FUNCTIONAL FAITH
The Wording

The Woman at the Well

John 4:1–42

Compare the wording

Licensed translations and the original language

Compare two

Berean Standard Bible

Goodspeed New Testament

BSB and T4T shown with Greek annotations — · Why we show the Greek →

1

When Jesus realized that the Pharisees were aware He was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John

So when the Lord learned that the Pharisees had been told that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John—

2

(although it was not Jesus who baptized, but His disciples),

though it was not Jesus himself who baptized them, but his disciples—

3

He left Judea and returned to Galilee.

he left Judea and went back again to Galilee.

4

Now He had to pass through Samaria.

Now he had to pass through Samaria.

5

So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph,

6

Since Jacob’s well was there, Jesus, weary from His journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

and Jacob’s spring was there. So Jesus, tired with his journey, sat down just as he was by the spring. It was about noon.

7

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”

8

(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

For his disciples had gone into the town to buy some food.

9

“You are a Jew,” said the woman. “How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that a Jew like you asks a Samaritan woman like me for a drink?” For Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans.

10

Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

Jesus answered, “If you knew what God has to give, and who it is that said to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

11

“Sir,” the woman replied, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living water?

She said to him, “You have nothing to draw water with, sir, and the well is deep. Where can you get your living water?

12

Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?”

Are you a greater man than our forefather Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself, with his sons and his flocks?”

13

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.

Jesus answered, “Anyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,

14

But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”

but anyone who drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty, but the water that I will give him will become a spring of water within him, bubbling up for eternal life.”

15

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

The woman said to him, “Give me this water, sir, so that I may never be thirsty, nor have to come all this way to draw water.”

16

Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

He said to her, “Go and call your husband and come back here.”

17

“I have no husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said to her, “You are correct to say that you have no husband.

The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her,

18

In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. You have spoken truthfully.”

“You are right when you say you have no husband, for you have had five husbands and the man you are now living with is not your husband. What you say is true.”

19

“Sir,” the woman said, “I see that You are a prophet.

The woman said to him, “I see that you are a prophet, sir.

20

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.”

Our forefathers worshiped God on this mountain, and yet you Jews say that the place where people must worship God is at Jerusalem.”

21

“Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

Jesus said to her, “Believe me, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor at Jerusalem.

22

You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

You worship something you know nothing about; we know what we worship, for salvation comes from the Jews.

23

But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.

But a time is coming—it is already here!—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and sincerity, for the Father wants such worshipers.

24

God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in sincerity.”

25

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”

The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming—he who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will tell us everything!”

26

Jesus answered, “I who speak to you am He.”

Jesus said to her, “I who am talking to you am he!”

27

Just then His disciples returned and were surprised that He was speaking with a woman. But no one asked Him, “What do You want from her?” or “Why are You talking with her?”

Just then his disciples came back, and they were surprised to find him talking with a woman, yet no one of them asked him what he wanted or why he was talking with her.

28

Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people,

So the woman left her pitcher and went back to the town, and said to the people,

29

“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

“Come, here is a man who has told me everything I ever did! Do you suppose he is the Christ?”

30

So they left the town and made their way toward Jesus.

The people went out of the town to see him.

31

Meanwhile the disciples urged Him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

Meanwhile the disciples urged him, saying, “Master, eat something.”

32

But He told them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

33

So the disciples asked one another, “Could someone have brought Him food?”

So the disciples said to one another, “Do you suppose that someone has brought him something to eat?”

34

Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.

Jesus said to them, “My food is doing the will of him who has sent me, and finishing his work.

35

Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.

Are you not saying, ‘Four months more and the harvest will come’? Look, I tell you! Raise your eyes and see the fields, for they are white for harvesting.

36

Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together.

The reaper is already being paid and gathering the harvest for eternal life, so that the sower may be glad with the reaper.

37

For in this case the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.

For here the saying holds good, ‘One sows, another reaps.’

38

I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the hard work, and now you have taken up their labor.”

I have sent you to reap a harvest on which you have not worked. Other men have worked and you have profited by their work.”

39

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”

Many of the Samaritans in that town came to believe in him because of the testimony the woman gave when she said, “He has told me everything I ever did!”

40

So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days.

So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he did stay there two days.

41

And many more believed because of His message.

And a great many more believed because of what he said,

42

They said to the woman, “We now believe not only because of your words; we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Savior of the world.”

and they said to the woman, “It is no longer because of your statement that we believe, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that he is really the Savior of the world.”

Functional Faith Reading

The Greek word for "living water" here is hydōr zōn — water that moves, flows, springs up from a source. The woman hears it as a practical claim about hydrology. Jesus means something far deeper: a connection to the living God that never runs dry.

Most readings treat this passage as primarily about Jesus revealing his identity — the focus falls on who he is rather than what he is offering. The encounter becomes a proof text for recognition rather than an invitation into relationship with the Father.

The Pioneer enters Samaria deliberately, weary from the road, sitting at the edge of what polite society had marked off-limits. He is not performing divinity. He is thirsty. That weariness matters — it tells us the Pioneer was genuinely creaturely, genuinely in need, genuinely present to a woman the religious world had written off. When he speaks of living water, he is pointing past himself to the Father — the source, the spring, the one from whom all mercy flows. The Pioneer does not offer himself as the destination but as the door.

If the Pioneer crossed every boundary to find this woman at midday, the Way he pioneered is not a road for the respectable. It runs through every Samaria you have been told to avoid.

Sit with this

Where is the well you have stopped approaching — and who might be waiting to meet you there?

Sources

SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)License

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition

Copyright 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software.

Licensed CC BY 4.0.

Back to Scripture