John 4:17 Commentary and Bible Study

The ‘sir’ has gone. All the words have flown. ‘I have no husband.’ In the English it is four words; in the Greek it is only three words. ‘I have’, that is one word in the Greek; ‘not’, the negative; one word, ‘husband’. That is not the word order in the Greek, but just three words. She says the absolute minimum. She is now defenceless and guilty; Christ has struck home.She was now rattled. She is economical with the truth. She is not going to disclose the full story, so she lies. She is living with a man, and he is number six. Perhaps this is why she is at the well alone. Normally you would expect to find quite a gathering of women at the well. They would go out together with their pitchers on their shoulders, even on their heads. And they would chat, and they would make that onerous task a social occasion. That was the natural thing to do. But she is alone. Have the other woman ostracised her? Is her wanton lifestyle not approved of by them? You do wonder. But it is a touching matter. ‘I have no husband,’ she lies. She does not want him to know everything about her. It is as if she says, ‘I want this water, but, if it means me repenting, I am going to have to back away. I have no husband. Let’s end the conversation.’ We are left to assume she is a loose living woman.