The Woman at the Well
Jesus asks a stranger for a drink
Two things you can tap
- A verse number shows the Bible’s exact words.
- An underlined word shows what it means.
Story
What happened?
Tap a verse number, like , to read the Bible’s exact words.
Who’s who and what came beforePeople, places, and the story so far. Open it anytime.
Scene Card
Cast
- Jesus: The one the Gospels present as the promised Messiah and the Son of God. He is Jewish, and he is tired from walking.
- The woman: A Samaritan woman from the town of Sychar. The Bible does not tell us her name.
- The disciples: Jesus's followers. They have gone into town to buy food.
- The people of Sychar: Samaritans who live in the town near the well.
Setting
- A well outside Sychar, a small town in Samaria. Samaria is the hill country between Judea in the south and Galilee in the north.
When
- Early in Jesus's work, about 2,000 years ago. It is about noon.
Before the Story
Jesus was walking home to Galilee. He left Judea after the Pharisees heard how many people he was baptizing (4:1-3). The shortest road went through Samaria.
Jewish people and Samaritans did not get along (4:9). They shared the same five books of Moses. But they disagreed about where to worship God, and they had hurt each other for hundreds of years.
The well was very old. People said Jacob, the father of Israel's twelve tribes, had given it to them long ago (4:12).
Here's what you know that almost nobody in this story knows: The tired stranger at the well is the Messiah. He is the king the woman is waiting for.
Map of the Story
| Scene | Verses | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. A tired traveler | 4:1-6 | Jesus sits down by Jacob's well at noon |
| 2. "Give me a drink" | 4:7-9 | Jesus asks a Samaritan woman for water |
| 3. Living water | 4:10-15 | Jesus offers her water that never runs out |
| 4. Five husbands | 4:16-19 | Jesus tells her about her life |
| 5. Which mountain? | 4:20-24 | They talk about where to worship God |
| 6. "I am he" | 4:25-26 | Jesus tells her who he is |
| 7. The disciples come back | 4:27, 4:31-38 | The disciples are surprised. Jesus talks about a harvest |
| 8. The empty water jar | 4:28-30 | The woman goes to tell her town |
| 9. The Savior of the world | 4:39-42 | Many Samaritans believe in Jesus |
Plain Retelling
Scene 1 of 9A Tired Traveler
A stone well sat beside the road, outside a town called Sychar. It was about noon.
Jesus had been in Judea, in the south. Many people there came to be baptized by his disciples. The Pharisees heard that Jesus had more followers than John the Baptist. So Jesus left.
Jesus had been walking a long way. He was going home from Judea to Galilee. John says he "had to pass through Samaria" (4:4). Samaria lay between the two.
Long ago, Jacob had given this land to his son Joseph. The well was called Jacob's well.
Jesus was tired. He sat down by the well. His disciples had gone into town to buy food. So Jesus was alone.
Scene 2 of 9"Give Me a Drink"
A Samaritan woman came to the well with a water jar.
Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink" (4:7).
The woman was surprised. "You are a Jew," she said. "How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" (4:9).
John explains that Jews did not mix with Samaritans. And a Jewish teacher did not usually talk alone with a woman he did not know. Jesus set aside both of these customs to ask her for a drink.
The two groups had a long history. Jewish people and Samaritans both called Jacob their father. Both read the books of Moses. But each group believed the other had gone wrong, and each had hurt the other. That is why the woman was surprised.
Scene 3 of 9Living Water
Jesus answered, "If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water" (4:10).
Back then, "living water" meant fresh water from a spring or a stream. It kept flowing. This is a comparison. Jesus was talking about a gift from God that keeps giving life.
The woman thought Jesus meant ordinary water. "Sir, you don't have a bucket," she said. "And the well is deep. Where will you get this living water?" She asked if he was greater than their father Jacob, who gave them the well.
Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst" (4:13-14). His water would become a spring inside a person, bubbling up to eternal life.
The woman said, "Sir, give me this water" (4:15). Then she would never be thirsty. She would not have to keep coming back to the well.
Scene 4 of 9Five Husbands
Jesus told her, "Go, call your husband and come back" (4:16).
"I have no husband," the woman replied (4:17).
Jesus said she was right. She had had five husbands. The man she was with now was not her husband. Then Jesus said, "You have spoken truthfully" (4:18).
The Bible doesn't say why she had five husbands. Back then, a woman usually could not divorce her husband. A husband could divorce his wife (Deuteronomy 24:1). Some of her husbands may have died. Some may have sent her away. The Bible does not tell us.
Jesus knew her whole story. He said it out loud. But he did not call her names, and he did not send her away.
The woman said, "Sir ... I see that You are a prophet" (4:19). A prophet is someone God sends to speak God's message.
Halfway thereThis is a good place for a break. Your spot is saved on this device.
Scene 5 of 9Which Mountain?
The woman spoke about the mountain nearby. It was Mount Gerizim. Samaritans had worshiped God there for a long time.
"Our fathers worshiped on this mountain," she said. "But you Jews say people must worship in Jerusalem."
Jesus said a time was coming when people would worship God the Father. They would not worship him on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
Jesus was Jewish, and he said so. He told her that Samaritans worshiped what they did not know. The Jewish people worshiped what they knew. Then he said, "salvation is from the Jews" (4:22). Salvation means rescue. God's promise to rescue the world came through Israel.
Then Jesus said that time had already come. True worshipers would worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Jesus said the Father is looking for people who worship him this way. "God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (4:24). God is not limited to one place.
Scene 6 of 9"I Am He"
The woman said, "I know that Messiah ... is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us" (4:25). Messiah means the king God promised to send. The Greek word for it is Christ.
Jesus answered her.
"I who speak to you am He" (4:26).
Until now in John's Gospel, Jesus had not said this so plainly to anyone. He had not said it to his disciples. He had not said it to the leaders in Jerusalem. He said it first to her.
She was a Samaritan. She was a woman. She had had five husbands. And she was the one Jesus told.
Scene 7 of 9The Disciples Come Back
Right then the disciples came back from town. They were surprised to find Jesus talking with a woman. But nobody asked him what he wanted from her. Nobody asked why he was talking with her.
The disciples said, "Rabbi, eat something" (4:31). Rabbi means teacher.
Jesus said, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about" (4:32). The disciples wondered if someone had brought him food.
Jesus explained. "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work" (4:34). This is a comparison. Doing God's work filled Jesus up, the way food does.
Jesus used another comparison. He told them to "lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest" (4:35). A harvest is when grain is ready to gather. One likely meaning: people were ready to hear about God. Others had planted. Now the disciples would help gather.
Scene 8 of 9The Empty Water Jar
When the disciples came back, the woman left her water jar at the well. She went back into town.
She told the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (4:29).
She had come to carry water home. Now she left the jar behind. Earlier, she had asked Jesus for water so she would not have to keep coming back. Now she had news about Jesus to take to her town instead.
She did not hide from what Jesus knew about her. She told everyone that Jesus knew everything she had done. She was not sure of everything yet, so she asked a question. But she invited everyone to come and see.
The people left the town. They walked out toward Jesus. While they were on the way, Jesus was talking with his disciples about food and the harvest.
Scene 9 of 9The Savior of the World
Many Samaritans in that town believed in Jesus because of what the woman said.
They asked Jesus to stay with them. So Jesus stayed with the Samaritans for two days.
Many more people believed when they heard Jesus for themselves.
They told the woman, "We now believe, and not only because of your words." "We have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Savior of the world" (4:42).
Jesus had come to the well tired and thirsty. He asked a stranger for a drink. She went home with good news for her whole town.
Meaning
What does it mean?
Read It
What Does This Mean?
| The text says | It means |
|---|---|
| "Give Me a drink" (4:7) | Jesus started by needing something. He let a stranger help him. |
| "Living water" (4:10) | This is a comparison. Fresh, flowing water stands for the life God gives. Later in John, Jesus uses the same picture. John says Jesus means the Holy Spirit (John 7:38-39). |
| "Will never thirst" (4:14) | This is a comparison. Jesus does not mean you will never drink water again. He means God's gift will not run out. |
| "You have spoken truthfully" (4:18) | Jesus named her life plainly. He also said she told the truth. |
| "Salvation is from the Jews" (4:22) | God's promise of rescue came through Israel. Jesus was Jewish. |
| "In spirit and in truth" (4:24) | Worship is about who God is and how God meets us, not only about a place. |
| "I who speak to you am He" (4:26) | Jesus says he is the Messiah. In Greek, his words begin "I am." Many readers hear an echo of God's name at the burning bush, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). |
| "The Savior of the world" (4:42) | Jesus came for everyone, including people others kept away from. |
Back Then
Samaritans and Jewish people were neighbors who did not trust each other. After Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, it moved people from other lands into Samaria (2 Kings 17:24). Many Jewish people came to see the Samaritans as a mixed people. (Easton's Bible Dictionary) But the woman called Jacob "our father" (4:12). Samaritans saw themselves as part of Jacob's family.
Each side had hurt the other. Samaritans built a temple on Mount Gerizim. A Jewish king destroyed it about 130 years before Jesus was born. (Easton's Bible Dictionary) Some Samaritan towns would not welcome Jewish travelers going to Jerusalem (Luke 9:52-53).
Samaritans kept only the five books of Moses as Scripture. (Smith's Bible Dictionary) In those books, God promised to send a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15).
The sixth hour was about noon. People counted the hours of the day from sunrise. (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
Jacob's well is still there. It lies in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. It is about 75 feet deep today, and it was probably deeper long ago. (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
Jewish teachers usually did not talk alone with women in public. That is why the disciples were surprised (4:27). (Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah)
A Samaritan community still lives today. A small group still worships God on Mount Gerizim.
Literal Reader Alert
Why did she have five husbands? The Bible doesn't say. It does not call her a sinner. Back then, a husband could divorce his wife, but a wife usually could not divorce her husband (Deuteronomy 24:1). A widow might marry her husband's brother (Deuteronomy 25:5). She may have been widowed, divorced by men, or both. We do not know. Many preachers have assumed the worst about her, but the text does not say that. It's okay to notice things like this. Careful readers have asked about it for centuries.
Why did she come to the well at noon? The Bible doesn't say. Some preachers say she came at noon to avoid other women. That is a guess. John only tells us the time.
Did Jesus say the Jewish temple did not matter? No. Jesus said "salvation is from the Jews" (4:22). He was saying that God is not limited to one place. God is now meeting people in a new way, through Jesus himself.
How People Feel
| Who | Feeling | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Jesus | Tired | He had walked a long way (4:6) |
| The woman | Surprised | A Jewish man asked her, a Samaritan woman, for a drink (4:9) |
| The woman | Hopeful | She wanted water that would never run out (4:15) |
| The disciples | Surprised | Jesus was talking alone with a woman (4:27) |
| The woman | Eager | She left her water jar and went to tell her town (4:28-29) |
| The people of Sychar | Sure | They heard Jesus for themselves (4:42) |
For you
What does it mean for me?
Your Turn
What do you bring to the well today? Tap one.
Feeling alone
The woman came to the well, and Jesus was already there. He started the talk. He comes looking for you too.
Not good enough
Jesus did not wait for the right kind of person. He asked a Samaritan woman for help, and then he offered her living water.
Stuff I feel bad about
Jesus knew her whole story. He did not shame her. He stayed and told her who he was. He knows you and stays with you too.
Wanting to tell someone
The woman told her whole town. You don't have to know everything. She said, "Come and see."
It's really bad right now
Please tell a trusted adult today. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 any time. If you are in danger, call 911 or your local emergency number. Outside the U.S., findahelpline.com lists free helplines.
You Might Have Heard
"The woman at the well was a sinful woman who had been with many men."
What's true: She had had five husbands. The man she lived with was not her husband. Jesus said so plainly, and he did not pretend it did not matter (4:18).
What the story is mainly about: The Bible never calls her a sinner, and it never says why her marriages ended. Women then usually could not divorce. She may have been widowed or sent away. What the story does show is Jesus. He asked her for help. He told her the truth about her life without shaming her. Then he told her who he was, before telling anyone else so plainly. Because of her words, many people in her town believed in Jesus (4:39).
Where Jesus is: Jesus is at the center of this story. He comes to the well. He knows everything about the woman, and he still offers her living water.
Good News
Jesus came to a place where people did not expect him. He talked with someone others kept away from. He knew all about her, and he did not leave.
The living water Jesus gives is a comparison for God's own life. Later in John, Jesus uses the same picture for the Holy Spirit (John 7:38-39). In Baptism, God uses real water to give you this gift. You do not earn it. It is a gift.
The woman's faith did not start with her. Jesus found her first. The Holy Spirit works the same way today. Faith comes when someone tells us about Jesus, and we hear him for ourselves.
Jesus knows your whole story, and he still offers you living water.
From the Wider Church
The Bible doesn't name her. Church tradition calls her Photini, a name from the Greek word for light. Eastern Orthodox Christians honor her as a saint who told many people about Jesus.
Big Idea
Jesus comes to people others avoid, knows us fully, and gives us living water that never runs out.
If this story brings up big feelings, talk with someone you trust, like a parent, pastor, or counselor.
For leaders and parentsLuther, church readings, and notes for teaching.
From Luther
In the Small Catechism (1529), Luther explains the Third Article of the Creed. He says, "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him." Instead, "the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts." (Concordia Triglotta, 1921) That is what happened in Sychar. The people heard the woman's words about Jesus. Then they heard Jesus himself, and they believed (4:42).
In Church
Many churches follow a reading plan called the Revised Common Lectionary. It reads John 4:5-42 on the Third Sunday in Lent in Year A.
We quote Luther for what he got right about grace. He also wrote terrible things about Jewish people. Read our note on that.
Memorize
How do I keep it?
One line from this story to learn by heart. Practice a little now. It will come back later so it sticks.
God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
How did that feel?