by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
Last week, the theme of “living water” was explored. It was an integral part of our Lord Jesus’ conversation with the unnamed Samaritan woman. Now to continue with our Lord’s dialogue with the woman at Jacob’s well; note that John 4:16-18, 28-30, 39-42 are the verses that reveal more about the person of this woman from Samaria.
Perhaps she did not expect it, but just when she was exploring the offer of “living water” from the Lord, he asks in John 4:16 for her to go and call her husband and come back with him. In the next verse, she answers, quite truthfully that she does not have a husband and our Lord says that her answer was right. And then in verse 18, the Lord says further (probably to her great surprise) that she had 5 husbands and the man she now has is not her husband and that her admission was truthful.
Traditionally, John 4:16-18, coupled with the time, the 6th hour (meaning 12 noon) this unnamed Samaritan woman came alone to draw water from Jacob’s well, as John 4:6 narrates, has been used as the basis for concluding that this woman was of ill-repute. However, there may be another way of looking at this.
A few years before, I had read the book The Jewish Gospel of John: Discovering Jesus, King of All Israel(Tel Aviv, Israel: Jewish Studies for Christians, 2015)by Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg, a Messianic Jew. He did his own translations from the Greek text and interprets the verses from a decidedly Messianic Jewish viewpoint within a 1st century AD historical context; drawing as well from Rabbinical sources when appropriate. With his book, he tries to educate modern-day non-Jewish believers of Yeshua (i.e., most of us Christians) of the meaning of the verses and sometimes gives other interpretative possibilities which may be different from Western-oriented Bible interpretations.
For instance, Dr. Eli states that midday or 12 noon is not the hottest time of the day; it is about 3pm. Also, if the season was winter, then the heat of the noonday sun would not be that relevant (p. 49). This struck me as plausible as I had been to Israel several times in the past, mostly near springtime.
But then, she had 5 husbands in the past and the man she has now is not her husband! So how could it be possible that the Samaritan woman was not going to Jacob’s well at that time to avoid other women? Dr. Eli reminded me of the apocryphal book of Tobit (2nd century BC) wherein a Jewish woman named Sarah had 7 husbands who all died during their wedding day, one after another! While she insisted on her purity, her community looked at her as somebody accursed and rejected her (p. 52). [NB. This story of Sarah in Tobit could have influenced the Sadducees when they questioned the Lord Jesus about marriage and resurrection as narrated in Matthew 22:23-33, Mark 12:18-27 and Luke 20:27-40.]
In ancient Jewish society, men initiated divorce and a divorced woman living alone; a widow or a barren woman; or a woman without sons or a man to provide for her would be in the literal fringes of society. She would be poor or even destitute. In the Old Testament (OT), the LORD God recognized the plight of the poor men (and women) and gave specific commands for them to be helped by the community (e.g., Leviticus 19:9, 25:35-43; Ruth 2:1-23).
It could also be argued that the Samaritan woman’s case could not simply be one of immorality. Otherwise, under the Torah, she would have been stoned to death. So either all her husbands divorced or left her, or had died. John’s Gospel also did not state that Jesus condemned her for living with somebody who was not her husband. Perhaps it was a male relative; or some other arrangement. We simply do not know.
Yet, it is fairly obvious that there is something more about this Samaritan woman than meets the eye. If we momentarily skip over John 4:19-27 and immediately read ahead to John 4:28 and succeeding verses we find that the traditional view of her as a fallen woman is inaccurate and does not accord with the reactions of the Sychar folk. In John 4:28-30, she leaves Jacob’s well as the disciples arrive and hurriedly tells the people to meet this man “who told me as much as all I did.” She asked: could this man be the Χριστός(“Christos,” Christ, Messiah, “the anointed One”)?Properly, the use of the Greek interrogative particle μήτι (“meti”) in her question expects a negative answer. But in the first part of verse 29 she said that this man knew her past and so held the possibility of perhaps a positive answer. It was like an invitation for her people to believe her by seeing the man themselves. Then the Samaritans came out when she told them. If she was an immoral person, why would they go to Jacob’s well with her? Would they even have listened to her at that? If she was a bad person, would they even care what she said? Then in John 4:39the Gospel states that the Samaritans believed because of the woman’s witness. They were very supportive of her. Next, we read in John 4:40-42that the Samaritans believed even more when they heard Jesus. And in verse 42 they even said to the woman that they believed not only because of her initial testimony but also from what they themselves heard from the Lord Jesus himself.
This was not a woman of ill-repute as the traditional interpretation goes; it would even seem that this woman was a respected citizen of Sychar. Her discourse with the Lord was deeply theological. She knew of Jacob’s well and Mt. Gerizim and their importance.
In John 4:19-20 she correctly discerns that our Lord Jesus is a prophet. And then she opens up about a core difference (during their time) regarding the one place of worship separating the Samaritans from the Jews. Was it in Mt. Gerizim as their ancestors told them or was it Jerusalem as the Jews claimed?
But it was not only theological; it was also a personal discourse with our Lord. She knew that he knew what was going on inside of her. Something in her past, perhaps related to losing 5 husbands, may have caused her emotional suffering, and to be withdrawn and avoid company. In our modern context, we could ask: before she talked with our Lord Jesus, was she suffering from depression, anxiety or some emotional problems? When she talked excitedly to her people, did they see that she was apparently healed of her previous mental-emotional state?
Now recall the other silent witness near Jacob’s well; Joseph’s entombed bones. Joseph’s story was also full of suffering and then of salvation; of victory. Hence, our Lord, knowing her true condition and state of heart, used the words “gift of God” and “living water” and offered her grace, healing and eternal life. And she accepted.
We will continue next week with more of the discourse of our Lord Jesus with the Samaritan woman when he reveals his identity; the person of the Messiah.
God bless us all.