Jacob, who gave us the puteum, et ipse ex eo bibit, well, and drank thereof et filii eius, et pecora eius? himself, and his children, and his cattle?
11, 12. She understands Him to speak of natural water, which He seemed to think superior to that of Jacob’s well; and, concluding that He must refer to the water of some other well, since indeed He had no bucket, no means of drawing from the deep well at which she stood, she asks Him: Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, so as to be able to provide a better water than he provided for us in this well? That its waters were good enough for him and his sons, is a proof of their excellence; that they sufficed for all his household and cattle, is evidence of their abundance. There is a tinge of resentment in the words of verse 12, for the Samaritans claimed descent from Jacob (*our father, Jacob*), through Joseph and Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasses, whose tribal territory they possessed, and this Jewish Stranger seemed to the woman to set Himself above the great Patriarch of her race.
13. Respondit Iesus, et dixit 13. Jesus answered, and said ei: Omnis qui bibit ex aqua to her: Whosoever drinketh of hac, sitiet iterum: qui autem this water, shall thirst biberit ex aqua quam ego dabo again: but he that shall drink ei, non sitiet in aeternum: of the water that I will give him, shall not thirst for ever.
13. Without replying explicitly that He was indeed greater than Jacob, Christ implies this by declaring that the water which He will give is superior to that of Jacob’s well. For while the latter only satisfies present wants, that which He will give will quench present and prevent future thirst. What is said in Eccl. xxiv. 29: “They that drink Me shall yet thirst,” is not opposed to our Lord’s words here; for in Ecclesiasticus there is question of desire springing from love, here of a craving arising from want. These words of our Lord show, then, that sanctifying grace is of its own nature perennial in the soul. Time does not wear it away; use does not consume it; unless it be expelled, it never departs: “He that drinks ... shall not thirst for ever.”
14. Sed aqua, quam ego dabo 14. But the water that I will ei, fiet in eo fons aquae give him, shall become in him salientis in vitam aeternam. a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting.
14. But so far from thirsting, he shall have that within him, that is, the Holy Ghost and His graces, which will conduct him to eternal life. In this beautiful metaphor, the spiritual water of grace is represented as finding its own level; coming from heaven, it will return thither in those whom it has saved. The mention of *eternal life* ought to have made it clear that Christ spoke of supernatural and spiritual water.
15. Dicit ad eum mulier: 15. The woman saith to him: Domine, da mihi hanc aquam, ut Sir, give me this water, that non sitiam, neque veniam huc I may not thirst, nor come haurire. hither to draw.
15. Yet she probably still understands of Him merely natural water, “Adhuc carnalis est mulier” (Mald.): and anticipates only relief from having come to Jacob’s well in future.
16. Dicit ei Iesus: Vade, voca 16. Jesus saith to her: Go, virum tuum, et veni huc. call thy husband, and come hither.
16. Christ, of course, knew she had no husband; but He knew also what answer she would give, and He wished to get a natural opportunity of disclosing to her the secrets of her wicked life, that He might manifest His supernatural knowledge.
17. Respondit mulier, et 17. The woman answered, and dixit: Non habeo virum. Dicit said: I have no husband. Jesus ei Iesus: Bene dixisti, quia said to her: Thou hast said non habeo virum: well, I have no husband: 18. Quinque enim viros 18. For thou hast had five habuisti: et nunc quem habes, husbands: and he whom thou now non est tuus vir: hoc vere hast, is not thy husband. This dixisti. thou hast said truly.
17, 18. *Thou hast well said, I have no husband*, or rather, _husband_ I have not, with an emphasis on husband, which is marked in the Greek by its position in the sentence, as reproduced by Christ.
*Thou hast had five husbands.* Though St. Chrys. and Mald. think that there is question, not of husbands, but of paramours, the common opinion, and certainly the obvious one, is that husbands are spoken of. It is not necessary to suppose that the husbands made room for one another by death, for she may have been divorced by several of them. See Deut. xxiv. 1, 2; Matt. xix. 3.
19. Dicit ei mulier: Domine, 19. The woman saith to him: video quia propheta es tu. Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
19. *A prophet*; _i.e._, here, as elsewhere frequently, one who has supernatural knowledge, who knows things which are naturally hidden from him. In these words the poor woman confesses her own guilt and the exalted character of Christ, whom, however, she does not yet recognise as “_The_ Prophet,” the Messias, but only as a prophet.
20. Patres nostri in monte hoc 20. Our fathers adored on this adoraverunt, et vos dicitis, mountain, and you say that at quia Ierosolymis est locus ubi Jerusalem is the place where adorare oportet. men must adore.
20. Not so much for the purpose of turning the conversation from the unpleasant subject of her own character,(41) as in order to have the opinion of a prophet upon an important question, she adds: *Our fathers*, &c.
She says that her Samaritan ancestors had worshipped on that mountain. She evidently refers to public worship, public ceremonies appointed by God, especially the worship of *sacrifice*; for the Jews never held that private worship, as of prayer, should be restricted to Jerusalem. The mountain to which she refers, and beneath the shadow of which Christ and she were standing, is Mount Garizim, which overhangs the town of Sichar. In the time of Alexander the Great, Manasses, a Jewish priest, was excluded from the exercise of his ministry for marrying the daughter of the king of Sichem. The king accordingly built for Manasses a temple on Mount Garizim, where he offered sacrifice to the true God. This temple was built about 330 B.C., and stood for two hundred years. After it was destroyed, about 130 B.C., the Samaritans erected an altar upon Garizim, and continued to offer sacrifice there; so that from the time of Manasses the true God was worshipped, though imperfectly, among them. There still remain a few families of Samaritans, under the shadow of Mount Garizim, in the modern city of Nabulus, or Naplouse.
21. Dicit ei Iesus: Mulier 21. Jesus saith to her: Woman, crede mihi, quia venit hora believe me, that the hour quando neque in monte hoc, cometh, when you shall neither neque Ierosolymis adorabitis on this mountain, nor in Patrem. Jerusalem adore the Father.
21. Christ declares with all solemnity that the time is at hand—nay, already come (see verse 23), when true worship _shall be restricted_ neither to Jerusalem nor to Garizim; and hence her question is practically unimportant.
22. Vos adoratis quod 22. You adore that which you nescitis: nos adoramus quod know not: we adore that which scimus, quia salus ex Iudaeis we know; for salvation is of est. the Jews.
22. *You adore that which* (ὅ) *you know not*. As the woman’s inquiry regarded not the object, but the place of worship, some have understood these words of our Lord in reference to the place, as if He said: You adore in a place for worshipping in which you have no Divine sanction, we in a place pointed out by the finger of God. But it is difficult to reconcile this view with our Lord’s words: “You adore _that which_ you know not.” Hence it is more probable, that in replying to her inquiry, He takes occasion to refer to the imperfect knowledge of God, possessed by Samaritans. The neuter (ὅ) seems to be used in the first instance, to show the want of personality and definiteness in the Samaritan idea of God,(42) and in the second instance merely for the sake of correspondence between the two members of the sentence. *We adore.* That Christ numbers Himself among those who adore, merely proves that He had a human nature.
23. Sed venit hora, et nunc 23. But the hour cometh, and est, quando veri adoratores now is, when the true adorers adorabunt Patrem in spiritu et shall adore the Father in veritate. Nam et Pater tales spirit and in truth. For the quaerit, qui adorent eum. Father also seeketh such to adore him.
23. Still, though this is so, not even to Jerusalem, shall worship be restricted in the future; *but the hour cometh*, &c.
What is the adoration *in spirit and in truth*, here foretold? Evidently the worship of the new dispensation, as contrasted with that of the old; this is plain from the whole context. What, then, is meant by saying that the worship of the new dispensation is to be *in spirit and in truth*? Various interpretations of the words have been given.
(1) “In spirit” is opposed to the worship of the Jews; “in truth” to that of the Samaritans. Hence the worship of the new dispensation is to be, _not merely external_, as was the Jewish (unless it was accompanied by faith in the Redeemer to come, in which case it was not merely Jewish, but Christian), nor _false_, as was the Samaritan. (Toletus.)
(2) “In spirit” is opposed to all merely external and local worship, whether of _Jews_ or _Samaritans_; “in truth” to the _typical_ and imperfect worship of the Jews. For the Jewish sacrifices and ceremonies were only shadows and types of the realities in the New Law. “For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image (reality) of the things: by the selfsame sacrifices which they offer continually every year, can never make the comers thereunto perfect” (Heb. x. 1), Mald., who favours next opinion also.
(3) “In spirit” and “in truth” are synonymous, and signify true supernatural worship, springing from faith and grace, and hence opposed to all imperfect or false worship. This opinion, considered equally probable with the preceding by Maldonatus, and held by Beelen and Corluy, we prefer; for in verse 24, the fact that God is a Spirit (it is not stated that He is also Truth) is given as the reason why He should be worshipped in _both_ spirit and truth.
The distinguishing features of true Christian worship, indicated in verses 21, 23, are that it is to be _universal_, not restricted, like the Jewish or Samaritan, to Jerusalem or Garizim; and _spiritual_, offered with hearts animated by faith and grace, and not consisting merely in external rites.
24. Spiritus est Deus: et eos, 24. God is a Spirit, and they qui adorant eum, in spiritu et that adore him, must adore him veritate oportet adorare. in spirit and in truth.
24. In the end of verse 23 and in this verse Christ goes on to give the reasons why this worship, which is primarily spiritual, is to exist in the new and more perfect dispensation—(1). It is the Father’s will. (2) It is meet that such should be the worship paid to Him who is Himself a Spirit. It is hardly necessary to point out that Calvin’s interpretation of adoration by faith alone cannot be admitted. Were that sufficient, the devils themselves would be true adorers, for “the devils also believe and tremble” (James ii. 19). Neither does Christ here imply that all _external_ worship, external rites and ceremonies, were to cease, but only that they were to cease to be _merely external_; else (1) His acts would contradict His words, Luke xxii. 41; xxiv. 50; (2) His Apostles would distinctly disobey Him: see Acts xvi. 25; ix. 40: Eph. iii. 14; (3) His Church _in every age_ has misunderstood Him.
25. Dicit ei mulier: Scio quia 25. The woman saith to him: I Messias venit (qui dicitur know that the Messias cometh Christus): cum ergo venerit (who is called Christ), ille, nobis annuntiabit omnia. therefore when he is come, he will tell us all things.
25. The poor woman, apparently bewildered by what Christ had just said, is satisfied to wait in confidence till Messias (here without the article, used as a proper name) shall come, who, she believes, will make known all that it is necessary to know regarding the place and character of the worship of the true God. As the Samaritans admitted only the Pentateuch, where the term Messias is not used (though His coming is foretold, Deut.