Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 4:15
The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
15. She still does not understand, but does not wilfully misunderstand. This wonderful water will at any rate be worth having, and she asks quite sincerely (not ironically) for it. Had she been a Jew, she could scarcely have thus misunderstood, this metaphor of ‘water’ and ‘living water’ is so frequent in the Prophets. Comp. Isa 12:3; Isa 44:3; Jer 2:13; Zec 13:1; Zec 14:8. But the Samaritans rejected all but the Pentateuch.
to draw ] Same word as in Joh 2:8-9; peculiar to this Gospel.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The woman said … – It may seem strange that the woman did not yet understand him, but it shows how slow sinners are to understand the doctrines of religion.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 4:15
Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not.
—
The thirst of life and its satisfaction in Christ
I. The poor sinful heart–astray and deceived–UNSATISFIED.
II. The soul led aright and brought to itself by repentance–BEGINNING TO BE SATISFIED.
III. The soul transformed into purity and blessed life by grace–PARTIALLY SATISFIED.
IV. The soul in glory rejoicing in the beatific vision–FULLY SATISFIED.
The water of life
I. I AM TO TRY TO EXCITE YOUR DESIRE BY A DESCRIPTION OF THIS WATER. Spiritual things must be described by natural analogies. You must have water or you die. So must you have grace. Water is
1. Thirst removing.
2. Life preserving.
3. Filth purging.
4. Softening. The hardest heart yields before the power of the love of God.
5. Fire quenching. The fire of lust, envy, malice, anger, and unholy desire.
6. Spring creating. Wherever the water of life falls it makes a new spring, and never gets fiat, dull, or dead.
7. Fruit producing in proportion to the quantity we drink.
8. Heaven ascending. Water rises to its level. If we have grace that began with us it will never get higher than ourselves. If grace which the priest gave, no higher than the priest. But the true grace of God comes down from heaven, and will carry us whence it came.
II. TO CHEER YOUR HEARTS WITH SOME REFLECTIONS UPON THE LIKELIHOOD OF YOUR GETTING THIS LIVING WATER. Supposing that you want it.
1. No ordinary man would deny another water. The giving of grace by the Saviour no more than the giving of water by you.
2. If you would refuse water to some, you would not refuse it to the thirsty; and Jesus never refused a thirsty sinner yet.
3. There is plenty of it, and it is free. John speaks of a river. Who fears to exhaust the Thames? The source may be private, but as soon as it gets a considerable stream it becomes a public highway and water supply.
4. It flows on purpose for the thirsty. What could Christ have made an atonement for but for sinners?
5. No one has been refused yet.
6. It is to Christs glory to give it, and therefore be sure that He will not withhold it. The more a physician cures the greater his fame; the more Christ saves the higher His honour.
III. TO URGE YOU TO PRAY THIS PRAYER. A desire is like seed in the sack, but prayer sows it in the furrow: like water in the bottle, but prayer drinks thereof.
1. Begin, then, by honouring Christ. The woman gave Him the highest title she knew. You call Him Lord; for if you reject His divinity you shut yourself out from His kingdom.
2. Confess your undeservingness. Give, not sell. Mercy must be given.
3. Make this a personal prayer. Give it me. Never mind your neighbours or your children just now. Look after their salvation when you are saved.
4. Offer it in the present tense. The worst of most men is that they would serve the devil all their lives and then cheat him of their souls at last. If God be God serve Him now. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Spiritual laziness
The spirit of the second reason for this request animates men to this day. The prevalent disposition is to seek religious benefit in some way which does not involve endeavour and responsibility.
I. MEN DO NOT EXPECT PHYSICAL RESULTS EXCEPT BY APPROPRIATE EFFORT. Parents do not pray that God would inspire their boys with a useful trade. They apprentice them and pray God that they may attend to their business and take proper steps to learn. Skill of hand is to be developed by training and not by praying. There are those who still speak of luck, but the number decreases with intelligence and enterprise.
II. MEN DO NOT LOOK FOR INTELLECTUAL RESULTS EXCEPT BY THE APPLICATION OF MEANS TO ENDS.
1. We never pray for general knowledge, nor teach our children to do so; but to use their eyes and ears, to keep company with intelligent persons. And this is not inconsistent with the prayer that God will sustain us in the exertion of our natural faculties. So no one prays for books, or the results of professional skill without the drill which leads to them.
2. There is one apparent exception, that of genius. But genius is only what belongs to one whose organization is so fine and large that it acts by its own stimulus. If on the art side, we have an art genius. A man is a genius in the direction in which his faculties are highly organized. Such work more easily than others, but they have to work much. The eagle moves faster and easier than the ant, but both move by the same (muscular) power. And the greatest geniuses in poetry (Milton), in music (Handel), in war (Frederick and Napoleon), have been the hardest workers.
III. BUT MEN DO LOOK FOR RELIGIOUS RESULTS WITHOUT PERSONAL EFFORT.
1. There is an impression that God works irresistibly by His Spirit, and that the distinguishing qualities of Christian life fall down upon us of their own accord like dewdrops on the flowers. Now we must pray for everything that it is proper for us to have, for the highest as well as for the lowest; but there is no more reason that we should pray for morality than for corn, for meekness than for flowers.
2. Religiousness is rightmindedness towards God and man. To be religious is to act in accordance with the laws of the mind from the highest to the lowest of its endowments. I should have, of course, no hope as a minister without a belief in the all-prevalent vitalizing Spirit, and should as soon attempt to raise flowers where there was no atmosphere, and fruits without light and heat, as to regenerate men without the Holy Ghost. Nevertheless this Divine influence is not irresistible in such a sense as to relieve men from the responsibility of developing every one of the spiritual elements. God wakes up the soul and then says, Work out what I work in Php 2:12-13).
3. Conversion is not a completed work. Here is a lazy vagabond, depending on his relations, and he is taken to the West and put upon 150 acres of ground and told to work out his own living. The ground is not converted yet; but he goes to work and brings it under cultivation. He has been converted from a street beggar into a man of means and respectability; but his own conversion is no more complete than that of his farm. When a man is converted he has a new start and has to go forward. If a man, therefore, expects there is any labour-saving conversion he is greatly mistaken.
4. Conversion makes a man a disciple, and places him in Christs school, where he has to learn and place himself under discipline. And the experiences of Christs school are not to be had by prayer only. If an intemperate man wants to be temperate, a passionate man meek, a proud man humble, he must not only pray, but tame himself. (H. W. Beecher.)
Carnal pleasures tire
Hilly ways are wearisome ways, and tire the ambitious man. Carnal pleasures are dirty ways, and tire the licentious man. Desires of gain are thorny ways, and tire the covetous man. Emulations of higher men are dark and blind ways, and tire the envious man. Every way that is out of the way wearies us. Lassati sumus, et lassis non datur requies; we labour, and have no rest when we have done; we are wearied with our sins, and have no satisfaction in them; we go to bed to-night, weary of our sinful labours, and we will rise freshly to-morrow to the same sinful labours again (Lam 5:5; Isa 5:18). (Dr. Donne.)
The heavenly and the earthly mind
Never was there such a contrast in a conversation as that presented in the conversation between Christ and the woman of Samaria. Christ speaking from the top of all spiritual apprehension, the woman from the bottom of sensuous knowledge. (H. W.Beecher.)
Spiritual thirst prepares us to receive the living water
They say that the water of the Nile is very sweet. We have heard some of our fellow-countrymen assert that a very little of it was too much for them, and that they never wished to drink of it again. There is no use in disputing about tastes, but surely people might agree upon the quality of the water. Yet some praise this Nile water to the skies, and others call it muddy stuff. The reason why the water of the Nile is so sweet to Egyptians is that their climate is dry, and the people are thirsty, and other water is scarce. Under a burning sun a drink of water is very refreshing. To the soul that is thirsty after mercy and reconciliation and eternal life, every promise of the Lord is delightful. Nothing puts such a savour and flavour into the gospel as that work of the Holy Spirit, by which we are made to feel our great need of it. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
Mercy a free gift
It is not Sell me this water, but Give me this water. Confess that it is a gift: thou shalt never have it otherwise. Mercy must be given, or thou shalt never have it. Sir, give me, give me, give me of Thy free mercy, give it me, Lord. I come empty-handed, naked, poor and miserable, Give it me. I have nought to buy it with. Friend, does your pride kick at this? Be wise, I pray thee, and bow thy neck to the yoke of grace. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Salvation must be realized by the soul
You go to the throne of grace; to a fountain deeper than Jacobs well; you draw water, living water, from it; but, instead of drinking the water, as you should, you are satisfied with having raised the bucket to the ground, and you retire. The end of drawing water is to drink it: the meaning of praying is to reach something beyond it. Prayer is not a religious duty, but the means of attaining spiritual blessings. (J. Cumming, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. Give me this water] She did not as yet comprehend our Lord’s meaning; but her curiosity was much excited, and this was the design of our Lord, that he might have her mind properly prepared to receive the great truths which he was about to announce.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I am not of their mind, who think that this woman understood our Saviour speaking about spiritual water, only she had a mind to talk; and indeed it is hard to conceive how a woman of her education, and way of life, should understand any such thing; but it is plain that she did not understand him in what he was discoursing about, but doth, as it were, deride him, believing that he had no such thing to bestow. She taketh no notice of the water which our Saviour had spoken of, springing up to eternal life; but regarding only the present life, and her ease in that, desires favour of Christ only to supply her wants in this life, and that she might live more at ease: so true is that of the apostle, Rom 8:5, They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15-18. give me this water,&c.This is not obtusenessthat is giving wayit expressesa wondering desire after she scarce knew what from this mysteriousStranger.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The woman saith unto him, Sir,….
[See comments on Joh 4:11];
give me this water, that I thirst not. The Syriac and Persic versions add, “again”:
neither come hither; the Ethiopic version adds here, “again”;
to draw. This she said also, in the same sneering and scoffing way, as her talking of not thirsting and coming thither to draw water, shows; and it is as if she had said, pray give me some of this fine water you talk of, that I may never thirst again; and so have no occasion to be at all this fatigue and trouble, to come daily to this well for water: though some think, that she now spoke seriously, having some little knowledge of what our Lord meant by living water, but with a mixture of much ignorance, and that she heartily desired it; but the reason she gives, shows the contrary.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Sir (). Not yet “Lord” for her. See verse 11.
This water ( ). This peculiar kind of water. She did not grasp the last phrase “unto life eternal,” and speaks half ironically of “this water.”
That I thirst not ( ). Final clause with , alluding to the words of Jesus, water that will prevent thirst.
Neither come ( ). Carrying on the negative purpose with present middle subjunctive, “nor keep on coming” as she has to do once or twice every day. She is evidently puzzled and yet attracted.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “The woman saith unto him,” (legei pros auton he gene) “The woman says directly to him,” in search of relief for her repeated tedious trips to draw natural water.
2) “Sir, give me this water,” (kurie dos moi touto to hudor) “Sir, give me this (kind of) water.”
3) “That I thirst not,” (hina me dipsa) “in order that I thirst no more,” like I do, that makes me come here to draw tediously, repeatedly. The water of life does not destroy physical thirst nor the bread of life physical hunger. They only satisfy the thirst and hunger of the soul, forever, Joh 6:35.
4) “Neither come hither to draw.” (mede dierchomai enthade antlein) “Nor ever come all the way here to draw again.” She was content to have temporal satisfaction to the extent that she would thirst no more for this kind of water.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
15. Give me this water. This woman undoubtedly is sufficiently aware that Christ is speaking of spiritual water; but because she despises him, she sets at naught all his promises; for so long as the authority of him who speaks is not acknowledged by us, his doctrine is not permitted to enter. Indirectly, therefore, the woman taunted Christ, saying, “Thou boastest much, but I see nothing: show it in reality, if thou canst.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
JESUS SEARCHES OUT A WOMANS SECRET
Text 4:15-18
15
The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw.
16
Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17
The woman answered and said unto him, I have no husband. Jesus saith unto her, Thou saidst well, I have no husband:
18
for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: this hast thou said truly.
Queries
a.
Is the womans answer sincere?
b.
Why does Jesus change the subject?
c.
What made the woman say, I have no husband?
Paraphrase
The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this living water, that I may never thirst again nor have to come here day after day to draw a new supply of water. Jesus replied, Go call your husband and come here. The woman answered, I have no husband. Jesus then said to her, You have said well, A husband I have not, for you have had five husbands, and the man whom you now have is not your husband. This is indeed a true thing you have said!
Summary
The woman fails to comprehend the nature of the living water, and does not realize her need for it. Jesus shows her that she ought to be thirsting for righteousness.
Comment
Is the womans request (Joh. 4:15) sincere, or is it cynical? It is easier to assume that she is sincere. Whatever be her attitude, she has missed the point! She interprets Jesus as speaking of physical water. She has made the same mistake the great crowds made later when Jesus said, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the signs, but because ye ate of the loaves, and were filled (Joh. 6:26).
In Joh. 4:16 comes the next approach of the Master Teacher. He must use more dramatic and personal means of bringing the woman to an understanding of the living water. First He must make her soul thirsty for this refreshing and revitalizing water, The truth of God reveals two things: (a) our sinful and unrighteous state that causes the honest-hearted to thirst after righteousness; (b) it reveals God, manifested in Jesus, as the Living Water which quenches that thirst (cf. Mat. 5:6; Joh. 6:35; Joh. 7:37; Rev. 7:16).
Before men and women can be saved, they must be lost! The man who has not recognized his lost estate cannot be saved. This Samaritan woman must have the full light of Gods perfect standard focused upon her immoral life to show her the need for living water, The gospel, of course, can be rejected. When the light of Gods truth shines upon good and honest hearts, they will become thirsty and hungry to partake of the nature of God. But the results are different with evil hearts they are increased in their hardness the longer they reject.
Jesus cannot give the woman of Samaria the living water until she has a thirst for it. Thus Jesus with His omniscient perception forces the woman to see herself as one who needs this vivifying water. Without a word of forewarning, Jesus casts a thunderbolt into the conversation. He says, Go fetch your husband!
Joh. 4:17 stands in sharp contrast with the other verses narrating the womans speech. Before, she had been very eager to converse. Suddenly she becomes very reticent. She speaks (in the Greek) only three words.
A few scholars believe the woman to be making a humble confession of her sin rather than seeking to conceal the fact that she was living with a man in an adulterous relationship. The entire narrative, however, seems to point to a studied attempt by the woman to evade the issue. In fact, her very next move was to raise a theological question for dispute concerning the two national religions.
The reply of Jesus (Joh. 4:17-18) is very sagacious. He continues to probe. He knows just how to proceed. The construction of the sentence in the original language gives emphasis to the word husband. It is as if Jesus is saying, You were correct when you said, I do not have a husband. She is living with a man, but he is not her husband.
Jesus then proceeds to tell her the story of her life. There are two important blessings this woman receives. Jesus, by His power to search her heart and reveal her past has (a) revealed her sin and made her desirous of righteousness, and (b) manifested, to some extent, His omniscient and divine nature, and thus provided her the way to righteousness.
Quiz
1.
How does the woman interpret Jesus living water?
2.
What two things does the truth of God reveal?
3.
What must a person recognize before one may be saved?
4.
How does the woman react when Jesus reveals her sin?
5.
What is the significance of Jesus answer (Joh. 4:17-18)?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(15) Come hither.The Sinaitic and Vatican and some other MSS. read, come through hither, or as Alford, who adopts the reading, renders it, come all the way hither. Godet also adopts the reading, but renders it, in the service of a forced explanation, pass by here, thinking that the woman was on her way home from work at meal-time, and that this accounts for her presence at the well at noon. He regards this as sans doute, but the reading itself is at least uncertain, and is probably to be explained by its first syllable being added from the last syllable of the previous word; and the translation is more than uncertain.
The woman understands the words in their physical sense. How many a toilsome hour, how many a weary journey would she be saved!
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Sir, give me this water Her reverent Sir, or Lord, indicates that this is no feigned or sarcastic supplication. Yet there is scarce anything truly spiritual in her request. She asks only a divine draught that shall give exemption from bodily thirst, and from this labour of coming, drawing, and carrying. She is reluctant to rise to the full spirituality of his words or of his character. Jesus will now so direct the conversation as to furnish her proof that he is a prophet of God, and that his words express divine spiritual truth.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘The woman says to him, “Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, nor come all this way here to draw”.’
The woman was intrigued and not quite sure what He meant, but His offer sounded delightful, an answer to many problems. She still did not realise that what was required was a spiritual transformation. But she did want this exciting-sounding water.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 4:15. Sir, give me this water, The woman still ignorant of his spiritual meaning, and understanding him only of natural water, says to him with great respect, Sir, , Lord,I claim thy promise, Give me this water. The title which she gives our Lord, though a Jew, and as such esteemed an inveterate enemy to her nation, indicates great reverence and delicacy, which indeed is visible in her whole behaviour on this occasion.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 4:15-16 . The woman as yet having no apprehension of the higher meaning of the water spoken of (against B. Crusius, Lange), yet being in some degree perplexed, asks, not in irony, as Lightfoot and Tholuck think, but sincerely, for this wonderful water, which at any rate must be of great use to her.
Jesus breaks off suddenly, and commences, by a seemingly unimportant request, “Call thy husband,” to lay hold of the woman in her inner life, so that the beginnings of faith in Him might be connected with His supernatural knowledge of her peculiar moral relations . This process must be accompanied with the awakening in her of a sense of guilt (see Joh 4:29 ), and thus pave the way for ; and who dare deny that, besides the immediate object, this may have been included in the purposes of Jesus? though He does not directly rebuke, but leaves the feeling to operate of itself (against Strauss and most others).
. . ] We are not to ask here what the husband was to do (Chrysostom, Euthymius Zigabenus: “that he might partake with her of the gift of salvation that was before her;” so also Lcke); because the command was only an apparent one, not seriously intended, for Jesus knew the relations of the woman, and did not merely discover His prophetic gift by the answer she gave, as Lcke and Godet quite gratuitously assume. The . was the sore spot where the healing was to begin. According to Lange, L. J. II. p. 530 f., it would have been unseemly if Jesus, now that the woman showed a willingness to become His disciple (?), had continued to converse longer with her in her husband’s absence; His desire, therefore, was in keeping “with the highest and finest sense of social propriety.” But the husband was nothing more than a paramour!
] in the sense of come back , as the context shows. See Hom. Od. a . 408, . 30; Xen. Anab . ii. 1. 1, v. 1. 4; Bar 4:37 ; Tob 1:18 ; Heind. ad Plat. Prot . p. 310 C. Comp. Joh 14:18 ; Luk 19:13 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Ver. 15. Sir, give me this water ] We would all have immortality, but here on earth. Some think she jeers our Saviour here; who therefore in the next words arouseth her conscience.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15. ] This request seems to be made still under a misunderstanding, but not so great an one as at first sight appears. She apprehends this water as something not requiring an to draw it; as something whose power shall never fail; which shall quench thirst for ever; and half in banter, half in earnest, wishing perhaps besides to see whether the gift would after all be conferred, and how, she mingles in with the , implying some view of its distinct nature, her ‘not coming hither to draw,’ her willing avoidance of the toil of her noonday journey to the well. We must be able to enter into the complication of her character, and the impressions made on her by the strange things which she has heard, fully to appreciate the spirit of this answer.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 4:15 . The woman, with her mind still running on actual water, says . She is attracted by the two qualities of the water, and asks it (1) , (2) .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh 4:15-26
15The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” 16He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” 18Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
Joh 4:15 The woman, like Nicodemus, is still understanding Jesus on a very physical (literal) level. This was not unusual even for the disciples. They often misinterpreted Jesus by missing His metaphorical language (cf. Joh 4:31-33; Joh 11:11-13).
Joh 4:16 The UBS4 does not even mention the possibility that the name “Jesus” was added (cf. NKJV, NRSV, NJB, REB). The NET Bible gives the manuscript evidence for its inclusion (p. 1903, i.e., MSS *,c, A, C2, D, L, and W, but it is missing from MSS P66,75, B, C). Scribes tended to make the text clearer and easier to follow.
“Go, call” This is a present active imperative followed by an aorist active imperative.
Joh 4:17 “I have no husband” Sin must be faced. Jesus does not condone but neither does He condemn.
Joh 4:18 “you have had five husbands” Jesus employs supernatural knowledge to shake the woman from the physical sphere to the spiritual sphere (cf. Joh 1:48).
Joh 4:19 “I perceive that You are a prophet” The woman had not yet come to a Messianic understanding. She was trying to skirt the major issue of her relationship with God by the use of a compliment (just like Nicodemus in Joh 3:2).
Other commentators see this as a Messianic reference from Deu 18:15-22.
SPECIAL TOPIC: OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY
SPECIAL TOPIC: NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY
Joh 4:20 “Our fathers” This refers to Abraham and Jacob (cf. Gen 12:7; Gen 33:20). She is asserting her sense of covenantal inclusion (cf. Joh 8:31-59).
“worshiped in this mountain” This refers to the theological argument as to where God (YHWH) should be worshiped. The Jews emphasized Mt. Moriah (site of Jewish Temple), while the Samaritans emphasized Mt. Gerizim (Samaritan temple destroyed in 129 B.C. by John Hyrcanus).
In our day this would be the attempt by people to whom we are witnessing to get away from the issue of their relationship with Christ by bringing up a theological red herring. Humans enjoy studying religion and philosophy as long as it does not affect them personally (cf. Joh 3:19-21).
Joh 4:21 “‘an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father'” This must have been a shocking statement to her and also to His disciples. Where is not the issue, but who!
Joh 4:22 “for salvation is from the Jews” This is an affirmation of the origin of the Messiah (cf. Gen 12:2-3; Gen 49:8-12; Isa 2:3; Rom 9:4-5).
Joh 4:23 “But an hour is coming, and now is” This may be an allusion to Mal 1:11 about universal worship. It is obvious that Jesus brought the gift of eternal life during His lifetime as well as after His death. This statement reflects the tension which exists between the two comings of the Messiah. The two Jewish ages (see Special Topic at 1Jn 2:17) have now been overlapped. The New Age of the Spirit is present, yet we still live in the old age of evil and sin.
Jesus is surely claiming that the new age had begun in Him. The age of the Spirit, the Messianic age, had been inaugurated!
“in spirit and truth” The term “spirit” (see Special Topic at Joh 3:8) speaks of a worship that is not locally or physically based. The term “truth” was used in the Greek world to speak of a mental concept, while the Hebrew background was that of faithfulness or trustworthiness. See Special Topics on Truth at Joh 6:55; Joh 17:3.
“the Father” It was very unusual to call God “Father” in the New Testament without adding a reference to Jesus as His unique Son.
SPECIAL TOPIC: FATHER
“for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers” God is actively seeking lost humanity (cf. Isaiah 55; Eze 18:23; Eze 18:32; Luk 19:10; Joh 1:12; Joh 3:16).
Joh 4:24 “God is spirit” There are several short clauses in John’s writings which describe the character of God: (1) God is love; (2) God is light; (3) God is spirit. This can mean (1) not physical; (2) not limited to one locality; (3) not related to time sequence or (4) heavenly vs. earthly.
Joh 4:25 “Messiah is coming” The term Messiah occurs only twice in the NT, both in John’s Gospel (cf. Joh 1:41; Joh 4:25).
SPECIAL TOPIC: MESSIAH
“when that One comes, He will declare all things to us” This shows that the Samaritans were expecting a Messiah. It also shows they saw the Messiah as coming to reveal the fullness of God.
Joh 4:26 “I who speak to you am He” This may be an allusion to Isa 52:6. It is a plain, open affirmation of His Deity (so different from the Synoptic Gospels)! It is a play on “I Am,” which reflected the OT Covenant name for God, YHWH (cf. Exo 3:12; Exo 3:14). Jesus used this OT name for God as a way of referring to YHWH’s self-revelation visibly and clearly in Jesus (cf. Joh 8:24; Joh 8:28; Joh 8:58; Joh 13:19; Joh 18:5 compare Isa 41:4; Isa 43:10; Isa 46:4). This specialized use of “I Am” must be differentiated from the well known “I Am” statements of John, Joh 6:35; Joh 6:51; Joh 8:12; Joh 10:7; Joh 10:9; Joh 10:11; Joh 10:14; Joh 11:25; Joh 14:6; Joh 15:1; Joh 15:5, which are followed by qualifying nouns.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
unto. Greek pros. App-104.
that. Greek. hina. See Joh 1:7.
not. Greek me. App-106.
come hither. Some texts read dierchomai (as in Joh 4:4) = come all the way hither (through, or across the plain).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
15.] This request seems to be made still under a misunderstanding, but not so great an one as at first sight appears. She apprehends this water as something not requiring an to draw it;-as something whose power shall never fail;-which shall quench thirst for ever;-and half in banter, half in earnest, wishing perhaps besides to see whether the gift would after all be conferred, and how,-she mingles in with the ,-implying some view of its distinct nature,-her not coming hither to draw,-her willing avoidance of the toil of her noonday journey to the well. We must be able to enter into the complication of her character, and the impressions made on her by the strange things which she has heard, fully to appreciate the spirit of this answer.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 4:15. , give me) The woman asks for the water, as the Jews asked bread, ch. Joh 6:34, Lord evermore give us this bread, for the support of the body. By this time the matter is come to that point, that the woman says, give; to whom before the same word had been addressed [by Jesus] Give Me to drink, Joh 4:7.-, hither) with toil. She wishes to have at home that fountain.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 4:15
Joh 4:15
The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw.-The woman takes in the truth that the effects of the water he promised were permanent, but she thought it relieved from the fleshly thirst, and its possession would relieve her from coming to the well for water again.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the True Worship of the Father of All
Joh 4:15-26
What a train of memories our Lords words evoked! A spasm of remorse seized the woman, as she remembered the grave within her heart where her first love lay buried, trampled down by the wild crew of later passion. But why awaken such memories? Why open the cupboard and bid that skeleton step down? It could not be otherwise! Christ was there not to enter into an argument but to awaken the dormant conscience and save. The woman evaded the sword thrust, but she realized that she was dealing with a master hand in the spiritual realm. Hence her question about worship. This led to one of the greatest sayings ever uttered on earth-that God is Spirit; that He is ever searching for true worshipers; and that He is indifferent to places and nationalities and method, that we cannot worship until we live in the spirit-realm and are willing to conform ourselves absolutely to truth-these thoughts have revolutionized the religious thinking of mankind. They have not yet fulfilled their mission, but they bear witness to the unique supremacy of the Christ.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
give: Joh 6:26, Joh 6:34, Joh 17:2, Joh 17:3, Psa 4:6, Rom 6:23, Rom 8:5, 1Co 2:14, 1Jo 5:20, Jam 4:3
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5
The woman was still somewhat in the dark as to the kind of water Jesus was offering her. She had the idea it had such qualities that it would take the place of that ,in the well. It is no wonder, then, that she requested the water from Jesus.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 4:15. The woman saith unto him. Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw. These are words of simple earnestness. In the mysterious words of the Jewish traveller one thing was plain,instead of the water she came to draw, water was offered that would satisfy thirst now and for ever. Could she gain this gift, she would no longer need to traverse the distance from Sychar to Jacobs well. Though much nearer than Shechem, El-Askar is perhaps three-quarters of a mile from the well. The later narrative makes it impossible for us to regard this answer as one either of flippancy or of dulness of spiritual perception. It is in every way more probable and true to nature to consider it as the expression of a bewildered mind eager to receive such a gift as has been offered, little as she could comprehend of what nature the gift could be. If we are right in the conjecture that other than common motives brought her to the well (see the note on Joh 4:12), it is still easier to understand her reply. With this verse comp. chap. Joh 6:34.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
These words set forth unto us, 1.What manner of person this woman was, whose conversion Christ sought so industriously after.
2. The means he used in order to that end.
Observe, 1. What manner of person this woman was; besides that she was an idolater, as being a Samaritan, she was also an adultress, and lived now in the sin of uncleanness with one that was not her husband, after she had five husbands before.
Whence we learn, That the ice of old age will not quench the fire of lust, concupiscentia non senescit: such is the pollution of our nature, that lust will be insatiable, if grace doth not restrain it. This woman, after five marriages, yet lives in the sin of uncleanness.
Observe, 2. The way and manner our Lord takes, the method and means our Lord uses, in order to her conversion.
1. He deals very tenderly and gently with her; he doth not call her whore, nor upbraid her for her impudent lewdness, in living with a man that was none of her husbands, but only gives her to understand that he knew the sin she lived in; yet this he did likewise with all imaginable privacy, whilst his disciples were away, and no body by but they two only.
Hence learn, 1. That private sins are not to be reproved publicly.
2. That, in reproving sin, all sharpness and bitterness of expression must be avoided; the pill of reproof must be wrapped up in sugar; for if they to whom it is given, taste the bitterness of gall and passion mixed with it, they will certainly spit it out before, it may be upon, our faces. Our Lord’s practice here instructs us, that sin is to be so reproved, as that the credit and estimation of the sinner may be preserved as much as may be.
Note, 2. That as Christ dealt with this woman tenderly and gently, so he discovers her sin to her particularly, and sets her secret sin before the face of her conscience distinctly. If ever the ministry of the word works upon the minds of men to their conversion, it must be by a particular and close application of the word to every man’s conscience: generals will not affect.
Note, 3. What the particular sin is, which Christ charges home upon the conscience of this woman: it is the sin of uncleanness, that the man she kept with, was not her husband.
Learn hence, That, amongst all sins, the sin of uncleanness will lie heaviest upon the conscience, and wound the soul most deeply, when the Spirit of God once effectually discovers it, and charges it home upon the conscience. For there is no sin so directly opposite to sanctificaton and holiness, as this sin: no sin that quenches the Holy Spirit of God like this.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Ver. 15. The woman says to him: Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, neither pass this way to draw.
This woman’s request has certainly a serious side. The respectful address, Sir, is sufficient to prove this. It follows likewise from the grave character of the answer of Jesus. Even though the absence of spiritual wants causes her not to understand, she is impressed; can this man indeed have the power of working such a miracle? Nevertheless, the expression of the desire which she experiences to have her life made more comfortable has in it something naive and almost humorous.The last words reproduce the promise of Jesus: shall not thirst. The reading of the two oldest MSS.: that I pass no more this way, instead of: that I come hither no more, should undoubtedly be adopted. No one would have substituted this for the received reading. It confirms the idea that we have expressed: namely, that the woman was merely passing that way, as she returned to her house.
The first phase of the conversation is closed. But Jesus has raised a sublime ideal in this woman’s imaginationthat of eternal life. Could he abandon her before having taught her more on this subject, since she had thus far shown herself teachable.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
The woman did not pretend to understand what Jesus was talking about, but she did want to avoid the work involved in drawing water from Jacob’s well. Since Jesus had offered it, she asked Him to give her whatever it was that He had (cf. Joh 3:4; Joh 6:34).