Saint John - Chapter 4
When Jesus therefore understood that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus maketh more disciples, and baptizeth more than John,
When therefore Jesus knew, &c.… than John, that is, than John had made and baptized, says S. Augustine (lib. 2, de cons. Evang., c. 18), for John was now in prison. For these things had happened through the occasion of John’s imprisonment. For Jesus, knowing of John’s imprisonment, and fearing the envy and calumny of the Pharisees, who had already stirred up Herod against John, that they might not be the means of casting Himself also into prison through the instrumentality of Herod or Pilate, and put Him to death before the time predetermined by the Father, prudently retired out of Judea into Galilee. See what has been said about this on Matt. 4:12.
[2] ( quamquam Jesus non baptizaret, sed discipuli ejus),
(Though Jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples,)
Although Jesus, &c. Both because Jesus was occupied in the greater works of preaching and healing the sick; as Paul saith, “Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel” (1 Cor. 1:17), also that He might show that the efficacy of His baptism was greater than that of John’s. See what has been said on 3:32.
[3] reliquit Judaeam, et abiit iterum in Galilaeam.
He left Judea, and went again into Galilee.
He left Judea, &c. Not as though He feared death, but that He might mollify the envy of the Pharisees, says S. Chrysostom. For the Pharisees were very influential. For most of the priests, senators, and magistrates belonged to their sect. This was the second occasion of Christ retiring into Galilee, the first being in chap. 1:43.
[4] Oportebat autem eum transire per Samariam.
And he was of necessity to pass through Samaria.
He must needs, &c. For Samaria lies betwixt Judea and Galilee. Cyril observes that Christ does not here go counter to his own command, by which He enjoined on His apostles not to go into the cities of the Samaritans (S. Matt. 10:5). For He there forbids them not to go to the Samaritans of set purpose, nor to continuously evangelise them, lest they should prejudice the Jews, who were their enemies, against themselves and the faith of Christ. Jesus on this occasion was only passing through Samaria on His way to Galilee.
Samaria was the district which was occupied by the tribe of Ephraim, and half the tribe of Manasseh. It took its name of Samaria from the royal city, which was built upon the hill Somer. See 1 Kings 16:24.
[5] Venit ergo in civitatem Samariae, quae dicitur Sichar, juxta praedium quod dedit Jacob Joseph filio suo.
He cometh therefore to a city of Samaria, which is called Sichar, near the land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
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| Jacob's Well, Sichar/Sichem. J-J Tissot |
Jacob also returning from Mesopotamia fixed his tent here, and bought a piece of ground from the sons of Emmor (Gen. 33). Here Dinah, his daughter, was corrupted by the son of the King of Sichem (Gen. 34). Sichem was appointed one of the cities of refuge (Josh. 20). Here the ten tribes revolted from Judea through the folly of Rehoboam. The bones of Joseph were buried at Sichem, as is related at the end of the Book of Joshua. S. Jerome (tract. de loc. Hebr.) says that Salem and Sichem were the same. Hence it follows that Melchisedec, the type of Christ, was also king of this city.
Near the parcel of ground, &c. See what I have said on Gen. 48:22. Wherefore Joseph when he was dying in Egypt commanded his bones to be translated to Sichem, as to his own piece of land, which had been left him by the will of his father.
[6] Erat autem ibi fons Jacob. Jesus ergo fatigatus ex itinere, sedebat sic supra fontem. Hora erat quasi sexta.
Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour.
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| The Samaritan woman at the well. J-J Tissot |
There cometh a woman of Samaria, to draw water. Jesus saith to her: Give me to drink.
A woman of Samaria: of the district, not the city of Samaria. She came from the city of Sichar, which was near the well.
Jesus saith to her. Jesus took the initiative in conversing with her. For He knew that the woman, being a Samaritan, would not do so, but would dislike Him as being a Jew. But “He who desired to drink thirsted for the faith of the woman,” says S. Augustine. Observe the wonderful affability and charity of Christ, in seeking to enter into conversation with a wretched harlot, that He might convert her, and through her a whole city.
[8] ( Discipuli enim ejus abierant in civitatem ut cibos emerent.)
For his disciples were gone into the city to buy meats.
For His disciples, &c. The word for gives the reason why Jesus asked drink of the woman; because His disciples, from whom otherwise He would have sought food and drink, had gone into the city to buy food. For Jesus wished to drink beside the well, and to drink from it, just as poor travellers are wont to do, especially in Syria and Arabia, and other hot countries where there is a scarcity of water. This happened by Christ’s tacit providence, that His disciples being all gone away into the city, He might by Himself be able more easily, in talking with this immodest woman, to spare her shame, and disclose her immodesty, and so convert her to faith and modesty.
[9] Dicit ergo ei mulier illa Samaritana : Quomodo tu, Judaeus cum sis, bibere a me poscis, quae sum mulier Samaritana? non enim coutuntur[1] Judaei Samaritanis.
Then that Samaritan woman saith to him: How dost thou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman? For the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans.
[1] dcŏ-ūtor, ūti, v. n.: aliquo, to associate with, have dealings with, = συγχρῆσθαι, Vulg. Joan. 4, 9.
The woman therefore saith, &c. Therefore in Greek and Hebrew often merely marks the beginning of a sentence. Here, however, it denotes an inference from the preceding question of Christ. Jesus had asked the woman for water; the woman therefore replied to His question, How is it, &c. The woman recognised Jesus to be a Jew from His dress and speech, which Christ, out of good feeling to His country, accommodated to that of his fellow-countrymen.
For the Jews, &c., i.e., have no intercourse, do not use the same bed, or cup, or vessel, as though they were impure and abominable on account of their schism. These words may be either those of the Evangelist, or of the Samaritan woman. In either case they are very appropriate. Learn from this example how we ought to shun the friendship, looks, and conversation of heretics; for “their speech doth eat as doth a cancer,” saith S. Paul.
[10] Respondit Jesus, et dixit ei : Si scires donum Dei, et quis est qui dicit tibi : Da mihi bibere, tu forsitan petisses ab eo, et dedisset tibi aquam vivam.
Jesus answered, and said to her: If thou didst know the gift of God, and who he is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Jesus answered, &c. If thou knewest the gift of God. This gift is (1.) common, what God has given to every man, “if thou knowest that I am Christ, the Saviour of the world.” 2. Especial to thyself, what God now manifests to thee through Me, that through My conversation thou mayest have an opportunity of salvation, that thou mayest believe in Me, and so be justified and saved. So Maldonatus.
Thou perchance wouldst have asked, Greek, σὺ ἄν ἤτησας αὐτὸν, i.e., thou surely wouldst have asked. For ἂν here is an expletive and confirmatory particle. The Vulgate, however, has forsitan, perchance, to denote the free will of the asker.
And He would have given, &c. Christ leads her from earthly water to spiritual water. Let religious and apostolical men do likewise. Observe, as a stagnant lake, or pool, is termed dead, because it moves not; so, on the contrary, flowing water is called living water, especially that which leaps forth, as it were, from fountains, as though animated by a living spirit.
Moreover, Christ’s evangelical doctrine is here called living water: so are the Holy Ghost and His grace.[fons vivus] So S. Cyril, and other authors passim. It is called water (1.) because, like water, it cleanses the soul from sin. Indeed, it gives the soul new beauty and adornment, which water does not do: according to the words, “Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Again, though water washes, it likewise weakens and destroys. For we see that clothes which are washed, are cleansed indeed, but are worn away. But it is not thus with the Holy Ghost, for He cleanses the soul, and at the same time gives it greater strength. And the more the soul is washed the stronger it becomes.
2. Because the Holy Ghost and His grace cool the heat of concupiscence, and all the other passions of the soul.
3. Because it quenches spiritual thirst.
4. Because as water fertilises the earth, trees, and plants, so does grace render the soul fruitful in good works and all virtues. But grace does a greater work than water: for it elevates the soul, so that it not only produces natural good fruit, but the supernatural fruit of faith, hope, and charity, according to the words, “He that abideth in Me, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” Again, water from a pear-tree produces pears, from a rose-bush roses. But grace brings forth in one and the same soul the fruits of all virtues, and that in a soul which before was so polluted by sin that it produced nothing but the evil fruits of wickedness.
Moreover, the Holy Spirit and His grace are called living water. 1. Because the Holy Ghost liveth in Himself with the fulness of His Divinity a blessed and Divine life, and imparts this His own life to the believing soul. Indeed, the Holy Ghost, with the Father and the Son, is uncreated and essential Life Itself, from which the natural and supernatural life of all angels, men, animals, and plants flows as from a fountain, yea, an ocean.
2. Because the grace of the Holy Spirit is the form by which life is lived according to the Spirit. Therefore grace is, as it were, the soul of the soul; the soul, I say, of virtue and holiness.
3. Because by His grace the Holy Ghost, who is Life Itself, dwells within us, and quickens us.
4. Because He effects that the soul shall be continually renewed unto what is good, ever arranging new steps in the heart, by which it mounts to better and higher things, according to the words in the 84th Psalm, ver. 6, “He hath disposed ascensions in His heart” (Vulg.) For as S. Ambrose says, “The grace of the Holy Spirit knows not tardy efforts, but constrains the soul to ascend with the Blessed Virgin the hills of virtues.” [A man is either moving upwards or falling backwards and downwards]
5. S. Augustine says, Living water is so called, because it flows in such a manner that it is united with its fount or source. What is called dead water is that which is cut off from its source. Grace therefore is called living water because it is never separated from its fount, which is the Holy Ghost. Just as the Holy Ghost Himself is inseparable from His source, which is the Father and the Son, and ever liveth most closely united with them in the Divine Essence. Wherefore although the Holy Ghost pours Himself into the soul, yet He departeth not from the Father and the Son; yea, He causes the Father and the Son to enter into the soul together with Himself, that they all may dwell therein, as in their temple, according to the words (John 14:23), “If any man loveth Me he will keep My word, and My Father will love him: and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” So S. Cyril (lib. 2, c. 22), “He calls the grace of the Spirit living, because it is life-giving; and because it is united to its source, and makes us to be united.” For grace always depends upon the Holy Spirit, and by it the Spirit dwells in us, and is united with us, and by it we are united to Him, according to the words, Your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 6).
6. The water of a fountain being brought down into the valleys by means of pipes, can again from them, by the continuous rush of the water from the fount, be drawn to as great a height as its original source. This is proved by constant experience. In like manner heavenly grace, like a fountain of gifts and virtues, flowing down from the Holy Ghost out of heaven, makes us to leap back as it were thither as high as its source, even to God and heaven. The water which I shall give him shall be in him a fount of water leaping up into eternal life (John 5:14, Vulg.)
[11] Dicit ei mulier : Domine, neque in quo haurias habes, et puteus altus est : unde ergo habes aquam vivam?
The woman saith to him: Sir, thou hast nothing wherein to draw, and the well is deep; from whence then hast thou living water?
The woman, &c. The Greek is, Thou hast not ἄντλημα, a pitcher, or waterpot. Observe, the fountain is here called a well, and is said to be deep. Rupertus writes that its depth was forty cubits.
[12] Numquid tu major es patre nostro Jacob, qui dedit nobis puteum, et ipse ex eo bibit, et filii ejus, et pecora ejus?
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
Art Thou greater, &c. Observe, the Samaritans were Assyrians whom Salmanasar had brought into Samaria instead of the original inhabitants, the ten tribes of Israel, whom he carried away into Assyria. These Assyrians, however, wished, when the Jewish state was in a flourishing condition, to be accounted Jews (Jos., Ant., lib. 11, cap. ult.), both because they dwelt in the portion of the Holy Land which had been allotted to the tribe of Ephraim, and because they were commingled with the Israelites who had been left in the country. Another reason was because they partly followed the Jewish religion. For they worshipped the God of Israel, together with the Assyrian idols (2 Kings 17). This then was why the woman called Jacob our father, as though the Samaritans were Israelites, and descended from him. The meaning then is, “Jacob had no better water than this, for if he had had, he surely would have drank of it, both himself, and his children. If thou, therefore, O Jesus, art able to give, or to find better water than this, Thou must needs be greater than the Patriarch Jacob, our father.” So S. Chrysostom. By degrees did Jesus raise the woman’s mind, so that she should at length acknowledge Him to be the Messiah. For from what He had said, If thou knowest 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, the woman conjectured, or suspected, that Jesus was making Himself to be greater than Jacob.
[13] Respondit Jesus, et dixit ei : Omnis qui bibit ex aqua hac, sitiet iterum; qui autem biberit ex aqua quam ego dabo ei, non sitiet in aeternum :
Jesus answered, and said to her: Whosoever drinketh of this water, shall thirst again; but he that shall drink of the water that I will give him, shall not thirst for ever:
Jesus answered, &c. Jesus modestly points out to this woman, who was extolling the water of her own well, that His living water must be far better, because it would quench all, even future thirst. From this He tacitly left it to be gathered that He was superior to Jacob. As S. Chrysostom says, “He did not say that He was greater, because He would have seemed to be boasting of Himself, not yet being known; but this meaning lay hid under His words. For He said not simply, I will give thee water; but taking no notice of Jacob’s water, He praises His own, wishing to show its difference from the (different) nature of the givers of the gifts, and how greatly He excelled the Patriarch.” S. Cyril adds, “He showed that sensible and earthly water was infinitely inferior to that which He would have her understand” (that He would give her).
Whoso drinketh, &c. Tropologically, S. Augustine: “The water in the well,” he says, “is the pleasure of the world in a dark abyss, which men draw with the pitcher of desire. For this makes men always to thirst, because cupidity is insatiable.”
But whoso shall drink, &c. Meaning, He that shall receive from Me living water, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, shall no more thirst for justice, the friendship of God, virtue, or holiness, because he shall already have them through grace. We must understand, unless he should wilfully squander and lose this water of grace by deadly sin. This is Christ’s antithesis: Common water, O woman, such as thine out of this well, when drunk, only quenches thirst for a brief space, because it does not remain in the body. But this water of Mine, which is the grace of the Holy Spirit, is in itself of such efficacy, that if it be even once tasted, it will suffice to banish thirst for ever. For it will always abide in the soul, the same and immutable. For the habitual grace of the ordinary Law of God, brings with itself at set times prevenient helps, that is to say, the impulses of exciting grace, which, as they are needful, so also they suffice, for retaining the spiritual vigour of the soul, and also its perseverance unto salvation. This is the teaching of the Council of Trent (Sess. 6, c. 16).
You will ask, Why then is it said in the Book of Ecclesiasticus, “They that drink me shall yet be thirsty?” For this would seem to be contrary to what Christ here says of His grace, He shall not thirst for ever. I answer that the meaning of “they that drink me shall yet be thirsty,” is, they shall desire to be still more filled with that wisdom of God which they already possess. They will wish for an increase of the wisdom and grace of God. Thus S. Ignatius the martyr, when, being condemned to the lions, he came into the amphitheatre of Rome, said, looking round at the spectators, “I am come hither to die for my Jesus, for whom I thirst unquenchably, that I may be united to Him in heaven.”
Observe, that the Holy Spirit by His grace begins to fulfil in this life all the thirst and desire of the soul, but in heaven He does this perfectly. Also He extinguishes the thirst of pride and concupiscence. Lastly, in heaven He altogether takes away all the hunger and thirst of the soul, every defect and trouble, through the glory and endowment of impassibility, according to the words, “I shall be satisfied when Thy glory shall appear” (Ps. 17:15): also, “They shall not hunger nor thirst any more; neither shall the heat, nor the sun smite them” (Isa. 49:10). As the Gloss says, “He promises the fulness of the Spirit, which shall be in the resurrection, because with Him is the fountain of life with which they shall be inebriated. Heavenly glory therefore makes up all defects both of soul and body, all desires, and all thirst. “For beatitude is a perfect state through the aggregation of all goods,” says Boethius, according as it is said, “Thou shalt give them drink out of the torrent of Thy pleasure” (Ps. 36:9).
[14] sed aqua quam ego dabo ei, fiet in eo fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam.
But the water that I will give him, shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting.
But the water, &c.… waters leaping up (Syriac). The allusion is to those fountains which flow with such an impetus, the water behind pressing on that which is before, that although they be brought down into the valleys, yet by means of pipes they ascend to the level of the original spring. Thus the grace of the Holy Spirit draws the soul to its source, which is God and heaven. For grace is the seed of glory. The Arabic translates. The water which I will give, shall be in him water which shall bring a flood of eternal life. Grace then propels, as it were, a man to heaven, and never rests until it carries him where there is no thirst, nor defect, nor misery, but where all is abundance, and all is happiness. For this is the meaning of everlasting life. For this fountain of grace which is in the soul is derived from its original Spring, which is the Holy Ghost in heaven, even like a fountain which, being artificially conducted, bursts forth in a square, or garden, but is derived from its original spring in some mountain.
2. It shall be in him a fount, because, as Theophylact says, the water of grace which Christ instils into the faithful soul is being ever multiplied in it. For the saints receive the seeds and beginning of good through grace, but they themselves “trade” with it, and work for its increase, that, as it were a fountain, it may abound in them, and afford abundant drink, not only to themselves, but to many others. As S. Chrysostom says, “He that hath a fountain in himself is not troubled with thirst.” And Origen, “Every one of the angels hath in him a fount of water welling up unto life eternal from the Word Himself.”
3. A fountain, the more it flows downward, the more water there flows into it from above. So too the more any one pours his own grace upon others, the more God causes to flow into him.
Lastly, this is a paradox spoken by Christ, that whereas earthly water flows downwards, this His fountain flows upwards, according to the saying, The founts of the holy rivers are borne upwards. Here is a great and marvellous leap, the mighty and infinite power of the Holy Ghost, which makes the earthly and laden hearts of men to leap from earth to highest heaven, from grace to glory, from the flesh to the spirit, from death to life eternal, from Satan to God. To believers therefore it is said, Sursum corda. And this is a sure sign of the indwelling of grace and the Holy Ghost, if our minds are occupied in heaven, if we speak and do heavenly things, if we say, with S. Paul, “Our conversation is in heaven.” For this cause Christ came down from heaven, that He might make us to rise from earth to heaven, according to the words, “Behold he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills” (Cant. 2:8).
[15] Dicit ad eum mulier : Domine, da mihi hanc aquam, ut non sitiam, neque veniam huc haurire.
The woman saith to him: Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw.
The woman saith, &c. “She was delighted,” says S. Austin, “not to thirst, and thought that this promise was made unto her by the Lord in a fleshly sense. Her poverty drove her to the labour of coming and drawing water from a well at a distance from the town; and her weakness shrank from this toil. The woman, who was carnal and ignorant, did not yet understand that Christ was speaking of the spiritual water of grace. Then He smote her with another dart, that she might have loftier thoughts concerning Him.”
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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