Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people,
Parallel translations
- WEB So the woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people,
- KJV The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
- NKJV The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,
- NASB So the woman left her waterpot and went into the city, and *said to the people,
- NLT The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The woman leaves her water jar and goes back to the town. Her abandoned jar signals that she has found something greater than the water she came for.
Overview
Leaving the water pot behind suggests her priorities have shifted from physical water to the living water she has found in Christ. She hurries to tell others, becoming an eager witness. Her transformation models how an encounter with Jesus moves a person to bring others to him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- John 4:7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
- Matt 28:8So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples.
- Luke 24:33And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, gathered together
- Mark 16:8–10So the women left the tomb and ran away, trembling and bewildered. And in their fear they did not say a word to anyone.
- Luke 24:9And when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 4:28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.