A Tradition Of Wells (part 1)

…Jesus, since He was tired from the journey, sat right down beside the well. – John 4:6b  (NET)

The story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, at a well that was said to be connected to Jacob, is fraught with historical underpinnings.  The author of John’s Gospel would know this, and it is quite reasonable to presume that he (or she, one could suppose) wanted to draw on the rich tradition of wells that dot the landscape of Israel’s received traditions.  Indeed, there are so many wells to be found throughout the pages of Scripture, it is probable that a familiarity with these wells is entirely necessary.  It may well be the case that the composer demands that this presentation of Jesus be understood within that context, presuming a familiarity with this history on the part of those that will hear or read not only this portion of his narrative, but the whole of his narrative of the life of Jesus. 

Not only is it incumbent upon us to place ourselves alongside the woman at the well or in the midst of Jesus’ disciples when approaching so as to hear this story, but as consumers of a second-hand tale that began with a certain announcement about Jesus that provides the foundational structure by which we understand the Johannine narrative, we also approach the story of Jesus and the woman at the well from the perspective that the One speaking to her is the physical manifestation of the God that has tacitly directed His people’s contact with wells from the very beginning.  We are not going to make an attempt here to interpret the interaction or to draw conclusions about the encounter between the woman and Jesus, but rather, we’re going to think backwards from the fact of the woman and the well, trekking through Scripture in such a way as to vest this story with its appropriate context.  Such would be the necessary steps that would put us in a position, if so desired, to rightly interpret the interaction and to form the conclusions about Jesus and His words in the pericope that the author desires his audience to form.  We should not only do this here, but naturally, for all of the Gospels and for all of Scripture, for doing this is what will actually allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. 

As we begin our search for wells, with Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman (an outsider from Israel) as our starting point, it is with great interest that we note, when it comes to the divine narrative, that the first mention of a well is to be found in connection with another one that would be considered an outsider from Israel.  In the sixteenth chapter of Genesis, we find Sarai (later Sarah), the wife of Abram (later Abraham), expelling a pregnant Hagar from her household.  When she ran away, “The Lord’s angel found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert” (16:7a).  Though it is here said to be angel, we come to learn that it was more than an angel, as “Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her,” as the author’s use of Lord is the proper name for Israel’s God, “You are the God who sees me” (16:13a).  Further detail is provided with “That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi’ (16:14a), which is translated as “The well of the Living One who sees me.” 

Now we are not going to go into detail concerning the story of every well, nor are we going to present an exhaustive list of the wells of Scripture, though nearly all would be instrumental in shaping the thinking of the Johannine author.  We will go into detail when such could provide useful interpretive background for Jesus’ time at the well.  The story of Hagar’s son, Ishmael, contains a well---which could also be of some interest to a Samaritan woman, especially one that references Jacob as her ancestor when speaking about the well, seeing as how Ishmael, the son of Abraham, is Jacob’s uncle.  Ishmael’s well experience flows from his being sent out from his home, along with his mother, at yet another request from Sarah, as she said “Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!” (21:10)  When their provisions run out, Hagar becomes frantic, convinced that her and her son are going to die.  However, God intervenes on their behalf, and “enabled Hagar to see a well of water.  She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink” (21:19).  In light of the reason for Hagar and Ishmael’s expulsion from the house of Abraham, how interesting that a Samaritan woman, at a well, by speaking about Jacob and then speaking about the messiah, was laying claim to a tradition and to promises directed to the people of God, though she would be viewed by the descendants of Isaac (through Jacob) as an illegitimate user and usurper and of such things.