The extraordinary woman we meet in chapter four of the Gospel of John has forty-two verses devoted to her tale (John 4:1-42). For a Gospel writer such as John to dedicate such a significant portion of his book to this single episode suggests the lessons it contains are supremely important.
Yet, at first glance, the scene itself seems ordinary and unimportant. John explains the encounter occurred while Jesus was on a journey. His disciples had been baptizing some of those who came to Jesus in Judea (see John 3:22; 4:2), and evidently the disciples of John the Baptist complained to their rabbi about His increasing popularity (see 3:26). This was brought to the attention of the Pharisees, who were no doubt also disturbed about Jesus’ growing reputation. When Jesus learned of this, He left Judea to return to Galilee (see 4:3).1
John writes that Jesus “needed to go through Samaria” (verse 4, NKJV throughout) to make this return trip. When He arrived at the city of Sychar, the disciples went into the town to buy food while He rested alone at a well. A lone woman approached. She was completing her daily chore of drawing water for her household so she could get on with everything else she needed to do.
John adds the detail this scene occurred “about the sixth hour” (around noon). This tells us the woman had come to the well at an unusual time. Most women drew water in the morning, before the heat of day, so it appears this woman was a social outcast. It is likely she chose noonday intentionally to complete her task without encountering the snide remarks and derisive glares that she was surely accustomed to receiving from those who knew her story.
Jesus, weary from traveling, waited for her to reach the well. He had no way of drawing water to quench His thirst. So He asked this woman to fetch Him a drink (see verses 7–11).
This is how John’s narrative of this Samaritan woman begins. So far, it represents the stuff of everyday realities. Yet much of what follows is the stuff of eternal realities, revealing important insights and understandings of the One with whom she was about to converse.
Exploring the Story of the Samaritan Woman
Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman is remarkable simply because of the fact it happened. At that time, Jewish rabbis taught, “Let no man eat the bread of the Samaritans,”2 and, “Let no one talk with a woman in the street, no, not with his own wife.”3 Jesus broke both of those social norms in speaking with the Samaritan woman.
In this article, we will explore how this conversation led to the transformation of a woman whom so many had derided.
A Curious Conversation
As previously mentioned, Jesus was journeying from Judea to Galilee to prevent further disputes with John the Baptist’s disciples or the Pharisees (see John 4:1–3). The route through Samaria was the most direct one, but it was the least taken by Jews. Due to a long history of cultural and religious conflict, the Israelites considered the Samaritans unclean. The Jews’ disdain for them was so great they would go miles out of their way just to avoid setting foot in Samaria. Thus, for Jesus to be there at all was unconventional at best … if not scandalous.
John writes that Jesus came to the city of Sychar, “near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph” (verse 5). The location held significance to the Jewish people because this was Jacob’s well. He had bought the original field in which it was located so he could dwell in Canaan and establish it as the possession of God and His people (see Genesis 33:18–20). Now, however, the property was in the heart of Samaritan territory.
Jesus began the conversation with the woman casually: “Give Me a drink” (John 4:7). In light of the gender, racial, and religious divides of the time, she was surprised He would speak to her. “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (verse 9).
Instead of answering her question, Jesus made a remarkable claim: “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” (verse 10).
The woman countered, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” (verses 11–12).
Of course, Jesus was greater than Jacob. Eminently greater. It was something she would understand soon enough. But first Jesus wanted to elaborate on the superiority of what He was offering: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (verses 13–14).
The woman wanted this water, and she asked Him for it (see verse 15). At this point, Jesus suddenly switched the topic: “Go, call your husband, and come here” (verse 16). The woman, evidently caught off guard in the moment, could only reply, “I have no husband” (verse 17). This was the truth … but there was much more to her story.
“You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’” Jesus answered (verse 17). He then went on to capsulize her relationship history — not only how many husbands she’d had but also the fact that she was currently living with a man she hadn’t married. Jesus’ knowledge of everything she had ever done made a profound impression on her (see verse 18). This stranger — this “prophet” as she perceived Him (verse 19) — was indeed greater than Jacob.
An Astonishing Revelation
Given that Jesus seemed to know everything, the woman seized the opportunity to get His perspective on a major point of contention between the Jews and the Samaritans. “Sir,” she said, “I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship” (verses 19–20).
The woman’s question centered around whether Mount Gerizim, located in Samaria, or Jerusalem was the proper place to worship God. The Samaritans were a mixed-race people who descended from pagans who had intermarried with the Israelites after the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom in 722 BC. Sanballat, the main nemesis of Nehemiah, had erected the temple on Mount Gerizim in the fifth century BC. This was destroyed in the second century BC during the Maccabean rule, but the Samaritans continued to worship at the site.4 Meanwhile, the Jews held the only proper place to worship God was Jerusalem (see 2 Chronicles 6:6).
Jesus didn’t dismiss her question or chide her for changing the topic. Instead, He directed her to the real issue. First, He clarified that location isn’t what mattered: “Believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father” (John 4:21). Next, He told the woman her religion was patently false: “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews” (verse 22).
Finally, Jesus explained that genuine worship is defined by who and how one worships. “The hour is coming,” He said, “and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (verses 23–24). In this, Jesus was signifying that as soon as He ushered in the new covenant era, this controversy would be moot.
The woman’s reply was extraordinary, in part because she recognized that Jesus was speaking of the Messiah. “I know that Messiah is coming,” she said. “When He comes, He will tell us all things’” (verse 25). The Samaritan woman had been raised in a false belief system, yet she still knew the Messiah was coming —
and she believed it! By now, it is also quite likely that she suspected this coming Messiah was sitting right in front of her.
Jesus didn’t leave her in suspense. He responded, “I who speak to you am He” (verse 26). Of all the surprises in this conversation, the greatest one is that Jesus chose this place and this woman for His first formal declaration as the Messiah. We know this was His intent, because again, as John says, “He needed to go through Samaria” (verse 4, emphasis added). Jesus had a purpose to fulfill in coming to Samaria, and this woman was a key part of it.
An Amazing Transformation
John states the disciples returned right “at this point” (John 4:27) when Jesus revealed Himself to be the Messiah. The Greek expression is emphatic, suggesting they returned just in time to hear Jesus make the declaration. They were shocked into silence when they witnessed the scene — to the extent that no one asked Jesus why He was talking with the woman.
When they arrived, the Samaritan woman quickly left, leaving her water jar behind at the well. Some believe she did this so Jesus could drink from it and thus know she had taken His words to heart. Some argue she was so self-conscious when she saw the disciples that she forgot the water jar in her haste to get away.5 But the most plausible explanation is she intended to return for it. Her focus was on gathering the leaders of Sychar and bringing them back to meet the Messiah. What she had just learned was too good to keep to herself!
Her actions were typical of those who come to Jesus and are freed from their burden of sin and guilt — she wanted to share the good news with others. This is evident in her words to the men of the town: “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did” (verse 29). Not only was her enthusiasm contagious, but any discerning person who knew her would have recognized a transformation had taken place. She wasn’t hiding her past in shame anymore. She was basking in the glow of being fully known and having every sin forgiven.
The testimony of the Samaritan woman had a profound impact on the people of Sychar. John writes, “Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman” (verse 39). This is a striking contrast when you consider how Jesus was received by His own people when He entered Jerusalem. As Luke writes, “The Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them’” (Luke 15:2).
The Samaritans lacked the phony scruples of such religious hypocrisy. They knew God had promised the Messiah would come. They had learned the prophecies from the five books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) — the only section of the Old Testament they believed. Certainly, as a society, aspects of their history and culture had made the Samaritans aware of their sinfulness. When they thought about the Messiah’s arrival, it was likely with some trepidation and fear. But this all changed when one of their own announced she had met the Messiah and He had received her despite knowing “all things” she ever did (John 4:29).
The woman’s conversation with Jesus sparked a revival in her hometown. Three years later, the early church would be founded in Jerusalem, and followers of Christ would begin to spread the gospel into “Judea and Samaria” and beyond (Acts 1:8). The Samaritans in Sychar would soon find fellowship in a context where all were considered one in Christ (see Galatians 3:28). Certainly, the town played a big role in spreading the message of the gospel.
As for the Samaritan woman, only heaven knows the number of souls saved through her extraordinary witness. But, to be sure, multitudes today are praising God because of her.
Questions for Further Study
- Read Genesis 48:21–22 and Joshua 24:32. Why was the setting of this conversation — the land on which Jesus and the woman were standing — important within Jewish heritage?
- Read Jeremiah 2:13. How does God describe Himself? How does this relate to Jesus’ offer to provide “living water” to the woman (John 4:10)?
- Read Jeremiah 29:13–14. The Samaritan woman’s willingness to continue engaging in conversation with Jesus demonstrates she was seeking and searching the things of God. What promise did God make in this prophecy to His people (the Jewish captives in exile) if they sought Him? What does it mean to be “found” by the Lord?
- Read Mark 1:40–45. It is remarkable that Jesus openly identified Himself as the Messiah to the Samaritan woman. What does this passage indicate that He usually did instead? What was the result of the testimony of the man who had been healed?
Adapted from the Twelve Extraordinary Women Workbook, Revised and Updated, by John MacArthur.
The Twelve Extraordinary Women Workbook brings you face-to-face with the women of the Bible as you’ve never seen them before. You’ll discover their struggles and doubts. You’ll learn about their fears and failures. You’ll explore how God used their faith and commitment for His plans. And you’ll come to see that if God can work in these ordinary women’s lives in such extraordinary ways — He can certainly do the same in your life!
- Robert H. Mounce, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John (Zondervan Academic, 2007), 408 (available in Bible Gateway Plus). ↩︎
- Mishnah Shebhiith, viii 10., cited in the International Critical Commentary: New Testament. ↩︎
- Aboth d’Rabbi Nathan (a late Talmudic treatise), 2 (1d), cited in Barclay’s Daily Study Bible. ↩︎
- Mounce, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John, 412–413. ↩︎
- Mounce, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John, 414. ↩︎
Widely known for his thorough, candid approach to teaching God's Word, John MacArthur was a popular author and conference speaker. He served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, from 1969 until his death in 2025. John and his wife, Patricia, have four married children and fifteen grandchildren. John's pulpit ministry extended around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You, and its satellite offices in seven countries. John was chancellor of The Master's University and Seminary and wrote hundreds of books and study guides, each one biblical and practical. Bestselling titles include The Gospel According to Jesus, Twelve Ordinary Men, Twelve Extraordinary Women, Slave, and The MacArthur Study Bible, a 1998 ECPA Gold Medallion recipient. Shop MacArthur Bible Studies.
