A Study of John's Gospel

John 4:16-19: Jesus Speaks About a Woman's Sin

Jesus Speaks About a Woman's Sin

A study of John 4:16-19

"Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true." The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet."

‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬-‭19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:

-Go: "ὕπαγε"; "hypagō", "ὑπάγω"; verb - to go away, depart.

-Call: "φώνησον"; "phōneō", "φωνέω"; verb - to call, call to one's self by one's own voice.

-Husband: "ἄνδρα"; "anēr", "ἀνήρ"; masculine noun - with a reference to sex so as to distinguish a man from a woman; as a husband in John 4:16.

-You Have Had: "ἔσχες"; "echō", "ἔχω"; verb - to own, possess: Under the head of possession belongs the phrase ἔχειν τινα as commonly used of those joined to anyone by the bonds of nature, blood, marriage, friendship, duty, law, compact, and the like.

-Five: "πέντε", "pente"; indeclinable noun - five.

-Truly: "ἀληθής", "alēthēs"; adjective - literally: not hidden, unconcealed; true.

-I Perceive: "θεωρῶ"; "theōreō", "θεωρέω" - verb - to ascertain, find out, by seeing.

-A Prophet: "προφήτης", "prophētēs"; masculine noun - universally, a man filled with the Spirit of God, who by God's authority and command in words of weight pleads the cause of God and urges the salvation of men; he may be known — now by his supernatural knowledge of hidden things (even though past).

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

After the Samaritan woman asked Jesus for the living water He told her about, Jesus told her to go get her husband and come back. The woman then responded honestly by telling Jesus she had no husband, but this was not the full truth. Jesus tells her she has spoken truly, but also that she has had 5 husbands and the man she lived with at the time was not her husband. Hearing this the woman realized Jesus was a prophet of some kind because there was no other way He could have known that.

Implication (what does this mean to us):

This passage is a portion of a conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman. This scenario is strange in and of itself because Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, is speaking to a woman of Samaria. This is peculiar because Jews and Samaritans hated each other, and Rabbis would never speak to women in public, let alone Samaritan women. But this woman is quickly finding out Jesus is different. He has just told her about the living water that only He can offer, which will quench a person's thirst forever and grant eternal life. After hearing this she asked Him to give her this water so she would not have to go to this well to draw water anymore. She did not understand yet that Jesus was talking about quenching her spiritual thirst. She thought He was offering her temporary comfort and ease in this world, but Jesus was talking about meeting her far greater need to have the deepest longings of her soul satisfied.

From our study of the previous verses we know Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit, but she is still unaware of this. In response to her request for some of this "living water" Jesus tells her to go and call her husband. It would have been more culturally appropriate for Jesus to speak to this woman if her husband were present in this time and place. So, for that reason there is nothing particularly strange about this. But Jesus told her to get her husband for another reason too. At first glance it seems like He is telling her to get her husband and then He will give her this living water, but He is actually beginning to prepare her to receive this living water now. Before she can receive the living water Jesus offers though, her sin must be acknowledged and confronted. More specifically, the sin she has been trying to quench her soul's thirst with must be dealt with if she is to understand that only Jesus Christ can satisfy her soul's unslakable thirst.