John 4
The woman at the well
When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) He left Judæa, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
Travelling from Judea to Galilee, Jesus rests at Jacob's well in Samaria and asks a Samaritan woman for a drink. Their conversation moves from well water to "living water", to her personal history, to the right place to worship God. Jesus tells her that he is the Messiah she is expecting.
What does this mean?
"Living water" meant fresh, flowing water, as from a spring, but Jesus uses it for the life he gives. "The sixth hour" is about noon. "This mountain" is Mount Gerizim, the Samaritans' holy mountain. Jesus' reply "I am he" is in Greek simply "I am".
Historical context
Samaritans worshipped the God of Israel but accepted only the five books of Moses and held that Gerizim, not Jerusalem, was the true place of worship. A Jewish ruler destroyed their temple there in the late second century BC, and hostility ran deep. A Jewish teacher speaking alone with a Samaritan woman, and asking to drink from her vessel, would have surprised onlookers. Jacob's well is traditionally located near modern Nablus.
Why does it matter?
This is one of the longest conversations Jesus has with any individual in the Gospels. It is the first time he openly declares himself the Messiah, and it is to an outsider. Interpreters differ on how to read her five husbands, whether literally, morally or symbolically.
Editorial notes, not scripture.