John 4:11

For at first she saith, "How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me?" she saith not, as though speaking to an alien and an enemy, "Far be it from me to give to thee, who art a foe and a stranger to our nation." And afterwards again, when she heard Him utter great words, a thing at which enemies are most annoyed, she did not mock nor deride; but what saith she? "Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?"

Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast Thou that living water? The woman imagines nothing more than what she is accustomed to; and by no means understands the force of what is said, but supposes that like some of those who are accustomed to work wonders by means of charms and devilish deceit, without a line or other contrivance He will draw up the water to her from the depths of the well. But she calls that living water, according to her own meaning, which has fresh flowed from the breasts of the fountain.

However, since the woman did not yet understand these words and did not know what "living water" was, she said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?" The tone of her conversation changed. …

Here the third point is touched upon, namely the explanation of the gift or benefit offered. For the woman understood carnally concerning a temporal gift: and therefore she doubted and sought an explanation. On this account he says: "The woman says to Him: Lord, You …

When he says, The woman challenged him, he treats these three things explicitly. First, the gift; secondly, asking for the gift (v 19); and thirdly, the giver (v 25). He does two things about the first. First, he explains the gift by showing its power. …

The woman says to Him, "Lord!" Do you see how quickly she abandoned her low opinion and renders Him great honor, calling Him Lord. However, she did not grasp the depth of Christ's words, but He speaks of water in one sense, while she understands …

This woman's meeting with Christ at the well may remind us of the stories of Rebekah, Rachel, and Jethro's daughter, who all met with husbands, good husbands, no worse than Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, when they came to the wells for water. Thirdly, How the preventing grace of God sometimes brings people unexpectedly under the means of conversion and salvation.

I see not whence thou canst have it." Note, The springs of that living water which Christ has for those that come to him are secret and undiscovered. The fountain of life is hid with Christ. Christ has enough for us, though we see not whence he has it.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

The woman saith unto him, Sir,....

Hast nothing to draw with - It seems that there were no means of drawing water affixed to the well, as with us. Probably each one took a pail or pitcher and a cord for the purpose. In traveling this was indispensable. The woman, seeing that Jesus had no means of drawing water, and not yet understanding his design, naturally inquired whence he could obtain the water. The well is deep - If the same one that is there now, it was about 100 feet deep.

How is it that thou--not altogether refusing, yet wondering at so unusual a request from a Jew, as His dress and dialect would at once discover Him to be, to a Samaritan. for, &c.--It is this national antipathy that gives point to the parable of the good Samaritan (Lu 10:30-37), and the thankfulness of the Samaritan leper (Lu 17:16, 18).

Conversation With a Samaritan Woman But he had to pass through Samaria. Now he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat right down beside the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me some water to drink." (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies.)

Conversation With a Samaritan Woman But he had to pass through Samaria. Now he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat right down beside the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me some water to drink." (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies.) So the Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you—a Jew—ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water to drink?" (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you had known the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." "Sir," the woman said to him, "you have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do you get this living water? Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock." Jesus replied, "Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water." He said to her, "Go call your husband and come back here." The woman replied, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "Right you are when you said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands and the man you are living with now is not your husband. This you said truthfully!" The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet.

THIS was a sensible and very important question. May the Holy Spirit graciously enable us to answer it aright! Our Lord's great objective in His talk with this woman at the well was not to convince her of His oratorical power, for He spoke to her as simply as one would speak to a child. Many sermons are far too elaborate in their construction—they are evidently intended to display the preacher's own powers.

THIS was a sensible and very important question. May the Holy Spirit graciously enable us to answer it aright! Our Lord's great objective in His talk with this woman at the well was not to convince her of His oratorical power, for He spoke to her as simply as one would speak to a child. Many sermons are far too elaborate in their construction—they are evidently intended to display the preacher's own powers. But if we would imitate the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Prince of Preachers, we would not strain after effect—and we would get a better effect without any straining—by taking the living Truth of God and telling out, as simply as possible, the story of salvation. Jesus Christ's sole objective in talking with this woman was to bring her to salvation. That is also my objective with regard to my hearers and readers and, my dear unconverted Friends, if you shall agree with me in that objective and shall breathe the prayer, "Lord, help the preacher to speak to my soul that I may find Christ," there will be joy among the angels of Heaven over sinners repenting and returning to the Lord! Our Savior, in seeking to win this woman to Himself, was completely successful. He hit the mark He aimed at. His shot struck the very center of the target. Only one sermon was preached to her—no, it was hardly a sermon—just a brief talk with her and the woman received the Living Word! Alas, there are some of you who have had a great many affectionate talks from godly mothers and fathers, or from earnest ministers, teachers, or other Christian friends—but, so far, they have not been as successful as Jesus of Nazareth was on this occasion! You have heard many sermons—you cannot tell how many you have heard—and some of them have produced some effect upon you, but, up to the present, you have not been slain by the sword of the Spirit, nor quickened by Jesus Christ the Life-Giver.

Thou hast nothing to draw with - Ουτε αντλημα εχεις, Thou hast no bucket. Good water is not plentiful in the east; and travelers are often obliged to carry leathern bottles or buckets with them, and a line also, to let them down into the deep wells, in order to draw up water. If the well was in our Lord’s time, as it was found by Mr. Maundrell, thirty-five yards deep, it would require a considerable line to reach it; and with such it is not likely that even the disciples of our Lord were provided. The woman might well say, The well is deep, and thou hast nothing to draw with; whence then hast thou that living water?

In John 4, Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman is itself a Purim-style reversal the rejected becomes chosen, the overlooked becomes entrusted, and the outsider becomes the first to hear a clear declaration of Messiah.