John 4:11

The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? THE WOMAN SAITH UNTO HIM, SIR, THOU HAST NOTHING TO DRAW WITH, AND THE WELL IS DEEP: FROM WHENCE THEN HAST THOU THAT LIVING WATER? This is the language of one who, though startled by what was said to her, saw that it must have some meaning, and sought by this question to get at the bottom of it....

11._Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with. _As the Samaritans were despised by the Jews, so the Samaritans, on the other hand, held the Jews in contempt. Accordingly, this woman at first not only disdains Christ but even mocks at him. She understands quite well that Christ is speaking figuratively, but she throws out a jibe by a different figure, intending to say, that he promises more than he can accomplish....

4-26 There was great hatred between the Samaritans and the Jews. Christ's road from Judea to Galilee lay through Samaria. We should not go into places of temptation but when we needs must; and then must not dwell in them, but hasten through them. We have here our Lord Jesus under the common fatigue of travellers. Thus we see that he was truly a man. Toil came in with sin; therefore Christ, having made himself a curse for us, submitted to it. Also, he was a poor man, and went all his journeys on foot. Being wearied, he sat thus on the well; he had no couch to rest upon. He sat thus, as people wearied with travelling sit. Surely, we ought readily to submit to be like the Son of God in such things as these. Christ asked a woman for water. She was surprised because he did not show the anger of his own nation against the Samaritans. Moderate men of all sides are men wondered at. Christ took...

Verse John 4:11. _THOU HAST NOTHING TO DRAW WITH_] ουτε αντλημα εχεις, _Thou hast no bucket_. Good water is not plentiful in the east; and travellers are often obliged to carry leathern _bottles_ or _buckets_ with them, and a _line_ also, to let them down into the deep wells, in order to draw up water. If the well was in our Lord's time, as it was found by Mr. Maundrell, thirty-five yards deep, it would require a considerable _line_ to reach it; and with such it is not likely that even the disciples of our Lord were provided. The woman might well say, _The well is deep_, and _thou_ _hast nothing to draw with; whence then hast thou that living_ _water_?...

HAST NOTHING TO DRAW WITH - It seems that there were no means of drawing water affixed to the well, as with us. Probably each one took a pail or pitcher and a cord for the purpose. In traveling this was indispensable. The woman, seeing that Jesus had no means of drawing water, and not yet understanding his design, naturally inquired whence he could obtain the water. THE WELL IS DEEP - If the same one that is there now, it was about 100 feet deep....

EXPOSITION JOHN 4:1 7. _The ministry and revelation of the Lord to those beyond the strict compass of the theocracy. _This passage describes an incident of consummate interest, and records a specimen of our Lord's intercourse with individuals, and the reaction of that instruction upon the disciples. The event is a solitary chink through which the light of historical fact falls upon an otherwise darkened and unknown period of the Saviour's life. When we skirt a forest we see at intervals, where by some accident of growth the light falls upon a narrow space, a miniature world of life and loveliness of every kind, suggesting what might happen if every square yard of the forest could receive a similar illumination. Every day of that wondrous life of Christ may have been equally full of meaning to some souls. "These things are written, that

THE WOMAN SAITH UNTO HIM, SIR,.... Which was an usual, way in those countries, of addressing men, and especially strangers; and expresses no uncommon respect to Christ, of whose dignity and greatness she was, entirely ignorant; and at whom she was now scoffing; for so the following words are to be understood: THOU HAST NOTHING TO DRAW WITH; no pail, or bucket, or rope, to let it down with, as Nonnus adds; for it seems, there was no bucket, or vessel, fastened at the well for the common use, but everyone brought one with them, when they came to draw: though it is strange there was not one; since, according to common usage, and even of the Jews u, "a public well had, קול, "a bucket", or pitcher; but a private well had no bucket:'' AND THE WELL IS DEEP; that which is now called Jacob's well, is by some said to be forty cubits deep, and by others thirty five yards: from whence then hast...

I have often read this chapter in your hearing, and you have often read it yourselves; but the Word of God is not like the grapes of an earthly vine, which when once trodden are exhausted. You may come to Holy Scripture again and again; it is like an ever-flowing fountain, the more you draw from it, the more you may draw. John 4:1. _When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples), he left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee._ Observe here that our Lord at first shunned conflict with the Pharisees. When he knew that they were jealous of him, he went away from Judaea to a more remote district, «into Galilee.» May he help us always to take that which may be the wiser course in every emergency! He was not guilty of cowardice; that, he could not be, for he was

JOHN 4:11 auvtw|/ @h` gunh,# {C} It is difficult to decide whether h` gunh, is a natural addition introduced by copyists in order to clarify the subject of le,gei (as evkei,nh was added in a*), or whether the absence of the words in two Alexandrian witnesses (î75 B), joined by two versional witnesses (syrs copach2), is the result of a pruning of the text of unnecessary words. In order to reflect the balance of possibilities, the words were retained in the text but enclosed within square brackets....

CHAPTER 4 _ 1. He Must Needs Pass Through Samaria. (John 4:1 .)_ 2. At Sychar's Well; Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. (John 4:6 .) 3. The Woman's Witness and the Believing Samaritans. (John 4:27 .) 4. His Return to Galilee. (John 4:43 .) 5. The Second Miracle, the Healing of the Nobleman's Son. (John 4:46 .) In the Gospel of Matthew the Lord told His disciples not to go into the way of the Gentiles and not to enter into any city of the Samaritans. (Matthew 10:5