Chapter Text
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
2(Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
3He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.
4And he must needs go through Samaria.
5Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
19The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh , when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
25The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
26Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus
27And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
28The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
30Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
31In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.
32But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
33Therefore said the disciples one to another , Hath any man brought him ought to eat?
34Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
35Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
36And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
37And herein is that saying true, One soweth , and another reapeth.
38I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
39And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
40So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
41And many more believed because of his own word;
42And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Jesus Heals the Official's Son
43Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.
44For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.
45Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.
46So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.
47When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.
48Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
49The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.
50Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.
51And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.
52Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
53So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.
54This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.
Summary
Jesus passes through Samaria and stops at Jacob's well near Sychar, where He asks a Samaritan woman for water. Their conversation progresses from physical water to the living water Jesus offers, which springs up into everlasting life. He reveals His knowledge of her past and declares that true worshippers will worship in spirit and in truth.
The woman returns to her city and many Samaritans come to believe. Meanwhile, the disciples return with food, and Jesus tells them His food is to do the Father's will. He speaks of fields white unto harvest. Many more Samaritans believe after hearing Jesus directly.
Meaning
The encounter at the well is rich with symbolism. Jesus offers living water that permanently satisfies spiritual thirst, unlike the well water that leaves one thirsty again. His willingness to speak with a Samaritan woman broke barriers of ethnicity, gender, and social stigma, modeling the universal reach of His grace.
Jesus' declaration that God seeks worshippers who worship in spirit and in truth transcends the debate about where to worship. True worship is not confined to a mountain or a temple but flows from the Spirit's work within the heart and is grounded in the truth of God's self-revelation.
Background
Jews typically avoided Samaria when traveling between Galilee and Judaea, but John records that Jesus must needs go through Samaria, suggesting divine appointment. The well was located near the plot of ground Jacob gave to Joseph, making it a place of deep historical significance.
For a Jewish rabbi to speak publicly with a woman, let alone a Samaritan woman of questionable reputation, was scandalous. The disciples marvelled that He talked with the woman, though none dared question Him.
Chapter Outline
- vv. 1-6Jesus departs Judaea for Galilee through Samaria
- vv. 7-15The offer of living water
- vv. 16-26True worship and the Messiah revealed
- vv. 27-30The woman's testimony in Sychar
- vv. 31-38The harvest is white already
- vv. 39-42Many Samaritans believe
- vv. 43-54Healing of the nobleman's son at Cana
Key Verses
“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”— 4:14
Christ's promise of living water has become one of the most beloved metaphors for salvation and the indwelling Spirit, signifying an inward, inexhaustible source of eternal life.
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”— 4:24
A foundational doctrinal statement on the nature of God and authentic worship, transcending geography and ritual to demand inward sincerity grounded in revealed truth.
“Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.”— 4:26
One of Jesus' clearest self-disclosures as Messiah in the Gospels, given remarkably not to Israel's leaders but to a Samaritan woman.
“Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”— 4:34
Reveals the consuming purpose of Christ's earthly ministry — obedience to the Father — and models a life sustained by spiritual rather than physical priorities.
People & Places
People
- Jesus — The Lord, who reveals himself as Messiah to the Samaritan woman and heals the nobleman's son.
- The Pharisees — Jewish religious leaders whose attention to Jesus' growing ministry prompts his departure from Judaea.
- John the Baptist — The forerunner whose baptizing ministry is contrasted with the expanding work of Jesus' disciples.
- The Samaritan woman — A woman of Sychar with a troubled marital history who becomes the first evangelist to her city.
- Jacob — The patriarch remembered as the giver of the well and ancestor claimed by both Jews and Samaritans.
- Joseph — Jacob's son to whom the parcel of ground near Sychar was given.
- The disciples — Jesus' followers who go to buy food and return to find him teaching the woman.
- The nobleman — A royal official of Capernaum whose dying son Jesus heals from a distance, leading his whole household to faith.
Places
- Judaea — The southern region Jesus leaves to avoid premature conflict with the Pharisees.
- Galilee — The northern region of Jesus' upbringing and much of his ministry, where he is received by his countrymen.
- Samaria — The central region between Judaea and Galilee, inhabited by a people estranged from the Jews.
- Sychar — A Samaritan city near the ancestral plot of Joseph, the setting of Jesus' encounter with the woman.
- Jacob's well — The ancient well outside Sychar where Jesus rests and offers living water.
- Mount Gerizim — The mountain referenced as the Samaritan place of worship, rivaling Jerusalem in their tradition.
- Jerusalem — The Jewish center of temple worship, named by Jesus as the divinely appointed place — yet soon to be transcended.
- Cana of Galilee — The town of Jesus' first miracle, where he now performs his second Galilean sign.
- Capernaum — The lakeside town where the nobleman's ailing son lay near death.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
Jesus explicitly fulfills the Samaritan woman's messianic expectation in verse 25-26, openly declaring 'I that speak unto thee am he' — a rare and direct claim to be the promised Christ. His words in verses 21-23 foretell the imminent end of localized temple worship, anticipating the new covenant era inaugurated at the cross when worship would no longer be bound to Gerizim or Jerusalem. The harvest imagery of verses 35-38 also looks ahead prophetically to the ingathering of the Gentiles, previewed in the Samaritans' belief.
Devotional
Jesus deliberately went through Samaria to meet one weary woman at a well — and her story reminds us that no person is beyond his notice or his reach. He knew everything she had ever done, yet he offered her living water rather than condemnation. That same Christ meets us where we are, in the ordinary middle of our day, and asks for an honest conversation.
True worship, he says, is not about location but about spirit and truth. Wherever you are today, you can drink deeply. And like the woman who left her waterpot behind, those who truly meet him cannot help but tell others.
Literary Style
Narrative gospel prose featuring extended theological dialogue, marked by Johannine irony, misunderstanding-then-revelation patterns, and rich symbolism (water, thirst, harvest, food). The chapter pairs two contrasting sign-narratives — a Samaritan outsider and a Galilean official — framing belief as its central theme.