Charles Ellicott Commentary John 4:9

"The Samaritan woman therefore saith unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a Samaritan woman? (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)" — John 4:9 (ASV)

Woman of Samaria (twice).—Better, Samaritan woman. In both cases, the Greek has the adjective. It is the religious and national position as a Samaritan which is prominent in this verse.

Being a Jew.—This she would know from dress and language. It has been noted that the Hebrew for “Give me to drink,” “Teni lishekoth,” contains the letter Sin, or Shin, which was one of the distinctive points in the Ephraimite pronunciation. They did not say Shibboleth, but Sibboleth (Judges 12:5–6). They would not say “Teni lishekoth,” but “Teni lisekoth.”

For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.—The original Greek does not have the articles: For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. This is a remark made by the writer to explain the point of the woman’s question. She wondered that a Jew, weary and thirsty though he might be, would speak to her.

For the origin of the Samaritans, see 2 Kings 17:24–41 and the note on Luke 9:52. Later Jewish authors frequently use terms of reproach for them, for example: “Anyone who eats the bread of a Samaritan is like someone who eats swine’s flesh;” “No Samaritan shall be made a proselyte;” and “They have no share in the resurrection of the dead” (Pirke, Rabbi Elieser, 38; compare to Farrar, Life of Christ, vol. 1, p. 209, note).

Jesus Himself speaks of a Samaritan as an alien (Luke 17:16, 18) and is called a Samaritan and possessed of a devil . But the strictest Jews allowed exceptions to the forbidden interaction. If bread was forbidden, fruit and vegetables were not; if boiled eggs were forbidden, fresh ones were not.

It is probable that the Galileans never followed the practice of the Judeans in this matter, and hence they go to the city to buy food, while the woman asks this question of a Jew whom she met on the road from Jerusalem. Later, it was only because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem that the Samaritan village did not receive Him; and it is the Evangelist of the Jerusalem ministry, who would have called down fire from heaven then, who adds this note of explanation for his Greek readers now (Luke 9:52–53).