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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh_4:7-14
7There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 8For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." 11She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" 13Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
Joh_4:7 "There came s woman of Samaria" This woman had come alone to a distant well at an unusual time of day because of her social position in the village.
▣ "'Give Me a drink'" This is an aorist active imperative which carried a sense of some urgency.
Joh_4:8 This verse sets the stage for Jesus' private conversation with this outcast woman of a heretical sect of Judaism. This is another parenthetical note by John.
Joh_4:9 "'How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman'" Jews were not even allowed to drink from the same bucket as a Samaritan (cf. Jewish traditions based on Leviticus 15). Jesus was ignoring two cultural barriers: (1) speaking to a Samaritan and (2) speaking to a woman in public.
▣ "(for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans)"The parenthesis (NASB, NRSV), which is another explanatory addition from John, is missing in MSS à * and D, but is present in P63,66,75,76, à cf8 i1, A, B, C, L. The UBS4 gives its inclusion an "A" rating (certain).
Joh_4:10 "If" This is a second class conditional sentence which is called "contrary to fact." A statement is made that is false to highlight a conclusion that is also false.
This is the only use of the word "gift" in John's Gospel. Here it refers to Jesus as the gift of God (cf. Joh_3:16) who gives eternal life. In Joh_7:38-39 and Acts it is used of the giving of the Holy Spirit (cf. Act_2:38; Act_8:20; Act_10:45; Act_11:17). The focus is on the undeserved, unmerited grace of God which is revealed in Christ and the Spirit.
▣ "living water" This term has an OT metaphorical background (cf. Psa_36:9; Isa_12:3; Isa_44:3; Jer_2:13; Jer_17:13; Zec_14:8). Jesus uses the term "living water" as synonymous to "spiritual life." However, the Samaritan woman thought he was referring to running water, as opposed to rain water of the cistern. It is characteristic of John's Gospel that Jesus (the light of the world) is regularly misunderstood (i.e., Nicodemus). The earthly, fallen realm does not comprehend the heavenly realm (i.e., Jesus' message).
Joh_4:11 "Sir" This is the Greek term kurious in its vocative form kurie. It can be used as a polite address (sir) or as a theological statement (Lord) referring to Jesus as full Deity as in Joh_4:1 and Rom_10:13. Here it is a polite address.
Joh_4:12 "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You" The grammar expects a "no" answer. This is an obviously ironic statement. The Samaritan woman was claiming the greatness of her own descent which the Samaritans traced through Ephraim and Manasseh back to Jacob. The amazing thing is that Jesus' superiority was exactly what He was claiming!
This conversation addresses two theological issues.
1. God/Jesus' love for outcasts (i.e., Samaritans, women)
2. Jesus' superiority over Judaism and racial pride
Joh_4:13-14 "but whoever drinks the water I will give him shall never thirst" This probably had Messianic implications (cf. Isa_12:3; Isa_48:21; Isa_49:10). This phrase is a strong double negative. There is a play on the verb tenses. The Present active participle of Joh_4:13 implies drinking again and again, while the aorist active subjunctive of Joh_4:14 implies a one-time drinking.
Joh_4:14 "a well of water springing up to eternal life" This is a present participle which means "continuously leaping" (cf. Isa_58:11 and Joh_7:38). For desert people, water was a symbol of life and divine provision.