Translated by Claude
Jn 4:5 He came therefore to a city of Samaria called Sichar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Here is touched upon the second element — namely the description of the place of teaching by the name of the city of Samaria. He came therefore to a city of Samaria called Sichar. As Jerome says, "Sichar" is a corrupt reading according to the Septuagint; the true name is "Shechem," where, as is told in Genesis 34:1 and following, the sons of Jacob slew the Shechemites in revenge for the rape of their sister. "Sichar" is interpreted as "enclosure" — because the Shechemites were enclosed there, and there also the incest of the Samaritan woman was unlocked by the Lord by the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The city therefore received its name from this omen. And this is what is meant by: He came therefore in passing to a city of Samaria called Sichar. Ezekiel 7:23: "Make a chain, for the land is full of bloody judgment and the city is full of iniquity." Romans 5:20: "Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more."
Near the field — that is, the piece of land — which Jacob first bought and gave to his son Joseph. Genesis 33:19–20: "He bought a portion of the field where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred lambs. And he erected there an altar and called upon it the Most Strong God of Israel." This he later, while in Egypt in the illness of death, gave to his son Joseph, having possessed it by double labor — both because he bought it, and because when the sons of Hamor took it away on account of the killing their brothers had carried out — Simeon and Levi, for the slaying of the Shechemites — he repossessed it by right of war, by his sword and bow. And this is what is said in Genesis 48:22: "I give you one portion beyond your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow." And this is what he says: near the field which the patriarch Jacob gave to his son Joseph. And it signifies the dwelling of the Gentiles which the most high Father gave to the true Joseph, namely Christ, beyond the lot of the Jews. Psalm 2:8: "Ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance," etc. Likewise Psalm 82:8: "You will inherit among all the nations."
Jn 4:6 Now Jacob's well was there. This is the fourth element, in which the manner of teaching is derived from the place. He says therefore: Now Jacob's well was there — that is, which Jacob found. Genesis 26:14–15: "All the Philistines envied him and stopped up all the wells that his father Abraham's servants had dug in those days, filling them with earth." From such wells there was one there which signified the fountain of the teaching of the living water to come in that very place.
Mystically, however, this well signifies a fourfold fountain — pouring forth the water of purity, the water of wisdom, the water of grace, and the water of eternal life — just as the fountain of paradise is divided into four heads. Concerning the water of purity: Ezekiel 36:25: "I will pour out clean water upon you and you will be cleansed from all your impurities." Of the fountain of this water it is said in Zechariah 13:1: "A fountain will be opened for the house of Jacob and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for the cleansing of the sinner and the menstruous woman" — that is, for the washing away of actual sin in the sinner and of the menstruous woman's natural or original sin. Concerning the water of wisdom: Sirach 15:3: "She gave him to drink of the water of wholesome wisdom." This water flows from the fountain of teaching, of which Proverbs 5:16 says: "Let your springs flow outward and your waters in the streets." Concerning the water of grace: John 7:38: "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water shall flow from his belly." Concerning the fountain pouring forth these waters — that is, Christ — John 4:14: "It will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life." Concerning the water of life: Ezekiel 47:9: "Every living soul that moves, wherever the torrent of water comes, shall live." Concerning the fountain of this water: Psalm 36:9: "For with you is the fountain of life." Apocalypse 7:17: "The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and will lead them to the fountains of the water of life."
Because, therefore, such water of purity, wisdom, grace, and life was spiritually to flow in that place, for this reason it was a fitting place for Christ's teaching — a place where there was a well, suited according to the disposition of the place. Isaiah 12:3: "You will draw waters with joy from the springs of the Savior." All these springs flow toward lowly places and humble hearts. Psalm 104:10: "Who sends out springs in the valleys." The philosopher Ptolemy says in the proverbs of the Almagest: "He who is the more humble among the wise is the wiser among the wise — just as deeper pools receive more water." And this is what is said: Now Jacob's well was there — that is, the well of Jacob the Patriarch.
Jesus therefore, wearied from the journey, sat thus beside the well. Now it was about the sixth hour.
Here is touched upon the fifth element — the position taken for teaching, derived from actions and sufferings. For if he had passed by, he would not have taught; but because he sat down, he taught. So it says: Jesus therefore, wearied from the journey. For he did not use a vehicle but traveled on foot, lest he be burdensome to those with whom he stayed. Hence Chrysostom: "Always setting aside the soft life and introducing the laborious and austere, he does not use a riding animal but walks on foot, so that he grows weary from the journey — teaching by his own deeds that one should rely on oneself and not seek superfluous things. For he wishes us to be so free from superfluous things that we cut off even many of the necessary ones." He says from the journey in order to demonstrate in himself true humanity.
Augustine: "Not without purpose does he grow weary, through whom the weary are refreshed. Not without purpose does he grow weary — he at whose departure we grow weary, at whose presence we are strengthened. For he took on all the things of our weakness without sin, in order to free us from sin. For we find him in Scripture sometimes strong, sometimes weak. The strength of Christ created you; the weakness of Christ recreated you. The strength of Christ made it that you were what you were not; the weakness of Christ made it that what was would not perish."
So therefore, wearied from the journey, he sat down to rest — he who, while he grew weary, was a traveler. Jeremiah 14:8: "Why will you be as a sojourner in the land and as a traveler turning aside to rest" — namely to be still. Chrysostom: "Not on a throne, not on a featherbed, but as it happens, on the ground." He sat beside the well because from the coolness of the water the place was cool against the heat of the journey, and from the moisture it was pleasant for refreshing weariness, and from the flowing of water and the abundance of teaching it was fitting, as said above. For he was always in labors and had need of some small refreshment. Psalm 87:15: "I am poor and in labors from my youth; having been exalted I have been humbled and troubled." And for this reason above all, on account of the mystery, he sat beside the well — because he himself was a fountain, as we said. Song of Songs 5:12: "His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, washed in milk, and sitting by abundant streams." So then is the first part determined, in which the occasion for coming to this teaching is received. And there is added concerning the time:
Now it was about the sixth hour — that is, noon, when the sun stands at the summit of the sky and pours its light in all directions through the quarters of the world, and is at its greatest heat. This also befits the moment when the Sun of Justice, Christ our God, pours his light even upon the nations. Malachi 1:11: "From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is great among the nations." And when he spreads the warmth of his charity to all: Sirach 43:3: "At midday it scorches the earth, and who can endure the sight of its heat?" Or the sixth hour signifies the sixth age of the world, in which Christ came into the world to restore it and especially the Gentile people. Job 5:19: "In six tribulations he will deliver you" — namely the Lord — "and in the seventh evil shall not touch you." For the seventh is for those at rest, the eighth for those rising again.
Jn 4:7-8 And this is what he says: A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her: Give me a drink. For his disciples had gone into the city to buy food.
Here the teaching about grace signified in the waters begins. And it has two parts. In the first, the complete and perfect teaching is set forth. In the second part, the communication and derivation of that teaching to others is shown — just as water is derived — and this begins at verse 28: The woman left her water jar. Proverbs 5:16: "Let your springs flow outward and distribute your waters in the streets."
The first of these parts is itself divided into two parts. In the first, he teaches about grace signified in the mystery of water. In the second, he teaches this grace openly declared, at verse 19: The woman said to him: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Furthermore, the first is subdivided into three parts. In the first, he takes the occasion for instruction from the likeness of water. In the second, he draws the woman's will to instruction from the promise of a benefit, at verse 10: Jesus answered and said to her: If you knew the gift of God, etc. In the third, from the revelation of secrets, he shows the truth and authority of his teaching, at verse 16: Jesus said to her: Call your husband.
In the first of these three, there are four paragraphs. In the first is contained the woman's coming to the place of instruction. In the second, Christ's petition, so that occasion for the instructive speech may be had. In the third, the absence of the disciples, for the sake of the intimacy of the conversation. In the fourth, the woman's question, so that she may be instructed through the resolution of her doubt.
He says therefore: A woman came. Well, a woman — because she had been softened by subjection to six men, but now was presented to the lover of chastity. Isaiah 47:1: "You shall no longer be called tender and delicate." From Samaria — who were indeed pagans and worshipped idols, and yet along with this had the law of Moses. 3 Kings 18:21: "How long will you limp with two different opinions?" We read of these Gentiles in 4 Kings 17 and 18 that although they had priests of the Lord and received the law, they nevertheless did not observe the commandments of God but worshipped idols according to the custom of each nation — because the king of the Assyrians, Shalmaneser, had transferred those peoples to Samaria. And this woman was one of them, and the first fruits of their conversion. And this is what is said: from Samaria — because she was from a city situated near there, which was the city of Samaria.
This woman came to the well to draw water — literally on account of bodily need, but in mystery the Holy Spirit ordained this on account of the need for spiritual teaching and grace. Isaiah 12:3: "You will draw waters with joy from the springs of the Savior." 1 Corinthians 10:4: "They drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ."
Jesus said to her. Here is the Lord's petition, so that occasion for the instructive speech may be had. Give me a drink — because, wearied from the journey, he was thirsty. Isaiah 28:12: "This is my rest; refresh the weary, and this is my refreshment." Yet he thirsted more for the woman's salvation than for a drink of water. Matthew 25:42: "I was thirsty and you gave me no drink." Genesis 24:17: "Give me a little water to drink from your jar."
For his disciples had gone away. This is the third element, in which the intimacy of the conversation is noted. And this is what is meant: the disciples — in whose presence he would have said nothing about hidden sins, just as a confessor ought not to reveal sins he knows in the presence of others. Yet he also says this so that it may be known according to the letter that he could not ask for water from anyone other than the woman — because no servant to draw that water was present, since his disciples who could then have been there had gone away from him into the city of Sychar to buy food.
But then a question arises: How did they go to these people, since Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans? To this it must be said that they did not share eating and drinking with them — just as now they do not share with Christians or Saracens — but they did share buying and selling certain foods with them, both then and now. 2 Corinthians 6:14: "What participation has justice with iniquity?" And for this reason, according to Chrysostom, the reason is given why the Lord sat beside the well outside the city and did not enter the city to eat with them.
Yet another question arises: how did the Lord, being poor, have money to buy food, since it says in Luke 9:58: "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head?" To this it must be said that the Lord himself had nothing, but two things are mentioned — the question and the reason for the question. He puts the question as follows: "How is it that you, being a Jew" — for she recognized this from the clothing by which the Jews were distinguished from the Gentiles, as the Gloss says — but he was provided with traveling expenses by friends when he passed through places where he was not received with hospitality, and he had a purse in which expenses of this kind were carried. Nor does this contradict the fact that he had nowhere to lay his head — for that is to be understood of immovable property.
If it is asked why the disciples did not beg: it must be said that among those people nothing would have been given to beggars, since they were of a different worship. Hence Luke 9:52–53: "Going ahead, they entered into a city of the Samaritans to prepare for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem" — and the Samaritans did not worship in Jerusalem. For this reason therefore they went away from the Lord to buy food.
It is also asked: why did all the disciples go away, leaving the Lord alone? For this was not the reverence they owed to Christ. To this it must be said that it is probable that through Samaria he led with him only a few, and only his most intimate companions, and these had to go together for food. Yet this was also done by the dispensation of divine wisdom, so that Christ might speak with the woman about secret matters.
Jn 4:9 And this is what is said: That Samaritan woman therefore said to him: How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, who am a Samaritan woman? For Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.
This is the fourth element — namely the woman's question, so that she may be instructed through the resolution of her own question. Let him go — "Separate" is their convivium. For in all things they maintained a distinction. And they received this from what the Lord said in Exodus 11:7: "that you may know how greatly the Lord makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel." For this reason they wished to be like no one else in anything.
To drink from me water I have drawn and thus made unclean in your estimation. You ask — 1 Corinthians 5:11: "With such a person, do not even eat." Who am a Samaritan woman, and therefore what I touch becomes unclean in your estimation. Chrysostom says that this woman did not know that Christ had no regard whatsoever for traditions of this kind. Matthew 15:20: "To eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man." And ibid. 15:11: "It is not what enters the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth," etc.
For Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans. This is the reason for the woman's question — for Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans. And this is not on account of the law but on account of Jewish traditions observed from ancient times. Genesis 43:32: "It is unlawful for the Egyptians to eat with the Hebrews, and they consider such a banquet profane."
Jn 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, "Give me a drink," you would perhaps have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.
Here he begins to draw the woman's affection toward the teaching of salvation from the promise of a benefit. This part contains three things. First, he discloses the benefit. Second, he resolves the woman's doubt about so great a benefit. Third, the woman gives her full consent to obtaining the benefit.
He says therefore: If you knew — by the illumination of the Spirit of knowledge — the gift of God signified in the waters. And this gift is that in which all gifts are given — the Holy Spirit himself. Acts 2:38: "Let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." If you knew this, I say, and knew who it is that says to you in person, speaking by way of dispensation: Give me a drink — that is, of what great power and grace he is — Malachi 3:2: "Who will stand to see him? For he is the one who satisfies the thirst of all." Matthew 11:28: "Come to me all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."
You would perhaps, etc. This is not said with doubt, but on account of the mobility of free will in the woman — for God compels no one. For as Damascus says, he neither forces vice nor expels virtue — since coerced services are not pleasing, as Gregory says.
You would have asked of him — who gives to all generously and without reproach (cf. James 1:5). Luke 11:9: "Ask and it will be given to you." And he would have given you freely living water — that is, producing the effect of life within you. Isaiah 55:1: "All who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come and drink with joy." And that is the Septuagint reading.
Now, living water according to Augustine is none other than water that is received at its source. Others, however, say that living water is water that produces the effects of water according to the impulse of purifying and cooling — for it has the power to cleanse through the fineness of its moisture. And in likeness to this, grace or the Spirit in the intellect and in the affections is called living water, because by the impulse of its love it purifies and cools concupiscence and so induces spiritual life. John 7:38: "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water shall flow from his belly."
See how he promised the benefit. Augustine: "He asks to drink and promises to give drink; as if in need of receiving, and yet overflowing with the power to satisfy." Hence he magnifies both the gift he promises and the giver, so as to draw her more effectively and provoke her to the devotion of asking. He magnifies the gift when he says: If you knew the gift of God — that is, the nobility of that gift. Esther 2:18: "He distributed gifts with royal magnificence." He magnifies the giver when he says: Who it is that says to you — for he is rich toward all who call upon him. 1 Corinthians 1:5 and following: "In him you have been enriched in every way — in all speech and all knowledge — just as the testimony of Christ has been confirmed among you, so that you lack no gift," etc. So therefore, teaching, he both asks and promises and draws by the dignity of the gift and of the giver.
Jn 4:11-12The woman said to him: Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do you get living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and he himself drank from it, and his sons, and his cattle?
Jn 4:13-14Jesus answered and said to her: Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will not thirst for ever. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life.
Sir, you have nothing to draw with. Here is touched upon the clarification of the doubt, so that the gift may be sought all the more eagerly. This section has two paragraphs. In the first the woman's doubt is set forth; in the second, the Lord's determination of the doubt is offered.
In the doubt itself three things are contained. The first is the reason for the difficulty of having such water as he promises. The second is that, trusting in his words, she rightly seeks it — for what he promises is great. The third is that she proposes a comparison of himself with the greatness of those who gave the water that is present.
The woman says, with a carnal understanding of the water: Sir. Already here the woman begins to be elevated in reverence toward the one speaking. For she who first said simply "you" — thinking him an ordinary man of low standing — now calls him Lord, perceiving something great set above others in him. John 13:13: "You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am." Esther 13:11: "You are Lord of all." And therefore she does not contradict his words as though scorning the speaker — for she does not say: "It is foolishness what you are saying, because there is presently nothing from which you could have any water other than this, and this you cannot have either, and therefore you promise foolishly." But reverently, perceiving from his promise that he is the Lord of great things, she immediately rises to reverence, saying:
You have nothing to draw with. Because, as Chrysostom says, Jews and Samaritans do not share vessels; therefore she knew that he would not draw with her jar — that is, the woman's jar — and she saw that no other vessel lawful to the Jews was present. And the well is deep. What was first called a spring is here called a well — as Augustine says, because everything that pours out water is a spring; but the name "well" is added because a well is what is dug deep into the earth to reach the place where water flows from the bowels of the earth. But deep and profound are the same thing — yet it is called "profound" by one looking from above downward into the depth, and "high" by one looking from below upward. So "deep" here means "high" in the other sense. And so there is no free access to the place of the water's flowing.
Where then do you get living water? She does not deny that he has it, but, detained by present realities, she asks where lies his ability to have the living water he has promised. The Lord's intention, however, is to speak of the Spirit and his grace, whose bucket is the Spirit. The living water is the grace that purifies and refreshes. Genesis 24:17: "Give me a little water to drink from your jar." Of the well it is said: Numbers 21:18: "The well which princes dug and the leaders of the multitude prepared, by the Lawgiver and their staffs." For that well is the depth of mysteries, dug by the understanding and study of the law and the princes of the Prophets. By their staffs — which signify the uprightness of the truth of faith and life. Exodus 12:11: "With staves in your hands." Living water is that which produces the effects of life — which are: to make germinate, to restrain thirst, to make fruitful. Concerning the first: Hosea 14:6: "I will be like dew to Israel; he will germinate like a lily." Concerning the second: Isaiah 55:1: "All who are thirsty, come to the waters." Concerning the third: ibid. — "As rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but shall do what I purpose and prosper in the things for which I sent it." Such therefore is living water.
Are you greater, etc.? As if to say: Great were those who gave us this water and used it for their own needs — and if they had had a better kind, they would have used it for their own needs. And this is what she says: Are you greater than our father Jacob? For this Samaritan woman, in the fact that she mingles herself with the lineage of Jacob, gives a sign that she awaited the promises of God and considered the Gentile rite as nothing. For many from the sons of Israel had been united with the Samaritans, and she signifies that she descended from them — for Jacob was the father of the ten tribes, many of whom were among the Samaritans and had mingled with them; and descending from these, she glories in having had Jacob as her father.
Who gave us the well — as to his posterity. Genesis 26:14–15 records that Abraham dug wells, and on account of this all the Philistines, envying him, stopped up all the wells that the servants of his father Abraham had dug in those days by filling them with earth; but afterward they were opened and thus passed by inheritance to posterity. And he himself drank from it — which he would not have done if he had had a better one; and his sons — for whom he would gladly have procured the best waters; and his cattle. All of this Christ understood spiritually. 1 Corinthians 10:4: "They all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ." Numbers 20:11: "Water came out abundantly, so that the people and their livestock drank." Psalm 36:6: "O Lord, you save man and beast." Men indeed are those living rationally; beasts are those with brutish ways who barely know the rudiments of faith. And this she said in ignorance, to the understanding of Christ. And this Moses attested: Numbers 20:6: "Open to them your treasury, the fountain of living water, that being satisfied they may cease their murmuring." For this fountain has been channeled from the Patriarchs through the Prophets down to men and beasts.
Jesus answered and said to her. Resolving the question and reducing it to spiritual understanding. John 6:64: "The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life" — that is, understood spiritually, they are life.
Everyone who drinks of this perceptible water will thirst again — when the cause of thirst returns — and therefore it is no great thing to give this water, nor is it this water I have in mind. But whoever drinks of the water of the Holy Spirit that I will give to believers will not thirst for ever, as long as he abides with the water I shall give him. Hence it is said: Jeremiah 2:18: "What good to you is the way to Egypt, that you may drink of the turbid water of the Nile? And what good to you is the way to Assyria, that you may drink of the water of the river?" For these waters of human temporal consolations do not quench the thirst of human desire; but the waters of spiritual grace, with regard to understanding and affection, quench the desire of the soul. Song of Songs 4:15: "A fountain of gardens, a well of living water flowing freshly from Lebanon." Genesis 2:6: "A stream rose from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground." This is the water of the Holy Spirit in his gifts. Sirach 15:3: "She gave him to drink of the water of wholesome wisdom."
But what seems contrary to this is Sirach 24:29: "Those who drink me will still thirst." Psalm 42:2: "My soul thirsts for God, the living fountain." To this it must be said that there is a desire for a thing not yet possessed, in order to possess it; and there is a desire for a thing already possessed, to possess it more; and there is a desire for a thing already possessed, to continue possessing it. And any of those desires is called thirst. What is said in Sirach 24:29 — "Those who eat me will still hunger and those who drink me will still thirst" — is understood of the second and third desire, not of the first. And it is of the first that he speaks here.
And therefore there follows: But the water that I shall give him — the spiritual grace of the Holy Spirit — will become in him — because the Holy Spirit will dwell in him — a spring of that kind of water, welling up. And therefore it is living, welling up — for welling water is living water — into eternal life. For as Chrysostom says: "When the Holy Spirit enters the heart of a person, it flows more abundantly than any spring." Esther 11:10: "A small spring that grew into a river and into many waters overflowing." Psalm 46:4: "The stream of the river makes the city of God joyful."
Jn 4:15 The woman said to him: Sir, give me this water, so that I may not thirst and may not come here to draw.
Here is touched upon the consent of the woman, drawn toward the gift of God — though not yet understood — and this is what is said: Sir. She persists in the confession of Lord, calling him Lord. Psalm 8:1: "O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is your name in all the earth." Give me this water — although I do not understand what it is, I have nevertheless now advanced far enough to believe it is something great, established in your power, and therefore I ask: give me this water. For this water flows from the fountain of living water which many have wickedly abandoned, seeking instead the water of worldly pleasure. Jeremiah 2:13: "My people have committed two evils: they have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and have dug themselves cisterns — broken cisterns that cannot hold water." For the pleasure of carnal refreshment is a cistern — broken up by many dispensations — so that it cannot hold even tasteless waters of consolation for long; and the water jar of the heart drawing these waters is often pressed by pains and anguish. Ecclesiastes 12:6: "The water jar will be broken at the fountain." For as is said in Proverbs 14:13: "Laughter is mingled with sorrow, and the end of mirth is grief." But this wise woman, although she does not fully understand the water of wisdom and divine grace, hopes through it both to extinguish her thirst and to be freed from the useless labors of this world. And this is what she says:
So that I may not thirst and may not come here to draw. Hence Augustine: "Necessity compelled her to the labor, and weakness refused the labor." If only she would hear that of Matthew 11:28: "Come to me all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." For this woman knew and had experienced that the desire for wealth, the concupiscence of pleasures, and the ambition for honor are never satisfied, but one must always draw with effort. Concerning desire: Sirach 14:9: "The eye of the covetous man is insatiable in his share of iniquity." Hosea 4:10: "They shall eat and not be satisfied." Concerning the concupiscence of pleasures: Micah 6:14: "You shall eat and not be satisfied." Concerning the ambition for honor: Proverbs 13:25: "The belly of the wicked is insatiable." Of these things Augustine says: "The water in the well is the pleasure of the world in its dark depth. Men draw it with the bucket of desire. For unless one first draws up desire, one cannot reach the pleasure." And therefore this woman strives to flee this water.
This water is drawn from four springs — namely the spring of impurity, of perverse imitation, of vain curiosity, and of eternal damnation. The spring of impurity is carnal concupiscence, of which it is said in Leviticus 20:18: "If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood, both of them shall be cut off from among their people." That unclean woman who is in blood is carnal concupiscence set in the heat of blood. Of the spring of perverse imitation: Proverbs 25:26: "A troubled spring and a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked" — for he falls before the wicked when his example is perverted. Of the spring of vain curiosity: Sirach 26:12: "Like a thirsty traveler who opens his mouth at a spring and drinks from whatever water is near" — for the curious person seeks to investigate everything pertaining to himself. Of the spring of eternal damnation: Apocalypse 8:10–11: "A great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is called Wormwood, and a third of the water became wormwood, and many people died from the water because it had become bitter." This spring gives drink to the proud, the impure, and the wrathful — for these are the vices of the damned in hell, by which they are given to drink both here in guilt and in the future in punishment.
It is therefore no wonder if this woman seeks to flee the torment of this thirst, and protests against the labor of drawing — seeking to be freed from both by the water of Christ. And this is what she says: So that I may not thirst and may not come here to draw.
Jn 4:19-20 The woman said to him: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.
Here is touched upon the higher progress of the woman — for she who first called him just any man of the Jewish people, and then Lord, now confesses him a prophet, as one conscious of the secrets of hearts; and Christ shows himself to her as the lawgiver of worship. Hence this section has three paragraphs: in the first is placed the woman's question about worship; in the second, the Lord's solution about worship; and in the third, the reason for the solution is given.
He says therefore: Sir, I perceive. She says three things: a confession, the cause of the question, and the question itself. The confession is what she says: Sir, I perceive. For she perceived this through the revelation of secrets. As I perceive — that is, as I conclude from the sign — you know the secrets of men. For she knew that prophets came to know the secrets of men, even of those absent, through the Spirit of God. 4 Kings 5:26: "Was not my heart present when a man turned from his chariot to meet you?" And 1 Kings 9:15: "The Lord had revealed to the ear of Samuel." You are a prophet — that is, you are conscious of secrets through the divine Spirit. Luke 24:19: "He was a man, a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people." John 6:14: "This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world."
Our fathers, etc. Here is the foundation of the question. For our fathers — the Patriarchs, who were of such great authority that their deeds ought rightly to serve as an example to their posterity — on this mountain — that is, on the high mountains, and on this mountain in particular — many of them worshipped. As Abraham: Genesis 22:2: "Take your only son whom you love, Isaac, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you." Exodus 24:12: "Come up to me on the mountain and be there." Some however say that the mountain was Mount Gerizim, of which Deuteronomy 11:13 and following says that blessings were pronounced upon it. Or perhaps it is the mountain on which the Patriarchs offered sacrifices. The Gloss however seems to explain it generally: because the fathers worshipped on the mountain — not yet having temples, which the woman believed was to be observed for all time.
And you say that Jerusalem, your metropolis, is the place where one ought to worship — that is, in which it is fitting to worship, such that worship elsewhere is invalid. As if the woman were saying: You Jews do not follow the authority of the Patriarchs, who were of such dignity before God that the Lord appeared to them and commanded them to worship and offer sacrifices on mountains. Genesis 22:2: "You shall offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you" — for which reason that very mountain of the divine vision received its name, as is said in ibid. verse 14: "On the mountain the Lord will see." Genesis 19:17: "Do not stay in all the surrounding region, but save yourself on the mountain." Jeremiah 31:23: "The Lord bless you, O abode of justice, O holy mountain." Psalm 68:16: "The mountain where God is pleased to dwell." Isaiah 2:2: "It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of mountains and shall be lifted up above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it."
So therefore, by the authority of the Fathers and of Scripture, we worship on the mountains — and you say — as if to say: it is astonishing that you have dared to say that Jerusalem is the fitting place where by the Lord's command one ought to worship, when the law has determined no specific place; and since the law does not specify but says one must go to the place the Lord will choose, that place should rather have been chosen on this mountain than in a city where the bustle of crowds impedes prayer — as Elijah too, when he wished to pray, went all the way to the mountain of God, Horeb (3 Kings 19:8).
And note that this woman supposed worship of the Lord to be local, and that a mountain was a more fitting place than elsewhere. The carnal Jews too had not corrected the error they held — for they believed not that prayer could be offered everywhere, but that the fitting place dedicated to prayer was Jerusalem. Hence Solomon said prayer should be made in the temple; Daniel 6:10: "Daniel knelt three times a day facing Jerusalem and prayed and gave thanks," etc. Psalm 138:2: "I will worship toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name." Hence there was error in the fact that both the Samaritans and the Jews considered the worship of God to be local; and this they received from Genesis 28:17, where Jacob said: "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven. Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it."
In favor of the Jews, however, there is what is said in Isaiah 64:11: "Our holy and glorious house where our fathers praised you has been burned with fire." And from 2 Maccabees 3:9 and following, it seems from the punishment of Heliodorus that in that place there truly was some divine power — for he who has his dwelling in heaven is the visitor and helper of that place, and strikes and destroys those who come to do evil there.
The Lord therefore, as the true Lawgiver and Lord, corrects both these errors about worship. And this is what follows:
Jn 4:21 Jesus said to her: Woman, believe me, for the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
Jesus said to her — as every illuminator of truth and teacher. Isaiah 48:17: "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you profitable things, who leads you in the way you should walk." Song of Songs 1:7: "Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon — lest I begin to wander." Psalm 25:4: "Make me know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths." For it is the only-begotten who alone is in the bosom of the Father, and therefore knows how to correct and expound all these things.
Woman, believe me, etc. He says three things: the removal of error, the true understanding of truth, and the teaching of true worship. From the removal of error he says three things: the confirmation of the statement to be made, the fulfillment of time, and the correction of error.
Concerning the first, he says: Woman, believe me — for I have already lifted you up to the faith by which you confess me a prophet. And a prophet promised in the law is to be believed, and faith is to be given to his words. Deuteronomy 18:18–19: "I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brothers like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to his words which he shall speak in my name, I will be his avenger." Since therefore you confess me a prophet, believe me — for faith must be given to that prophet.
For the hour is coming. Here is the fulfillment of time. For not always will prophecy pertain to the future; the time is now already fulfilled. Galatians 4:4: "When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son." Psalm 65:12: "You will bless the crown of the year of your goodness." For the crown of the year has passed into a circle — when in the fullness of time the truth fulfilled the promise.
When — with truth revealed — neither on this mountain — where the figure of the fathers preceded: Genesis 35:1: "Rise, O Jacob, and go up to Bethel and dwell there; make an altar there to God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau." 3 Kings 3:4: "Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place." For through worship on the mountain the fathers wished to show the elevation of heart that ought to be in one who worships — not because worship was local. And because later generations abused this, thinking that the God who is worshipped was local, this must be corrected. Hence there follows:
When neither on this mountain — on which you worship a local deity — nor in Jerusalem — in the temple which God chose as a place of prayer to demonstrate in figure the heavenly things, not because he was to be worshipped there only in a local sense, but so that in the type of heavenly things the arrangement might be shown for which God was to be worshipped. And since the blindness of the Jews also abused even this, saying that God belongs to the Jews alone and not to the Gentiles, this vice of error must be corrected. Jeremiah 26:18: "Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height." Romans 3:29–30: "Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also — since God is one, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith."
Hence, regarding the reprobation of the temple insofar as it concerned the unbelief of the Jews who believed God could not be found except by worshipping toward the temple, it is said in Malachi 1:10–11: "I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name and a pure offering." Psalm 113:3: "From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised."
You will worship — with the worship of latria. Psalm 103:22: "In every place of his dominion, bless the Lord, O my soul." To this same sense Solomon, when he dedicated the house of the Lord, invited those who would worship, when he said in 3 Kings 8:27: "If heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house which I have built?" But the carnal people did not understand this, thinking that God belonged to the Jews alone and ought to be worshipped only in the temple or toward the temple.
The Father — whom the woman and others worshipping God worshipped under the name of Father. And therefore he says that the Father is to be worshipped. Isaiah 64:8: "You are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." Malachi 2:10: "Have we not all one Father?" And because he is the Father of all and in all, he is therefore to be worshipped by all and everywhere.
Jn 4:22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Here he sets forth for the woman the understanding of the truth, saying three things: the error of the Gentiles, the spiritual understanding of the Jews, and he assigns the special cause of this.
He says therefore: You — Gentiles or Samaritans — although you receive the law, worship what you do not know — because according to the law you intend to worship the God of the land, whom you began to worship out of fear of the wild beasts, and to hold his statutes in the law, as is said in 4 Kings 17:15 and following. So also other Gentiles, worshipping idols, worship what they do not know — for an idol does not have divinity. 1 Corinthians 8:5–6: "Even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth — as indeed there are many gods and many lords — yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist." Wisdom 14:22: "Living in great strife due to ignorance, they call such great evils peace." Acts 17:30: "The times of this ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent." And ibid. 17:24–25: "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything."
We — Jews who have the understanding of the law — among whom the Lord numbers himself, because they belong to him. Hence the Gloss: "To whose fathers Christ was promised." Romans 9:5: "To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ." Worship what we know — through the law and the Prophets. The Gloss: "Not all, but the elect." We worship what we know — the knowledge of God has been promised to us through the covenant, in which Christ was promised to us. Baruch 4:4–5: "Blessed are we, O Israel, for what pleases God is known to us. Take heart, O people of God," etc. Galatians 3:16: "The promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring."
For salvation is from the Jews. Here he touches on the cause. For salvation is from the Jews because the Savior was foretold to be born of the Jews, and he was the true light who enlightens every man coming into this world — namely to the knowledge of truth. Luke 1:73: "The oath that he swore to our father Abraham." Hebrews 2:16: "For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham." Genesis 26:4: "In your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed."
Hence also, although salvation is from the Jews, it is not given to the Jews alone. Isaiah 49:6: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
Jn 4:23 But the hour is coming, and now is.
Here, thirdly, he imparts the teaching of true worship. And he says four things: the fulfillment of the time for the truth now to be revealed, the condition of the true worshippers, the fittingness of the worshippers toward him who is worshipped, and the full account of what is to be taught about the worship of God.
He says therefore: But the hour is coming — that is, it is on its way. And he says this because this hour is not indivisible, but has already begun through the Incarnation and Baptism, and through the completion of the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension it is in the process of being published through the world — a truth continuously on its way. Romans 13:11–12: "It is the hour now for you to wake from sleep, for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand."
And now is — for it has already begun in the Sacraments, in which the truth shines forth. Isaiah 29:1: "Year is added to year; the feasts complete their cycle." For now the years of the promises are finished and the year has come round in which the truth is to be manifested. Ezekiel 12:28: "None of my words will be delayed any longer; the word that I speak will be fulfilled." And this is what he says: And now is — because the truth is Christ, after whom there will be no one to wait for.
Jn 4:23 cont. Jn 4:24 When the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
Here is touched upon the condition of the true worshippers. And he touches on four things: the condition of the true worshippers themselves, the worship itself, him who is worshipped, and the condition of true worship.
Concerning the first, he says: When — because the time of the fullness of Christ's grace and truth demands this. True worshippers. A worshipper is one who tends toward what he worships. A true worshipper, however, is one who is not feigned but who is inwardly through devotion as he appears outwardly. He says therefore: When true worshippers — whose prayer draws near to him who is worshipped. Psalm 119:169: "Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word." Hence one who rightly worships draws near through understanding to him whom he worships — and therefore Damascene says that prayer is the ascent of the intellect to God. Ibid. 119:170: "Let my plea come before you." Sirach 35:21: "The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds and does not rest until it reaches its goal, and will not depart until the Most High looks down." Psalm 141:2: "Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."
A true worshipper, moreover, is — as I said — not feigned. And for this four things are required: the first is that the heart be with the lips in thought; the second is that the mind be with the prayer in the intention of delight; the third is that it not trust in the persuasion of rhetorical prayer — that is, that it pray in simplicity; and the fourth is that prayer not be impeded by contrary action. Concerning the first, Isaiah 29:13 says of certain people who did not have in their heart what they prayed: "This people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" — and that is in the Septuagint translation; our translation has: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me."
The second obtains when the intention of the one praying rests on a temporal thing — for then the prayer which ought to concern eternal things does not concern the same thing in which the mind of the one praying delights. Jeremiah 12:2: "You are near to their mouth but far from their heart." For the heart is the place of delight, and the delight of the one praying ought to be in God who is worshipped. Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Concerning the third: Matthew 6:7: "When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think," etc. — for they think they can persuade by rhetorical prayers. And these do not pray in simplicity. Job 11:3: "I will not spare him — not words powerful and composed for entreating" — as rhetorical prayers are composed. For such people think they will be heard through much speaking.
Concerning the fourth: John 9:31: "We know that God does not listen to sinners." 2 Maccabees 9:13: "This wicked man prayed to the Lord from whom he was not going to obtain mercy." These therefore are the true worshippers — because truth, as Anselm says, is rectitude perceptible by the mind alone. The first adds to prayer rectitude of heart; the second, rectitude of intention; the third, rectitude of simplicity; and the fourth, rectitude of action.
So therefore he says: True worshippers — will worship. That is, they will draw near through prayer. Psalm 5:7: "I will worship toward your holy temple," etc. For worship is that which by the power and fervor of devotion ascends — which is kindled by the warmth of charity and spreads before God the fragrance of the perfume of all the virtues. Concerning the first: Song of Songs 3:6: "Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense?" Concerning the second: Psalm 39:3: "My heart grew hot within me," etc. Concerning the third: Psalm 45:8–9: "Myrrh and aloes and cassia," etc. — supply: "breathe from your robes; daughters of kings delight you in your honor." For God is delighted by such perfumes.
The Father. See who is worshipped — he whose name is sweet to the one who worships, who receives prayer with paternal affection, who by the grace of his presence forms and brings to birth the one who prays, and who by the providence of the Father teaches one to pray. Concerning the first of these: Wisdom 16:21: "For your sustenance showed your sweetness toward your children." This is the sweetness that resounds in the name of Father. Concerning the second: John 11:41: "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me." For in his paternal affection he always hears the Son — as long as he is truly a son and not an alien. Psalm 18:44: "Strangers have lied to me," etc. — for they say with their mouth that they are sons but do not have the Spirit of the Father. Concerning the third: John 1:12: "He gave them power to become children of God." And ibid. v.13: "Who were born of God." Matthew 6:9: "Our Father who art in heaven." For the heavenly Father forms us for heavenly things. Concerning the fourth: Romans 8:26: "For we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words" — and that Spirit is the Spirit of the Father. And so it is clear that the Father is to be worshipped.
In spirit and in truth. This is the condition of the true worshipper, and it consists in two things. For spirit denotes abstraction from the flesh. Luke 24:39: "A spirit has not flesh and bones." And therefore one worships in spirit who is abstracted from the flesh and the desires of the flesh and from phantasmal conceptions — in which natural men are occupied. 1 Corinthians 2:14: "The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him." Galatians 5:16: "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." For the spiritual man is one who understands all things by discernment, and whose created spirit is immersed and united in the uncreated Spirit. Concerning the first: 1 Corinthians 2:15: "The spiritual person judges all things." And ibid. 2:12: "We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God." Concerning the second: 1 Corinthians 6:17: "He who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him."
And in truth — of worship — that is, that worship be right and pure and not phantasmal but true, as was said. Isaiah 38:3: "Remember now, O Lord, how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight."
For the Father also seeks such people to worship him.
Here is touched upon the fittingness of the worshippers toward him who is worshipped — for the Father seeks such people to worship him in just the way that he himself is truly Father in hearing. Such was Paul: Romans 1:9: "Whom I serve" — that is, to whom I render worship — "in my spirit in the gospel of his Son." Likewise Romans 12:1: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." As Chrysostom says: the Father therefore seeks those who render such worship or adoration — because adoration or latria is the worship of God.
The Father therefore does not seek those who worship locally, but those who render such worship as has been described. 1 Timothy 2:8: "I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling." 1 Corinthians 14:15: "I will pray with my spirit; I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit; I will sing with my mind also."
And the account of all these things he determines when he says: God is spirit. For spirit is the principle of life. John 6:64: "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail." And therefore because spirit is the principle of life, life flows from it into us through this — that it is Spirit — if we tend toward it in spirit and truth through affection. And prayer, as Augustine says, is the pious affection of the mind directed toward God.
Hence he says: And those who worship him must worship not on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth. For because the Father is spirit, he seeks neither image nor place in which to be worshipped. Isaiah 40:18: "To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?" Isaiah 26:9: "With my spirit within me I seek you earnestly; in the morning." Hence one who worships in the flesh or in an image of the flesh or in a place does not worship in spirit. Romans 8:8: "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." But those who are in spirit all please God. Hence ibid. 8:14: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." Similarly, those who are not from God in truth are not heard. Psalm 4:2: "O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?" For truth is the rectitude in which a thing holds itself in the state in which it exists in the divine mind and for which it has been made by the divine mind. John 16:13: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come."
But it is asked: since God is truth, why does he not say "Truth is God" as he says "Spirit is God"? To this it must be said that when God is called Spirit, in this word the woman is abstracted and freed from the error of the Samaritans who said that God was local. For the Samaritans did not sin against the truth of worship but against the spirituality of him who is worshipped — whom they believed to be local. And therefore it is said: "God is spirit" and not "Truth is God."
But it is further asked: since we too seem to sin in worship because we venerate images and temples — to this it must be said that we do not venerate images as though some divine power presided over them, but, as Damascene says, referring them to the prototype. And we venerate temples as places in which the arrangement of heavenly things is represented. For this is not error. And the tabernacle and the temple were made first for this purpose — although the carnal drew it into error, as has been said above. And if it is objected that in that case this error ought to be corrected among us, lest it happen as among the ancients — it must be said that it is not necessary, because the grace of the Spirit has now appeared revealed from heavenly things, and therefore among us this cannot be drawn into error. Apocalypse 21:3: "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men, and he will dwell with them."
This therefore is what he says here.
Jn 4:25-26 The woman said to him: I know that the Messiah is coming, who is called Christ; when he comes, he will tell us all things. Jesus said to her: I am he, the one speaking with you.
Here is the section in which the woman, now elevated, is led to the coming of the Messiah. And it has two parts: in the first is placed the woman's confession of the coming of the Messiah; and in the second, the illumination accomplished by Christ on account of the woman's confession.
In the first, three things are said: the certitude of faith, the one in whom the faith is placed — that is, the article — and the grace to be shown in merit of the faith.
Concerning the first, she says: I know. Similarly it is said in Job 19:25: "I know that my Redeemer lives." But it is asked: how is this woman said to know, since Richard of Saint Victor says that faith is a light above opinion and below the knowledge of truth, and Master Hugh of Saint Victor says it is above knowledge and below the understanding of truth? To these and similar questions it must be said that this woman, noting the certitude of faith, says "I know." 2 Timothy 1:12: "I know whom I have believed, and I am certain," etc. But Master Richard calls "knowledge" the perfect and not partial knowledge of the true — which is the knowledge of the Saints through vision, which comes through species. And this Master Hugh calls the understanding of truth. Opinion, however, he calls the vacillating habit of human conception, above which is the certitude of faith. For although it is through a mirror in an enigma, yet nothing is more certain than faith, which rests upon eternal truth. This therefore is what she says: I know.
That the Messiah is coming. Here is the article believed by the woman. For "Messiah" in Hebrew is "Christ" in Greek and "anointed" in Latin — anointed as priest and king. Psalm 45:7: "God, your God, has anointed you," etc. The woman knew this because the Samaritans received the five books of Moses. In Genesis 49:10 it is said: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples" — and that is the Septuagint translation. Habakkuk 2:3: "If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay."
Who is called Christ. This is the interpretation added by the evangelist on account of the Greek language in which he wrote. Isaiah 61:1: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me."
When he comes — as has been prophesied of him — he will tell us all things — that is, he is to announce all things to us, and he is to be believed in all things. For just as the Spirit of truth teaches all things, so he from whom the Spirit flows teaches all things. John 14:26: "He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." John 1:18: "The only-begotten Son, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." For he alone knows and is able according to his divinity, and he alone has the anointing according to his humanity. 1 John 2:27: "His anointing teaches you about everything." And so according to his divinity he can and knows — because he is in the innermost part of the Father — and according to his humanity he has the Spirit teaching about all things. Isaiah 52:6: "Therefore my people shall know my name. On that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am."
This therefore is what the woman says. And because she raised her mind to prophesy of the Messiah, she therefore merited to receive the truth revealed about that same Messiah. And this is what follows:
Jesus said to her — illuminating her concerning the person of the Messiah through his act, namely the announcement of all things: I am the Messiah who speaks with you. John 9:37: "You have seen him, and it is he who speaks with you."
But it is asked: why did he not say this to the woman from the beginning? The Jews also complained of this, that he kept them in suspense. John 10:24: "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." To this it must be said, as Chrysostom says, that it was necessary to lead the woman gradually — she who did not know the law. Had he said this right from the beginning, it would have seemed like madness. Now, however, after she has been led step by step through the discourse of the Scriptures, through the revelation of secrets, through the ordering of worship, she saw that these things were accomplished by the ordering of divine wisdom, and then she believed in a more orderly way.
But it is further asked: since the Lord made an abbreviated word upon the earth, he seems not to have followed this order with this woman — because he made a long discourse. To this it must be said that the discourse about the abbreviated word is to be considered in two ways: from the side of the word, and from the side of the hearers. From the side of the word, the discourse is always brief. But from the side of the hearers — when the hearers are wise and instructed in Scripture, the discourse is brief. But from the side of uneducated and uninstructed hearers, such as this woman was, the instructive discourse needs to be long. 1 Corinthians 3:1–2: "I, brothers, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it." Therefore she needed a long guidance. And it was of wonderful kindness that he wished to do something similar for this one single sinner to what he did in Luke 7:39 — where he received the sinful woman and allowed himself to be touched by her, and wished to excuse her who was accused in the heart of the Pharisee, and to praise her for her service, and to absolve the praised one from her sins, and to dismiss the absolved one in peace.
Jn 4:39 Now many of the Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the word of the woman bearing witness: "He told me all that I have ever done."
After the instruction of the Apostles, he speaks of the grace signified in the waters and the spiritual food, and touches upon the propagation of this manifestation to the Gentiles in the first fruits of the Samaritans.
Three things are said here: the manifestation made through the word of the woman; the fervor of devotion toward Christ; and the efficacy of Christ's own sermon preached in his own words.
In the first of these, two things are said: the multitude of believers, and the cause of such great belief — the woman's testimony.
He says therefore: From that city — Sychar or Shechem by name, which has now begun through faith to be a city — that is, a unity of citizens — many believed in him with devotion of faith. Psalm 87:3: "Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God." Of the Samaritans — who were Gentiles and the first fruits of the Church of the Gentiles. Isaiah 65:1: "I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me." Romans 11:7: "What Israel sought it did not obtain, but the elect obtained it," etc.
Because of the word of the woman drawing water and bearing testimony — which word was necessary on account of the unbelief of the Samaritans, to whom the Lord was unknown but the woman was known. For it is always the case in any kind of knowledge that the unknown does not become known except through something that is known. And he touches on the word by which the woman persuaded them that Christ was the Messiah, saying: "He told me all that I have ever done." Matthew 8:10: "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith." Matthew 15:28: "O woman, great is your faith." Luke 7:50: "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Jn 4:41-42 And many more believed in him because of his own word. And they said to the woman: It is no longer because of your word that we believe, for we ourselves have heard and know that this is truly the Savior of the world.
Here is the fruitfulness of his own sermon. And three things are said: the more abundant fruit of his own sermon, the comparison of Christ's sermon to the woman's words, and the full confession of truth.
He says therefore: And many more believed — than through the woman — because of his own word. For, as Matthew 7:29 says: "He was teaching them as one who had authority." Psalm 141:6: "They shall hear my words, for they are pleasant." For the word going forth from the mouth of the incarnate Word sounds with power. Psalm 68:33: "Behold, he utters his voice, the voice of power." Song of Songs 2:14: "Let your voice sound in my ears, for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely." Psalm 45:2: "Grace is poured upon your lips."
And they said to the woman. Here is the comparison of the word heard from Christ to the woman's word. It is no longer because of your word — which compared to what we have seen is nothing. 3 Kings 10:7: "I came and my own eyes have seen it, and behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me." For we no longer believe on account of human reasoning — although we were led by it — but we ourselves assent to truth itself for its own sake and above all things. Job 42:5–6: "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." Wisdom 18:15: "Your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne."
For we ourselves have heard. Here is the confession of the first truth. For we ourselves have heard — outwardly and inwardly — the words of wisdom, and we know by the understanding of truth that this is he who has come to us in the flesh — truly the Savior of the world. They say truly by comparison with those who were figures — such as Moses and Joshua and the other judges and kings. And Savior — from the act of saving. Of the world they say, to signify that salvation is among the Gentiles and not only in Judea. Genesis 41:45: "He called his name Savior of the world." Luke 1:31: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Sirach 46:1–2: "He was great according to his name, greatest in the salvation of God's elect."
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