Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
John 4:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
John 4:7 opens A Samaritan Woman Questions the Gift of Living Water by recording the wording that preserves speech that redirects the scene or presses its claim: “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink”.
Read It With
- John 4:7-15
Read John 4:7 with 4:7-15. In isolation, this contribution—opens A Samaritan Woman Questions the Gift of Living Water by recording the wording that preserves speech that redirects the scene or presses its claim: “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink”—can be detached from its speaker, question, sign, festival, conflict, or outcome. The complete unit establishes: Jesus asks a Samaritan woman for water, crosses gendered and communal boundaries, speaks of God's gift and living water, and allows her literal questions to open a deeper conversation.
Follow the Context
- John 4:7-15 is a coherent Johannine movement titled “A Samaritan Woman Questions the Gift of Living Water.” The change in speaker, place, audience, festival setting, or narrated response at each edge gives this unit its natural limits.
- Jesus asks a Samaritan woman for water, crosses gendered and communal boundaries, speaks of God's gift and living water, and allows her literal questions to open a deeper conversation.
- The narrator's generalization about Jews and Samaritans identifies a real divide without exhaustively describing every interaction. 'Living water' can mean running water before carrying revelatory and Spirit-shaped depth; misunderstanding is a Johannine device, not proof that the woman is foolish.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—opens A Samaritan Woman Questions the Gift of Living Water by recording the wording that preserves speech that redirects the scene or presses its claim: “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink”—from John 4:7-15 or negate the unit's explicit boundary: Living water does not promise a technique for ending physical thirst or illness.
What Remains True
John 4:7 opens A Samaritan Woman Questions the Gift of Living Water by recording the wording that preserves speech that redirects the scene or presses its claim: “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink”. Its enduring force supports this passage-controlled response: Begin difficult conversation with mutual human need, listen to the other person's questions, and offer life without ethnic, gendered, or religious contempt.
How It Can Shape Life
- For John 4:7, practice this verse's particular contribution by doing the following without outrunning John 4:7-15: Begin difficult conversation with mutual human need, listen to the other person's questions, and offer life without ethnic, gendered, or religious contempt.
Teach It Back
Explain how John 4:7 opens A Samaritan Woman Questions the Gift of Living Water by recording the wording that preserves speech that redirects the scene or presses its claim: “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink”. Include 4:7-15, one stated uncertainty, and the misuse boundary attached to this Lens.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read John 4:7-15 — A Samaritan Woman Questions the Gift of Living WaterSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: John 4:7-15, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and critical-text reading checked independently of the KJV.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/John.txt, 4:7-15
Open the John Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — John with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level syntax, older-English clarification, material variants, background, and alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible John PDF, John 4:7-15 and attached translator, study, and textual notes
Open the official NET John PDF ↗