Come to the Water
by Rebecca Matthews
The Well : Jacob’s Well
When most people read stories in scripture, they apply it to the time and culture in which they
live. In so doing, very valid points come across with subtlety, if at all, and miss what some
points are really about. Every person that claims to 'know the Bible' ought to also study the
culture of biblical times.
Take the woman at the well. There are several 'hints' in the scripture as to the cultural
differences between Jesus and the woman. But, without reading additional literature about
why there were differences, the story loses part of its great message. Let's look at the story in
John 4.
v4But it was necessary for him to come and pass through Samaria.
Samaritans were the outcast Jews~those of mixed blood. Jews normally avoided going through
Samaria when traveling between Judea and Galilee, even though it was the shortest route.
v6And Jacob's spring of water was there, and Jesus, weary from walking, sat down by himself at
the spring at the sixth hour.
Jesus sat on Jacob's well, figuratively associating himself with 'the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob', while the water inside it represented him. Also, that it was noon meant it was the
hottest part of the day.
v7And a woman from Samaria came to draw water and Jesus said to her, Give me water to drink.
The woman came to the well when she knew no one else would be there. Respectable women
would have come in the evening when it was considerably cooler. As we read on in the story,
we realize why as her past is revealed.
v9And the Samaritan woman said to him, How is it that you, a Jew, would ask me, a Samaritan
woman, for a drink? For the Jews do not