The
woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
John 4:17-20
John 4 [16.] Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
John 4 [17.] The woman answered, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.”
John 4 [19.] The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
John 4 [21.] Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Meaning:
The Samaritan woman has asked for living water, and Jesus has replied, “Go, call your husband, and come here” (John 4:16). In these verses the conversation turns from water to the woman’s own life. Jesus shows that he knows her completely, and she responds by recognizing him as a prophet and raising the great religious dispute between Jews and Samaritans.
- “I have no husband”
Her answer is short and true as far as it goes. It may be an attempt to close a painful subject. Jesus does not contradict her; he commends her honesty, “You said well,” and then fills in what she left unsaid.
- “You have had five husbands”
Jesus reveals knowledge no stranger could have. John has already told us that Jesus “knew everyone” and “knew what was in man” (John 2:25), and that he saw Nathanael under the fig tree before Philip called him (John 1:48). The text does not say why she had five husbands. Interpreters differ: some think of a woman who had been widowed or divorced several times, which in that society usually happened at a husband’s choice, leaving her vulnerable; others see a pattern of broken relationships for which she bore some responsibility. What the text does say is that her present partner “is not your husband.” Jesus names the facts plainly but without contempt. He does not shame her or send her away. Like a good physician, he uncovers the wound in order to heal it. As the proverb says, “He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
- “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet”
The woman’s understanding grows. First Jesus was “a Jew” (John 4:9), then “Sir,” and now “a prophet.” The Samaritans accepted only the books of Moses and looked for a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15). A Pharisee once reasoned that if Jesus were a prophet he would know what kind of woman touched him (Luke 7:39). Here Jesus shows exactly that knowledge, and the woman draws the right conclusion. Soon she will go further still and ask, “Can this be the Christ?” (John 4:29).
- “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain”
Mount Gerizim rose above Jacob’s well. When Israel entered the land, Moses commanded that the blessing be set “on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal” (Deuteronomy 11:29). The Samaritans believed Gerizim was the place God had chosen and built a temple there, which a Jewish ruler had destroyed over a century before Jesus. The Jews held that God had chosen Jerusalem, where Solomon’s temple stood. Some readers think the woman is changing the subject to avoid her personal situation; others think that, having met a prophet, she sincerely asks the question that divided her people from his. Either way, Jesus takes her question seriously and answers it with one of his greatest teachings on worship (John 4:21-22; John 4:23-24).
The Significance of John 4:17-20
- Known and not rejected
Jesus knows everything about us, including what we would rather hide. Yet his knowledge comes with grace. He came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
- Honesty opens the way to healing
The woman’s true but partial answer led Jesus to speak the whole truth. When we are honest with God, we find that “he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins” (1 John 1:9).
- Questions about worship matter
Jesus did not dismiss the woman’s religious question. Where and how to worship God are serious questions, and Jesus answers them by pointing to the Father who seeks true worshipers.
Cross-References:
John 2:25: “He himself knew what was in man.” Jesus’ knowledge of every heart.
Deuteronomy 11:29: “You shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal.” The mountain the Samaritans revered.
Psalm 139:1: “Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.” God knows us completely.
Proverbs 28:13: “Whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” The blessing of honesty about sin.
Conclusion: In John 4:17-20 the Samaritan woman says she has no husband, and Jesus reveals that she has had five husbands and is now living with a man who is not her husband. Amazed, she recognizes him as a prophet and raises the dispute over whether God should be worshipped on Mount Gerizim or in Jerusalem. The passage shows Jesus’ complete knowledge of the human heart, his grace toward one whose life was broken, and the way he leads her step by step toward knowing who he is.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible