The Well Sitting On A Well John 4:11ff, A Commentary

 4:10, Gift. ~ Grk: dōrean (St’s #G1431) a gratuity, from dōron: a
present, specifically a sacrifice. John uses this word only here in the Fourth Gospel. It emphasizes the grace of God through Christ. Living water. ~ Jesus continues the “water” theme He began in ch 2. (Also, see ch’s 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 19, 21.) Here the true subject is the Holy Spirit (see ch 7:37-39 and notes).  4:11, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with. ~ The woman misunderstood Jesus. Christ is speaking of Himself, but she sees only Jacob’s well. He was the well sitting on the rim of a well.  The well is deep. From as early as the fourth century Christian pilgrims reported a well in this area that was about 100 feet deep. When the well was cleaned out in 1935 it proved to be 138 feet deep. The well of Jacob represented national Israel’s fountain (cf ch 4:5).  4:12, Greater than our father Jacob. ~ The greatness of Jacob was his gift of natural water. Jesus had come to fulfill and replace the natural with the spiritual: To the Jews Jesus said, ‘You (all) must be born again into a spiritual Kingdom’: (ch 3:1-10); To the Samaritans Jesus was replacing (fulfilling) Jacob’s gift of natural water with the spiritual Water of Life (v14).   4:13-14, Jesus answered. These two vv are Jesus’ answer to the woman’s question: “Art thou greater than our father Jacob?” Yes. “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst (again)”. The gift of Christ is greater than the gift of Jacob. Mt Calvary crowned Mount Zion, Ebal and Gerizim.   4:14, Shall be in him a well of water. ~ See ch 7:37-38 and notes there.   4:15, Sir, give me this water. ~ Perhaps a sarcastic response. However, between this statement and the woman’s acceptance of Jesus as a prophet in v19, Jesus got her attention by revealing her sin: “Go, call thy husband” (v16).   4:18, Hast had five husbands ... now hast is not thy husband. ~ She had had six men. five of them Jesus recognized as legitimate husbands, but the one she now lived with was not hers. (This may give insight as to why she was at the well at noon time - alone. See note on vv6-8.) Since it is not likely that this woman had outlived five men, this raises an interesting question on Jesus’ acceptance of divorce and remarriage. (See on Matt 5:31-32 and 19:3-9).  At a much deeper and profound level Jesus’ reference to her “husdands” may very well be recalling the history of Samaria. If this is, indeed, what Christ is speaking to, He is bringing a kingdom dimension into this dialogue. In this case the woman would represent the Samaritan people and the “husbands” would represent the past rulers of Samaria. The first husband (since the region’s break from the House of David) was Israel; the second, Assyria; third, Babylon; fourth, Persia; fifth, Greece. In this scenario Rome would be the sixth, which would have something illegitimate attached to it. Also, in this scenario Jesus is presenting Himself as the Son of David, the legitimate husband of all Israel, Who had come to reunite the people of God: One Bridegroom united to one Bride.   4:20, Worshipped in this mountain. ~ Mt Ebal (Deut 27:4). According to the Samaritan Scriptures mount Gerizim (rather than Mt Ebal) was the mountain on which Moses had commanded an altar to be built (Deut 27:4-6). Not only had God instructed Moses to establish worship there and Joshua complied (Josh 8:30-35), but in the fourth century B.C. the Samaritans built a temple on Mt Gerizim (built in 400 B.C. and was destroyed by the Jews in 128 B.C.) to rival Mt Zion in Jerusalem.   4:21-24, Father … God … spirit and truth … Spirit. ~ In this passage the terms Father and God are synonymous (reference the same subject): therefore, v24 identifies God the Father as a Spirit. Moreover, Hebrews 12:9 identifies the Father as the Father of all spirits. Verses 23 and 24 instructs to worship Father God “in spirit and truth”. In modern time the Pluralists have weaponized this reference to “spirit and truth” as a proof text to reference the Holy Spirit (spirit) and the Son of God (truth) as distinct god-persons that are to be worshipped along with the Father. I would be kind to say that this is wishful thinking. But, it does demonstrate the ridiculous limits false doctrine will go to attempt an impossible evidence for an apparent lie. False doctrine makes smart people stupid. Truth has boundaries, error has none.  4:21, The hour cometh. ~ Jesus speaks of the replacement (fulfillment) of both Mt Ebal and Mt Zion as the place of worship. The new temple will be the Church (1Tim 3:15; Eph 2:21; 1Cor 3:9). A fixed geography for worship will be no more. On this topic the writer of the book of Hebrews would say, “For here we have no continuing city; but we seek one to come” (Heb 13:14). To this end, the veil in the Temple was torn. Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed (see Matt ch 24) and the true Temple of God would be a universal building, i.e. the Church (see ch 4:24).   4:22, We know what we worship. ~ Jesus validates the Hebrew concept of God. (The Hebrew concept was/is that God is a radical one: see Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD”.) This must be kept in mind when the Oneness of God is attacked by those who claim a superior understanding to that of the Jews. As to His deity, Jesus of the N.T. is the one Yahweh of the O.T.   4:23, Spirit and in truth.  ~ Jesus announced that the time had come for “true worshippers” (implies there were [and would be] false worshippers—see Matt 7:21-23) to worship in two dimensions, i.e. the spirit (Grk: pneumate St’s #G4151 either spiritual as opposed to carnal, or, spirited, as in lively, but most likely both), and in truth (Grk: alētheiai, St’s #G225, has doctrine in view). Spiritual, and even spirited worship is demonstrated in the N.T. by the Church at Pentecost which spoke in tongues as the evidence of Holy Spirit infilling, and were demonstrative in worship (see Acts 2:4 and 13 respectively). Worshipping in truth is also demonstrated by the Church following the Apostles teaching (see Acts 2:42, i.e. the Apostles doctrine). Therefore, “true worshippers” are Pentecostal in experience and Apostolic in doctrine.   4:24, God is a Spirit. ~ Basic to God is that He is Spirit, and that He is One Spirit (Eph 4:4). Characteristic of true worship is spirit and truth (v23). Spirit, not outward form, but from the inner man (also animated worship). Must not have ritual without power (2 Tim 3:5, “Having a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof: from such turn away”.).  Truth. ~ Pure teaching. Only truth sets free (John 8:32, “the truth shall make you free”), only truth sanctifies (John 17:17, “sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth”.).   4:25, Messias. ~ Messiah. The Samaritan expectation was not for a King of the Davidic line, but for a prophet like unto Moses (Deut 18:15). See v42. They rejected all O.T. Scriptures except the Pentateuch (Torah), therefore they knew very little about the Messiah; not knowing, as they did not, the prophecies of the prophets concerning Him (especially the prophecies of Isaiah). They viewed Him to be a great teacher, such as was Moses.   4:26, I that speak unto thee am he. ~ Lit ‘I Am.’ since the word ‘he’ is italicized it is not in the original. Here the phrase ‘I AM’ (Grk: Egō eimi) is the equivalent for the O.T. self designation for Yahweh (Ex 3:14; Isa 41:4, 10; 43:1-3, 10, 13; see ch18:5, 6, 7; and especially ch 8:28, 58). If the Samaritan woman thought she was speaking to a prophet like unto Moses she was only partly correct—she was speaking to the God of Moses!  

Apostolically Speaking,

Bp. J. L. Hayes, D.D.

Read more from the Bishop's commentary on the Fourth Gospel:
"The Gospel According to John, An Introduction"
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-gospel-according-to-john.html

"Prologue To John's Gospel, 1:1-18, (Part I)"
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2016/05/john-and-logos.html

"Prologue To John's Gospel, 1:1-18 (Part II)"
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2016/05/prologue-to-johns-gospel-11-18-part-ii.html

"The Baptist Witnesses Of Himself, 1:19-28"
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-baptist-witnesses-of-himself.html

"The Baptist Witnesses Of Christ, 1:29-34"
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-baptist-witnesses-to-christ.html

"The First Disciples, 1:35-51"
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-first-disciples.html

"The Wedding of Cana, 2:1-11"
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-wedding-at-cana.html

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