The Evangelist, saying that the Lord labored from the journey, shows us His modesty and moderation, for He did not use enraged animals for the journey, but walked on foot, teaching us not to demand much. At the same time, He shows that He made the way intensively, and not carelessly; from which we also learn to do the work of God with effort and diligence. The word "sat down" means that He sat down simply and, as it happened, not on the throne, but quite simply, calming the body on the platform and refreshing it at the well. Then he introduces another reason why He sat down by the well, that it was noon: "It was," he says, "about the sixth hour." And again, lest anyone should accuse the Lord of having commanded His disciples not to go to the way of the Gentiles, He Himself came to the Samaritans, for this reason He said that the sitting in this place was due to fatigue, and that the conversation with the woman had a blessed reason – thirst. Since He was thirsty because of His human nature, He also needed to drink. When He asks for a drink, a woman with an inquisitive soul enters into conversation with Him. What was to be done? Is it possible to reject a woman who is so inquisitive and eager to listen to the explanation of her perplexities? But this is by no means characteristic of God's love for mankind. "Perhaps note the modesty of the Lord here. He alone remains by the wayside when the disciples have gone to the city to buy food. They considered the needs of the womb to be of secondary importance, that when everyone had almost dined and rested, they only bought food, that is, only bread, so that we too might learn not to worry about the variety of food. "Perhaps note the accuracy of the evangelist. He did not say affirmatively, "It was the sixth hour," but in order not to sin against the truth, he said, "It was about the sixth hour," giving credibility to his word.

     The Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a Samaritan woman to drink from me? for the Jews have no fellowship with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and Who says to you, 'Give me a drink,' then you yourself would ask Him, and He would give you living water." The woman said to Him, "Lord! Thou hast nothing with which to draw, and the well is deep: whence Thou hast living water?

 By appearance, and perhaps by clothing, and by the other position of the body, and by the conversation itself, the Samaritan woman considered the Lord to be a Jew, which is why she said to Him: "As You, being a Jew," and so on. See how shrewd the woman was. If it were necessary to take care, then it would be the Lord, not her. For she did not say, "The Samaritans do not associate with the Jews," but, "The Jews do not associate with the Samaritans." However, the woman does not stop there, but, thinking that the Lord is doing an unlawful deed, corrects what happens not according to the law. - Christ does not reveal Himself until the virtue of a woman is revealed. When a woman's virtue, her insight and accuracy are revealed, then he begins to converse with her about higher things. If you, he says, knew the gift of God, that is, if you knew what God gives, that He bestows eternal and incorruptible blessings, if you knew Me also, if you knew that I, as God, can give them to you, then you would ask and receive living water. "Water" is the name given to the grace of the Holy Spirit, because it purifies those who receive it and gives them great refreshment; not stagnant water, such as happens in pits and wells, rotten and spoiled, but "living", that is, gushing with a spring, jumping up, flowing quickly. For the grace of the Spirit makes the soul always moving towards good, always ascenting (Psalm 8:3, 6). Such water, living and always moving, was drunk by Paul, who forgets the back and strives for the front (Phil. 3:13, 14). The woman said to Him, "Lord!" You see how soon she fell behind her low opinion and gave Him great honor, calling Him Lord. Yet she did not comprehend the depth of Christ's words, but in a different sense He speaks of water, in a different sense she understands.

     Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said to her, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. The woman said to Him, "Lord! Give me this water, that I may not be thirsty, and that I may not come hither to draw. 

He considers James to be his father and counts himself among the Jewish nobility. Look, perhaps, at the rationality of a woman, how soon she deduces from the difference of the waters the difference of the givers. If, he says, you will give such water, then surely you are greater than Jacob, who gave us real water. The words: "and he himself drank from it" indicate the pleasantness of water. The Patriarch, he says, liked this spring so much that both he and his children drank from it. The words, "and his cattle drank," indicate the abundance of water. This water, he says, is not only pleasant, and so pleasant that Jacob drank it, but it is also plentiful, and so abundant that it was sufficient for the multitude of the patriarch's cattle. When the woman said: "Are you greater than our father?" the Lord, although He does not say directly that I am truly greater, lest, without yet presenting proof of His power, he would not seem vain, but He prepares for this with His words: whoever drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks My water will not thirst. That is, if you marvel at Jacob, who gave this water, how much more should you marvel at Me, who gives much better water. For the water that I give becomes a fountain of water, constantly and continually multiplying. For the saints do not only preserve to the end what they receive from God, but through grace they receive the seeds and firstfruits of good, and they themselves multiply and grow them. The Lord points to this in the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-31) and of the innkeeper (Luke 10:35). He who received two talents acquired the other two through a turn in business (Matt. 25:17). And to the innkeeper who received the wounded by robbers, the Lord promises: "If thou shalt spend anything of thyself, I will give thee" (Luke 10:35). The Lord points to this here as well. I give water to the thirsty; but the water that I give does not remain in the same measure, but is multiplied and becomes a spring. Thus, in the catechumens of Ananias, the Lord gave Paul some water (Acts 9:17); but Paul showed this little water of the teaching of Ananias to be a spring, so that the streams of this spring from Jerusalem reached as far as Illyricum. What is the disposition in a woman? Although it is not yet lofty, for it thinks that it is a question of sensual water, yet it also shows a certain movement forward. Formerly she was perplexed and said: "Whence dost Thou have living water?" And now, taking that word for certain, he says, "Give me this water." For this reason she seems to be more understanding than Nicodemus. And when he had heard so many such things, he said, How can this be? (John 3:9). And she begins to neglect the source of Jacob as well. If, he says, Thou hast such water, then give it to me, and I will not go here to draw any more. Do you see how she already puts the Lord above Jacob?

     Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband and come hither." The woman answered: I have no husband. Jesus said to her, "It is true that you have said that you have no husband; for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou hast now is not thy husband; You said it fairly. The woman said to Him, "Lord! I see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain; and you say that the place where we should worship is in Jerusalem. Jesus said to her, "Believe me, the time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem." You do not know what you are bowing to; but we know what we worship, for salvation is from the Jews.

 "Go and call your husband." Seeing that she insists on receiving, and urges Him to give, she says: "Call your husband," as if to show that he also must share with you in this gift of mine. She, in order to hide it as soon as possible and receive it together, says: I have no husband. Now the Lord, through prophetic knowledge, reveals His power, enumerates her former husbands, and reveals the one whom she is now hiding. Was she not vexed when she heard this? Did you not leave Him and run away? No, she was even more surprised, even more strengthened, and said: Lord! I see that you are a prophet; and asks Him about divine things, and not about worldly things, for example, about the health of the body or about possessions. So chaste and well-disposed to virtue is her soul! What does he ask about? "Our fathers worshipped on this mountain." This speaks of Abraham and his successors. For here, they say, Isaac was sacrificed to them. How, he says, do you say what is to be worshipped in Jerusalem? Do you see how she has become taller? Shortly before this, she was concerned not to be tormented by thirst, and now she asks about doctrine (dogmas). For this reason, Christ, seeing her understanding, although He does not resolve this perplexity of hers (for it was not of particular importance), nevertheless reveals another, more important, truth, which He did not reveal to either Nicodemus or Nathanael. The time is coming, he says, when God will be worshipped either in Jerusalem or here. You, he says, are trying to prove that the customs of the Samaritans are more worthy than those of the Jews. But I tell you that neither one nor the other has dignity, but there will come another order, which is better than both. But even so, I declare that the Jews are more worthy than the Samaritans. You, he says, bow down to what you do not know; but we Jews bow down to what we know. He ranks Himself among the Jews, because He speaks in relation to the concept of a woman, and she understood Him as a Jewish prophet. That is why He says: "We" bow down. - How did the Samaritans not know what they were bowing to? They thought that God was limited to a place. Wherefore, when the lions were devouring them, as was said above, they reported to the king of the Assyrians through ambassadors, that the God of this place did not tolerate them. Yet even after that they continued to serve idols for a long time, and not God Himself. And the Jews were free from such a concept and, although not all, recognized Him as the God of all. "For salvation is from the Jews." These words give us a twofold idea. Or that the good things for the world came from the Jews, for the knowledge of God and the rejection of idols from them have a beginning, and all other doctrines (dogmas), and this very kind of your Samaritan worship, although incorrect, received its origin from the Jews. Or He calls His coming, which was from the Jews, "salvation." By "salvation" we can also understand the Lord Himself, Who in the flesh was of the Jews.