Church Fathers Commentary John 4:7-12

"There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away into the city to buy food. 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.) Jesus answered and said unto 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. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" — John 4:7-12 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: So that this conversation might not appear to violate His own command against talking to the Samaritans, the Evangelist explains how it arose. Namely, He did not arrive with the prior intention of talking with the woman, but simply would not send her away when she came. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Notice that she comes quite by chance.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The woman here is a type of the Church—not yet justified, but about to be. It is part of the resemblance that she comes from a foreign people. The Samaritans were foreigners, though they were neighbors. In the same way, the Church was to come from the Gentiles and be alien to the Jewish race.

Theophylact of Ohrid: The discussion with the woman arises naturally from the situation. Jesus says to her, Give me to drink. As a man, the labor and heat He had undergone had made Him thirsty.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Did Jesus also thirst for that woman’s faith? He thirsts for the faith of those for whom He shed His blood.

St. John Chrysostom: This also shows us not only our Lord’s strength and endurance as a traveler, but also His indifference to food, for His disciples did not carry food with them. As the text says, His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. This shows the humility of Christ; He is left alone. If He had wished, it was in His power not to send them all away or, upon their departure, to have others remain to attend to Him. But He chose not to do so, for in this way He accustomed His disciples to trample on every kind of pride.

However, someone might say, "Is humility in fishermen and tentmakers such a great matter?" But these very men were suddenly raised to the most lofty position on earth: that of friends and followers of the Lord of the whole earth. Men of humble origin, when they arrive at a position of dignity, are for this very reason more likely than others to be lifted up with pride, since the honor is so new to them. Therefore, to keep His disciples humble, our Lord taught them in all things to master their pride.

When the woman was told, Give Me to drink, she very naturally asks, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? She knew He was a Jew from His appearance and speech. Here, observe her simplicity. For even if our Lord had been obligated to avoid interacting with her, that was His concern, not hers. The Evangelist does not say that the Samaritans would have no dealings with the Jews, but that the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. The woman, however, though not at fault herself, wished to correct what she perceived as a fault in another.

After their return from the captivity, the Jews held a deep-seated animosity toward the Samaritans, whom they regarded as foreigners and enemies. The Samaritans did not accept all the Scriptures, but only the writings of Moses, and they gave little importance to the Prophets. They claimed to be of Jewish origin, but the Jews considered them Gentiles and hated them, just as they did the rest of the Gentile world.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Jews would not even use their vessels. So the woman was astonished to hear a Jew ask to drink from her vessel, a request so contrary to Jewish custom.

St. John Chrysostom: But why did Christ ask for what the law did not allow? It is no answer to say that He knew she would not give it, for if that were the case, He clearly should not have asked. Rather, His very reason for asking was to show His indifference to such observances and to abolish them for the future.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He who asked to drink from the woman’s vessel, however, thirsted for the woman’s faith. Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, ‘Give me to drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.

Origen of Alexandria: For it is a doctrine, as it were, that no one receives a divine gift who does not seek it. Even the Savior Himself is commanded by the Father to ask, so that He may receive it, as we read, Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance. And our Savior Himself says, Ask, and it will be given to you. Therefore, He says here emphatically, you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He lets her know that He was not asking for the water she was thinking of, but that, knowing her faith, He wished to satisfy her thirst by giving her the Holy Spirit. For this is how we must interpret the "living water," which is the gift of God, as He says, If you knew the gift of God.

Living water is water that comes from a spring, as distinct from water collected in ponds and cisterns from the rain. If spring water also becomes stagnant—that is, if it collects in some place where it is completely separated from its source—it ceases to be living water.

St. John Chrysostom: In Scripture, the grace of the Holy Spirit is sometimes called fire, sometimes water, which shows that these words are expressive not of its substance but of its action. The metaphor of fire conveys the vibrant and sin-consuming property of grace; the metaphor of water conveys the cleansing of the Spirit and the refreshing of the souls who receive Him.

Theophylact of Ohrid: He calls the grace of the Holy Spirit "living water," meaning it is life-giving, refreshing, and stirring. For the grace of the Holy Spirit is always stirring the one who does good works, directing the movements of his heart.

St. John Chrysostom: These words elevated the woman’s perception of our Lord and made her think He was no ordinary person. She addresses Him reverently with the title "Lord." The woman says to Him, Lord, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From where then do you get that living water?

St. Augustine of Hippo: She understands "living water" to mean the water in the well, and therefore says, "You wish to give me living water, but you have nothing to draw with as I do. You cannot, then, give me this living water." She then asks, Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his children and his livestock?

St. John Chrysostom: It is as if she said, "You cannot claim that Jacob gave us this well but used a different one himself, for he and those with him drank from it—which they would not have done if he had a better one. You cannot, then, give me water from this well, and you do not have another, better well, unless you admit that you are greater than Jacob. From where, then, do you have the water that you promise to give us?"

Theophylact of Ohrid: The addition, and his livestock, shows the abundance of the water. It is as if to say, "Not only is the water so fresh that Jacob and his sons drank from it, but it is so abundant that it satisfied the vast herds of the patriarchs’ livestock."

St. John Chrysostom: See how she associates herself with the Jewish lineage. The Samaritans claimed Abraham as their ancestor on the ground of his having come from Chaldea, and they called Jacob their father, as he was Abraham’s grandson.

The Venerable Bede: Or she calls Jacob their father because she lived under the Mosaic law and possessed the farm that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Origen of Alexandria: In the mystical sense, Jacob’s well is the Scriptures. The learned then drink like Jacob and his sons; the simple and uneducated drink like Jacob’s livestock.