Contemplative Bible Reading

John 4:4-7 (New Living Translation)

⁴ He had to go through Samaria on the way. ⁵ Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. ⁷ Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her,“Please give me a drink.”

Who? The Sycharian woman?

Funny how we attach titles to passages in the Bible. John chapter 4 is about the Woman at the Well. Everyone (well, almost) knows that story. And where did this woman live? Many people can come up with “Samaria” as an answer because the Samaritans were to be shunned by the Hebrews, and it was odd that Jesus would speak to such a Samaritan. How many people can name the village near the well?

The Sycharian woman is one of the best-known persons in the New Testament. It is just that everyone knows her by a different title.

How does the story change if we call it:

• The Sycharian woman
• The woman of five husbands
• The thirsty woman
• The lone woman

and so on.