Discovery BoxJohn 4:6-10 
Context4:6 Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat right down beside 1 the well. It was about noon. 2
4:7 A Samaritan woman 3 came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water 4 to drink.” 4:8 (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies. 5 ) 6 4:9 So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you – a Jew 7 – ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water 8 to drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common 9 with Samaritans.) 10
4:10 Jesus answered 11 her, “If you had known 12 the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water 13 to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 14
John 4:32-34
Context4:32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 4:33 So the disciples began to say 15 to one another, “No one brought him anything 16 to eat, did they?” 17 4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me 18 and to complete 19 his work. 20
1 tn Grk “on (ἐπί, epi) the well.” There may have been a low stone rim encircling the well, or the reading of Ì66 (“on the ground”) may be correct.
2 tn Grk “the sixth hour.”
sn It was about noon. The suggestion has been made by some that time should be reckoned from midnight rather than sunrise. This would make the time 6 a.m. rather than noon. That would fit in this passage but not in John 19:14 which places the time when Jesus is condemned to be crucified at “the sixth hour.”
3 tn Grk “a woman from Samaria.” According to BDAG 912 s.v. Σαμάρεια, the prepositional phrase is to be translated as a simple attributive: “γυνὴ ἐκ τῆς Σαμαρείας a Samaritan woman J 4:7.”
4 tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).
5 tn Grk “buy food.”
6 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author, indicating why Jesus asked the woman for a drink (for presumably his disciples also took the water bucket with them).
7 tn Or “a Judean.” Here BDAG 478 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαίος 2.a states, “Judean (with respect to birth, nationality, or cult).” The same term occurs in the plural later in this verse. In one sense “Judean” would work very well in the translation here, since the contrast is between residents of the two geographical regions. However, since in the context of this chapter the discussion soon becomes a religious rather than a territorial one (cf. vv. 19-26), the translation “Jew” has been retained here and in v. 22.
8 tn “Water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).
9 tn D. Daube (“Jesus and the Samaritan Woman: the Meaning of συγχράομαι [Jn 4:7ff],” JBL 69 [1950]: 137-47) suggests this meaning.
sn The background to the statement use nothing in common is the general assumption among Jews that the Samaritans were ritually impure or unclean. Thus a Jew who used a drinking vessel after a Samaritan had touched it would become ceremonially unclean.
10 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
11 tn Grk “answered and said to her.”
12 tn Or “if you knew.”
13 tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).
14 tn This is a second class conditional sentence in Greek.
sn The word translated living is used in Greek of flowing water, which leads to the woman’s misunderstanding in the following verse. She thought Jesus was referring to some unknown source of drinkable water.
15 tn An ingressive imperfect conveys the idea that Jesus’ reply provoked the disciples’ response.
16 tn The direct object of ἤνεγκεν (hnenken) in Greek is understood; “anything” is supplied in English.
17 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here it is “did they?”).
18 sn The one who sent me refers to the Father.
19 tn Or “to accomplish.”
20 tn The substantival ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as an English infinitive clause.
sn No one brought him anything to eat, did they? In the discussion with the disciples which took place while the woman had gone into the city, note again the misunderstanding: The disciples thought Jesus referred to physical food, while he was really speaking figuratively and spiritually again. Thus Jesus was forced to explain what he meant, and the explanation that his food was his mission, to do the will of God and accomplish his work, leads naturally into the metaphor of the harvest. The fruit of his mission was represented by the Samaritans who were coming to him.
