Samaritan Woman ≠ Shunned, Divorced Whore

In the past month, I have heard two pastors refer to the Samaritan woman at the well as a "whore." I want to be kind and gentle in this blog. However, I feel that intentional acts of kindness often fall flat in our pastoral community. So, true to what I feel God leading me to do, I hope to offer a scripturally sound perspective on our Samaritan woman.

Be warned: this blog may carry a bit of spunk and spice. Get ready to explore new ideas that challenge conventional narratives.

I do not believe the Samaritan woman at the well is a divorced whore.

The story of the woman at the well has been dissected ad nauseam. This is why I am baffled when I still hear her called a divorced whore. The scripture I will reference is found in John 4:4-42.

I have a deep compassion for the Samaritan woman. She has been misrepresented for hundreds of years. Calling her a whore is a fallacy; it is not in the scripture. I’ve been divorced three times, and the erroneous judgment I receive from people misunderstanding my situation brings this woman close to my heart. I'm not even sure she has been divorced. But, I’m getting ahead of myself…

I could spend this blog focused on why a patriarchal society would benefit from the “whore” translation. Instead, I would like to explore who she factually might have been.

To start with, I'll state the obvious. I do not see the words “whore,” “prostitute,” or “divorce” in the scripture. They aren’t in any translation. It simply says she had “five husbands.”

John 4:16-18:

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

18 Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

The presentation of our Samaritan woman as a divorcee or a whore is a misrepresentation of the truth. It is an outright misinterpretation of scripture. I will discuss each of these concepts and conclude with what our faith leaders say about her needing to fetch water alone at the well.

1. Was she divorced? Two perspectives regarding her marital status.

Perspective 1: Why 5 Husbands?

Why did she have five husbands? Research indicates that only 16% of men lived past age 40 during Christ's time. If I assume 50% of men lived past age 30, there is a high likelihood that her previous husbands died. Thus, she might have been a widow—five times over. Scripture addresses widows (Ex. 22:22, Deut 10:18) and emphasizes the need to treat them with kindness and respect, just as Christ treated her.

What if the woman at the well was a widow and not a divorced whore?

Perspective 2: Who divorce who?

Let’s assume for a moment that she was indeed divorced five times. Typically, divorce in biblical times was a choice made by men. Women rarely had the option to initiate divorce. If husbands caused the end of her marriages, she was left at their mercy. Historically, there were two accepted beliefs posed by powerful rabbis about divorce. Shammai believed it was only allowed for sexual immorality, while Hillel thought men could divorce for any reason. Jesus discusses this in Matthew 19:8.

If I adhere to Shammai and her husbands divorced her due to sexual immorality, I wonder, why would four other men line up to marry her if she demonstrated loose morals? It doesn’t add up. Conversely, if I align with Hillel, what does this suggest about the character of the men in her community?

In summary, I propose that her first husbands may have died, or at least a few of them might have perished, which led her to make survival decisions, causing remarriage.

2. Was she a whore? Two perspectives exploring her profession.

Perspective 1: Jesus' Approach

Jesus points out that she is living with a man who isn’t her husband. Interestingly, He never tells her, “go and sin no more.” Throughout scripture, Jesus calls out sin with unrestrained honesty. For instance, in John 8:11, He addresses the woman caught in adultery and instructs her to “go and sin no more.” Why wouldn’t He admonish the Samaritan woman in a similar manner? Could it be that she needed a place to live but wasn’t engaging in any wrongdoing? Perhaps she wasn’t living in sin after all.

Perspective 2: The Value of Dowry

Historically, when women married, their husbands received a dowry. If she had been married five times, wouldn’t it make sense that she came with a valuable dowry? This would encourage men to marry her. I doubt she was a destitute woman looking for a man to share her bed. In fact, I suspect she was a high commodity in her community and, again, not living in shame.

I hope you feel open to exploring new ideas that challenge conventional narratives.

3. Was she shunned? Two perspectives exploring her community status.

Perspective 1: What time did she get to the well?

The Samaritan woman’s arrival time at the well is unknown.

John 4:6-8: "Jacob’s Well was also there, and Jesus, tired out by the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus told her, 'Please give me a drink,' 8 since his disciples had gone off into town to buy food."

Notice the period after the word “noon”? That period indicates a pause before a new thought. 

We have no idea what time the Samaritan woman truly arrived except it was between noon and when the disciples went to the town to buy food for dinner. We do know she showed up AFTER Jesus “sat down by the well.” Did he take a nap? Rest? pray? There is no mention of the exact time she approached the well.

Given that thought, I explored when the disciples might have gone to town based on the historical period and their need to prepare for dinner. Maybe that would help clarify culturally when the arrived at the well.

Biblegateway states, “Time of eating. Only two meals a day were usually eaten (Exod 16:12; 1 Kings 17:6). The laborer worked until midday before taking his first meal. The noon meal was not important, usually consisting of bread, olives, and sometimes fruit. The chief meal of the day (and prob. the only one for the poor) was served in the early evening, an hour or two before sunset when the duties of the day were over. It was a time of rest, refreshment, and family reunion. After the meal for an hour or two before bedtime the men sat around and talked (cf. Jer 15:17). https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Meals#:~:text=a.&text=Only%20two%20meals%20a%20day,Jer%2015:17.

With the above historical reference, I’m wondering if she might have arrived in the late afternoon, before dinner. It seems logical that the disciples, who went to “buy food”, traveled to purchase dinner after they rested, before the evening meal.

What if the Samaritan woman came to draw water in the late afternoon before her evening meal and not the middle of the day as so many assume?

Perspective 2: Was she alone?

Was she an outcast and alone? The scripture never says the woman was alone. The scripture says, “a Samaritan woman came to draw water.” Jesus focused on her despite the cultural dictate of not speaking to women, not drinking after women, not having intellectual debates with women, and certainly not interacting with Samaritans.

Assuming she was the only person at the well is comparable to assuming there was only one woman in the crowd when the bleeding woman touched Jesus. Even though scripture never mentions another woman in the crowd that day, I’ve never seen the event interpreted as “the lone woman crawled her way through a sea of men to touch Jesus’ shawl”. Let’s give Christ some credit here. He is the person in charge of this interaction and knew who she was.

In summary, it would appear our Samaritan woman was not divorced or a whore or shunned by her society.

Christ chose her for a reason and knew these three unique things about her:

1. She was educated: John 4:25 (NIV): "The woman said, 'I know that Messiah' (called Christ) 'is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.'” She knew scripture.

2. She was respected: John 4:28-29 (NIV): "Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?' '" AND John 4:42 (NIV)"They said to the woman, 'We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.'” She told an entire town something unbelievable, and everyone, even men, valued her words.

3. She was honorable: John 4:27 (NIV) "Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, 'What do you want?' or 'Why are you talking with her?'" Does this hit anyone as weird? Was she dressed in a manner that separated her from an impoverished woman? Their response here contrasts with some other situations in which they are blunt and challenge Jesus’ actions. (Matthew 19:13, Mark 5:31) What made this time different? Was it because she was a Samaritan or because she was a woman or both? Or something else? 

As I conclude these ideas, I know I want to feel adored by Christ, and I want you to feel adored by Christ. Our ongoing condescension toward this remarkable woman does not align with Christ’s values of compassion and respect. The inaccurate interpretation of this scripture exacerbates the challenges my divorcing clients, already fighting unwarranted shame, experience. The Samaritan woman has been laden with misleading accusations of “whore” and “divorced”. Let’s move beyond the false rendition of this woman.

The Samaritan woman at the well is not a divorced whore.

All we really know about her is she was a messenger,

chosen by Christ to share a powerful truth.

Let’s give God the honor of believing His words, rather than embracing familiar lies.

For more information about me, please visit www.notacasserolewidow.com or www.coachinghope4u.com.