Encounter at the Well between Judaism and Samaritanism. A Life Changing Experience (original) (raw)
Related papers
2019
The Gospel of John relates intense dialogues, often long and complexly difficult, between Jesus and the most diverse people. The first is with Nicodemus, in chapter 3; then we encounter the Samaritan woman (4), the man born blind (9), Martha and Mary, upon the death of their brother, Lazarus (11). They are called dialogues of "revelation" because they become occasions of "self-revelation", wherein Jesus, while talking with one of these personalities, reveals Himself, and tells the paradigmatic reader something of Himself. To Nicodemus, who knows all the laws, who goes to Him by night, Jesus speaks of himself as a free and limitless love, which brings you where you do not know; to the Samaritan woman, who has a great thirst for love, who comes there with the baggage of her wounded and complex history, He speaks to her of living water; to the blind man he reveals Himself as light; to the sisters of Bethany, who are weeping at the death of their dear one, Jesus is resurrection and life. Modern disciples are thus affirmed that Jesus reaches and enters every human story. He is at one with all humanity: and thus, He reveals Himself. And while He reveals Himself, something happens in the one He is speaking to, who becomes involved in the dialogue, so in the end he finds himself different from what he was at the beginning of the encounter: life is transformed by it and salvation happens in every story.
Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman: A dialogic analysis
Acta Theologica, 2024
The contemporary world is characterised by the dehumanisation of "the other" on multiple grounds. Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman (John 4:1-42) sheds light on his attitude towards, and his engagement with her as a conventional "other" for Jews. This article aims to explain their dialogic encounter as an informal teaching and learning event against the backdrop of Jew-Samaritan relations and the status and roles of women in New Testament times. It uses the conceptual framework of diacognition, drawing on the notions of dialogue, position, and cognition to conduct an analysis of the episode as a learning event. It finds that the encounter enables the Samaritan woman to recognise Jesus as prophet and Messiah and transforms her conventional female positions to those of partner in dialogue, agent, and apostle. It thus challenges the "othering" of outsiders in contemporary church and society and affirms the leadership and agency of women.
The text of John 4 reveals basic principles for Christian ecumenical dialogue. These include recognition of the affinity between Jews and Samaritans in spite of their differences. There is in the exchange between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, an acknowledgment of the peculiarity of their differences and a reciprocal respect for the distinctiveness of their positions. The encounter thus becomes a hermeneutical meeting of the Samaritan's horizon and the Jewish horizon and thus challenges their individual self understanding by enhancing a creative tension which calls for the openness and courage to accept a new self-understanding. The dialogue underscores the essential nature of God and of the worship he deserves against the religious separation inherent in the two parties' emphasis on places of worship and things which though 171 transient tend to be responsible for the division. This work is an analysis of the text of John 4:1-42 which concludes with the identification of the similarity between the 'Jewish-Samaritan divide' and the relationship between Christian churches in Nigeria. It recommends that for a sincere communion between churches the Trinitarian and Christocentric origin of Christianity must be emphasized above the differences of individual churches. Analysis
The Biblical Annals, 2020
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 des...
Jesus and the Samaritan woman: Exegesis of Jn 4,1-30
2021
Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman (Jn 4,1-30) is one of the most symbolically-loaded and perplexing episodes of the New Testament. From tomes of exegetical studies to handbooks of spirituality, this encounter has surely captured the attention of many. This episode is a prime example of Jesus' revelation and his invitation to faith and the process with which one enters into that faith-relationship with him. This paper was originally written as partial fulfilment to the requierements of the course, NT II: Evangelios y Hechos de los apóstoles, under Profesor Pablo Vicente, SJ (Universidad Pontificia Comillas, 2021).
The Stranger at the Well: Inspired by John 4:3-42
Priscilla Papers, 1998
Author: Kirsten A. Foot Publisher: CBE International From Jacob’s well outside of Sychar there is a beautiful view of Mt. Gerizim—the mountain on which God proclaimed a blessing in Deuteronomy 11, and on which my people, the Samaritans, worshipped Jehovah in ages past, and long to do so again. Both Jacob and his father Isaac met their wives at wells, so I’d always known that wells could be a significant meeting place. But I never dreamed that a conversation with a stranger at the well of Jacob would change my life, and the lives of many others in my town.
Samaritan Identity and Impetus: Testing the Hypothesis of the Woman at the Well
Could the impetus of the vicious rift between the Jews and Samaritans be the place of worship? This paper aims to evaluate the idea of place-focused worship as a leading cause of the Jewish-Samaritan schism. This paper asks the following question: How does the Samaritan woman's understanding of the Jewish-Samaritan schism converge with the available evidence? The paper contends that both the Jews and Samaritans were Israelite-background peoples who worshipped Yahweh and developed identities centered on the proper place of worship. At the very least, the woman at the well’s statement offers insight into the popular-level Samaritan understanding of the schism and Samaritan origins at a time when other sources are silent or polemical.