Woman at the Well Revisited

Woman at the Well - Revisited

I wonder if we haven't got the woman at the well story all wrong. Most of the time when I hear the story, the woman is pictured as a victim both culturally and socially. And its true that she certainly had obstacles to overcome. However, I wonder if she is a bit more "attititudinal" than what we originally picture.

Here's how I see her:

He says, "Give me a drink." She puts down her cigarette, stomps on it with the toe of her boot. She flips her hair back and says with some edge, "How is that YOU, being a JEW, ask a drink from ME, a SAMARITAN woman?"

He answers her, "You don't know who you are talking to. I have water that you know nothing about."

Her arms are crossed. She's hot, she's tired from a night of partying, she's not in the mood for any of his games. And she's got work to do. She watches him for a moment, tilts her head. She'll go with it. "OK, so you don't have anything to draw the water with, so what's up with this LIVING WATER thing, anyway?"

He smiles, expecting her response and says, "You'll get thirsty again with this water, but I have water that will quench you forever."

"Yeah, well, whatever. She picks up her stuff and starts to leave. "I think you've been out in the sun too long, mister. I gotta go. You find that water you're looking for, be sure and look me up." She starts to leave.

He calls after her, "Go get your husband, I'll show you."

She stops in her tracks. She knew it. They are all the same. She whips around, eyeing him with narrowed eyes. "Look, I don't have a husband, so what is it you want?" The noonday heat is hot, she wants desperately to go home. She wants desperately to sleep, to rest.

"Yeah, I know" he says.

"So, you're some kind of witch doctor, prophet?" She is tiring of this crazy rabbi, here out in the middle of the sun. Every bone in her body aches to go, but something holds her.

He shrugs. As he talks, she listens, but hears only snippets. What IS he talking about, she wonders. Finally she catches a familar phrase. She stops him in mid-sentence. "I know about that." she hears herself saying. "I know the story about the coming King."

"Well, nice to meet you. I'm him."

"He actually initiates the conversation with her ina time most teachers would not talk to a strange woman. He treats her with respect. He calls her "woman" a term of respect and affection. Further, he treats her as an equal, as an independent adult created in God's image. He teaches her. He dialogues with her. He reveals to her who he is." (Richard Peace, "Contemplative Bible Study, p 84).

As usual this passage is not about the woman -- it is about Jesus. And how he treats a cold, damaged person who is angry, surly and looking for a fight. And I am again amazed at how he reaches deep into her soul and draws out what is good and builds upon it. I think this woman is at the mercy, so to speak, of cultural dynamics, but I don't see her as this pitiful image. I see her as brittle, strong in a sense that she's had to be (she's had 5 husbands!) and I see her dry and disappointed and yearning.