Jesus and the Woman of Samaria (John 4:7b–15). From the Heritage of Tradition to the Mystery of Faith

Piotr Kot

Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu , Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6583-0601


Abstract

The dialogue between Jesus and the woman of Samaria, which is related in detail by the author of the fourth gospel, focuses on the sign of Jacob’s well and the living water in its first part (4:7b–15). The climax of this section combines the well, the gift of God and the identity of Jesus. By way of allusion, Jesus leads the woman to the recognition of His person’s mystery. If readers wish to comprehend the meaning of this conduct, they cannot limit themselves only to the biblical story of the patriarch Jacob. They must consider the Targum traditions. Only thus is it possible to understand how a woman of Samaria could recognize the mystery of Jesus, a Jew. Setting the story in the cultural context sheds light on the author’s intentions behind the inclusion of the narrative of 4:1–42 in Corpus Johanneum. This is important in relation to the land of Samaria which was then inhabited by people who varied in terms of ethnicity and religion. The woman whom Jesus met at Jacob’s well is described in such a way as to represent all Samaritans: descendants of proto-Samaritans and immigrant heathens. All of them were invited to draw from the source of salvation opened up by Jesus Christ.

Keywords:

John 4:1–42, Samaritan woman, Targum, Jacob’s well, living water, Samaria, Messiah

Barrett Ch. K., Das Evangelium nach Johannes (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 1990).

Beutler J., Das Johannesevangelium. Kommentar (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder 2013)

Beutler J., L’Ebraismo e gli Ebrei nel Vangelo di Giovanni (SubBib 29; Roma: Editrice PIB 2006).

Brown R. E., An Introduction to the Gospel of John (ABRL; New York: Doubleday 2003).

Brown R. E., The Gospel According to John I-XII (AB 29; New York: Doubleday 1966).

Chrostowski W., Asyryjska diaspora Izraelitów i inne studia (RiSB 10; Warszawa: Vocatio 2003).

Chrostowski W., Babilońskie deportacje mieszkańców Jerozolimy i Judy oraz inne studia (RiSB 34; Warszawa: Vocatio 2009).

Chrostowski W., Trzecia Świątynia w Jerozolimie i inne studia (RiSB 44; Warszawa: Vocatio 2012).

Culpepper R. A., Anatomia del Quatro Vangelo. Studio di critica narrativa (Milano: Glossa 2016).

Feldman L. H., „Judaizm palestyński i diaspory I wieku”, Chrześcijaństwo a judaizm rabiniczny. Historia początków oraz wczesnego rozwoju (red. H. Shanks) (PB 2; Warszawa: Vocatio 2013) 25-87.

Freed E. D., „Did John Write His Gospel Partly to Win Samaritan Converts?”, Novum Testamentum 12 (1970) 241-256.

Gench F. T., Encounters with Jesus. Studies in the Gospel of John (Louisville – London: Westminster Press 2007).

Górka B., Jezus i Samarytanka (Kraków: WAM 2008.

Hjelm I., The Samaritans and Early Judaism. A Literary Analysis (JSOTSup 303; Shefield: Sheffield Academic Press 2000).

Hudry-Clergeon Ch., „De Judée en Galilée. Étude de Jean 4,1-45”, Nouvelle Revue Théologique 113 (1981) 818-830.

Jędrzejewski S., „Pochodzenie synagogi”, Ruch Biblijny i Liturgiczny 4 (2010) 315-325.

Kartveit M., The Origin of the Samaritans (VTSup 128; Leiden – Boston: Brill 2009).

Kippenberg H. G., „I Samaritani”, Testi giudaici per lo studio del Nuovo Testamento (red. H. G. Kippenberg – G. A. Wewers) (NTSup 8; Brescia: Paideia Editrice 1987) 117-141.

Kot P., Targumy a Pierwszy List św. Jana. Literacko-teologiczne związki tradycji targumicznej o Kainie i Ablu (TNRdz 4,1-17) z Pierwszym Listem św. Jana (RiSB 38; Warszawa: Vocatio 2010).

Kręcidło J., Nowe życie uczniów Jezusa. J 21 jako owoc eklezjologicznej relektury J 1-20 we wspólnocie Umiłowanego Ucznia (RiSB 33; Warszawa: Vocatio 2009).

Le Déaut R., „Targum”, Supplément au Dictionnaire de la Bible (red. J. Briend – M. Quesnel) (Paris: Letouzey & Ané 2002) k. 1-344.

Léon-Dufour X., Lettura dell’Evangelo secondo Giovanni (Milano: San Paolo 22007)

Malina B. J. – Rohrbaugh R. L., Social-science Commentary on the Gospel of John (Minneapolis: Fortress Press 1998).

Manns F., L’Evangile de Jean à la lumière du Judaïsme (SBFA 33; Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press 1991).

Mannucci V., Giovanni il Vangelo narrante. Introduzione all’arte narrativa del quarto Vangelo (Bolonia: Edizioni Dehoniane 22016).

Marcheselli M., „Il motivo del tempio in Gv 2-4. Un sondaggio su un punto sensibile della ipotetica teologia sostitutiva del quarto Vangelo”, Israele e Chiesa nel Vangelo di Giovanni. Compimento, reinterpretazione, sostituzione? (red. M. Marcheselli) (Bologna: Edizioni Dehoniane 2016) 37-69.

Marguerat D. – Bourquin Y., Per leggere i racconti biblici. La Bibbia si racconta. Iniziazione all’analisi narrativa (Roma: Edizioni Borla 22011).

McNamara M., Targum and Testament (Shannon: Irish University Press 1972).

Meier J. P., „The Historical Jesus and the Historical Samaritans: What can be Said?”, Biblica 81 (2000) 202-232.

Mędala S., Ewangelia według świętego Jana. I. Rozdziały 1-12 (NKB IV/1; Częstochowa: Edycja Świętego Pawła 2010).

Mitchell D. C., Messiah Ben Joseph (Newton Mearns: Campbell Publication 2016).

Mlakuzhyil G., The Christocentric Literary Structure of the Fourth Gospel (AnBib 117; Roma: Editrice PIB 1987).

Montgomery J. A., The Samaritans – the Earliest Jewish Sect. Their History, Theology and Literature (Philadelphia 1907).

Moses A. D. A., Matthew’s Transfiguration Story and Jewish-Christian Controversy (JSNTSup 122; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press 1996).

Muraoka T., A Greek – Hebrew/Aramaic. Two-way Index to the Septuagint (Louvain: Peeters 2010).

Neyrey J. H., „Jacob Tradition and the Interpretation of John 4,10-26”, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 41 (1979).

Pikor W., „W poszukiwaniu asyryjskiej diaspory Izraelitów w Księdze Ezechiela”, Biblical Annals 58/2 (2012) 27-74.

Pudełko J. J., „Powstanie Samarytan a ich obraz w Syr 50,25-26”, Warszawskie Studia Teologiczne XXXIII (2015), 168-187.

Pummer R., „Samaritan Synagogues and Jewish Synagogues: A New Look at their Differentiating Characteristics”, The Samaritans in Historical, Cultural and Linguistic Perspectives (red. J. Dušek) (SJ 110; Berlin: De Gruyter 2018) 51-74.

Pummer R., „Samaritan Synagogues and Jewish Synagogues. Similarites and Differences”, Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue. Cultural Interaction During the Greco-Roman Period (red. S. Fine) (London – New York: Routledge 1999) 118-160.

Pummer R., The Samaritans in Flavius Josephus (TSAJ 129; Mohr Siebeck: Tübingen 2009).

Purvis J. D., „The Fourth Gospel and the Samaritans”, Novum Testamentum 17 (1975) 161-198; M. S. Wróbel, Studia z Ewangelii Janowej (W kręgu słowa 5; Tarnów: Biblos 2009) 37-42.

Ramón Díaz J., „Palestinian Targum and New Testament”, Novum Testamentum 6 (1963), 75-80.

Rosik M., Kościół a Synagoga (30-313 po Chr.) na rozdrożu (Wrocław: Chronicon 2016).

Ska J.-L., „I nostri padri ci hanno raccontato”. Introduzione all’analisi dei racconti dell’Antico Testamento (EDB; Bologna: Centro Editoriale Dehoniano 2012).

Sokoloff M., A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period (DTMT 2; Jerusalem: Bar Ilan University Press 21992)

Tal A., „The Samaritan Targum to the Pentateuch, Its Distinctive Characteristic and Its Metamorphosis”, Journal of Semitic Studies XXI (1976) 26-38.

Thyen H., Das Johannesevangelium (HNT 6; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2005).

Thyen H., Studien zum Corpus Iohanneum (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2007)

Tronina A., „Najstarsze tłumaczenia Pięcioksięgu”, Collectanea Thelogica 69/1 (1999) 47-62.

Wheaton G., The Role of Jewish Feasts in John’s Gospel (SNTS.MS 162; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2015).

Witczyk H., „Jezus przynosi Ewangelię Samarii (J 4,1-42)”, Verbum Vitae 10 (2006) 115-137.

Wróbel M. S. (red.), Targum Neofiti 1. Księga Rodzaju. Tekst aramejski – przekład – aparat krytyczny – przypisy (BibAr 1; Lublin: Gaudium 2014).

Wróbel M. S., Antyjudaizm a Ewangelia według św. Jana (Lublin: Wydawnictwo KUL 2005).

Wróbel M. S., Studia z Ewangelii Janowej (W kręgu słowa 5; Tarnów: Biblos 2009) 37-42.

Wróbel M. S., Wprowadzenie do Biblii Aramejskiej (BibAr; Lublin: Gaudium 2017).

Wypych S.. „Samarytanie w ujęciu historycznym, geograficznym i religijnym”, Ruch Biblijny i Liturgiczny 58/3 (2005) 165-179.


Published
2020-04-09


Kot, P. (2020). Jesus and the Woman of Samaria (John 4:7b–15). From the Heritage of Tradition to the Mystery of Faith. The Biblical Annals, 10(4), 615–636. https://doi.org/10.31743/biban.8674

Piotr Kot  father.kefa@gmail.com
Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu

1. Doktorat z teologii biblijnej na Katolickim Uniwersytecie Lubelskim w Lublinie (2008 r.)

2. Licencjat nauk biblijnych w Papieskim Instytucie Biblijnym w Rzymie (2011 r.)

3. Licencjat z patrologii na Katolickim Uniwersytecie Lubelskim w Lublinie (2008 r.)

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6583-0601



License

  1. Pursuant to the Act on Copyright and Related Rights of February 4, 1994, the Author of the publication grants to the Publisher of the journal „The Biblical Annals” e a non-exclusive and royalty-free license to use the Work submitted for publication, without time and territorial restrictions in the following fields of use:
    a) record the Work and copy it by means of any technique (including printing and electronic recording) on all known data carriers (including IT, electronic and polygraphic), and in all IT systems (in particular those available online);
    b) enter the Work into computer memory, disseminate the Work and its copies, as well as market the Work and its copies;
    c) publicly perform, replay, display and screen the Work, as well as lend, rent and lease the Work and its copies;
    d) make available, market and disseminate the Work and its copies via IT networks, and in particular via the Internet, including the promotion or advertising of the Work, the journal or the Publisher.
  2. The Author shall further grant his/her consent for the Publisher to use and dispose of derivative works.
  3. The Publisher may sublicense the work.
  4. Third parties may use the articles and other materials containing the Works, or developed on the basis of the Works in line with the model Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (also referred to as CC BY 4.0).