The Samaritan Woman in John 4

Abstract

John 4 is usually believed to portray a woman who is morally disreputable and socially marginal. The paper challenges this popular view, showing that the assumptions on which it is based are less secure than commonly thought, questioning a bridging reference, pointing out a word-play in the text built around the two contextual senses of ἀνήρ, and re-reading the text within an expanded and nuanced context of assumptions that were accessible to 1st century readers. This offers a more positive reading which should caution Bible interpreters and translators against relying on their initial presuppositions, which may over-influence a translation along one direction, and instead taking time to examine the best context for reading a text.