Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 4:17

"The woman answered and said unto him, I have no husband. Jesus saith unto her, Thou saidst well, I have no husband:" — John 4:17 (ASV)

Jesus’ request to call her husband was both proper and strategic—proper because it was not regarded as good etiquette for a woman to talk with a man unless her husband were present; strategic because it placed her in a dilemma from which she could not free herself without admitting her need. She had no husband, and she would not want to confess her sexual irregularities to a stranger. The abruptness of her reply shows that she was at last emotionally touched.