Sign in
JOHN 4:10 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 4:9John 4:11
“Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”
Jesus answered, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for water, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.' — the first of John's characteristic misunderstandings: the woman hears physical water, but Jesus means spiritual water. Living water (hydor zon) evokes both OT imagery of the Spirit and the eschatological promise of Zechariah 14:8. The gift of God is eternal life through Christ; Jesus' question reverses the power dynamic, making the woman the needy one.

Church Fathers on John 4:10

That this conversation might not appear a violation of His own injunctions against talking to the Samaritans, the Evangelist explains how it arose; viz. for He did not come with the intention beforehand of talking with the woman, but only would not send the woman away, when she had come. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Observe, she comes quite by chance.

Chrysostom · 4th century

The woman here is the type of the Church, not yet justified, but just about to be. And it is a part of the resemblance, that she comes from a foreign people. The Samaritans were foreigners, though they were neighbors and in like manner the Church was to come from the Gentiles, and to be alien from the Jewish race.

Augustine · 4th century

Jesus says to her, Give me to drink. As man. the labor and heat He had undergone had made Him thirsty.

Theophylact · 11th century · The argument with the woman arises naturally from the occasion
Read all 20 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!
John 4:10 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy