The Samaritan Woman

By the Well

Jesus left Judea for Galilee, and “He needed to pass through Samaria” (John 4:4). “So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph” (John 4:5). “Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour” (John 4:6).

“A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’” (John 4:7). She said, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?”; and the passage adds, “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9).

The talk went from the water of the well to living water, and then to the place of worship. At last, “The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ. When he has come, he will declare to us all things’” (John 4:25). “Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who speaks to you’” (John 4:26). These things are in Lesson 1.

Into the City

“So the woman left her water pot, went away into the city, and said to the people” (John 4:28): “Come, see a man who told me everything that I have done. Can this be the Christ?” (John 4:29). “They went out of the city, and were coming to him” (John 4:30).

“From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, ‘He told me everything that I have done’” (John 4:39). They begged him to stay, and “He stayed there two days” (John 4:40); “Many more believed because of his word” (John 4:41). “They said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world’” (John 4:42). These things are in Lesson 2.

After this, the New Testament does not mention this woman again.