The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
Parallel translations
- WEB So the woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people,
- BSB Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people,
- 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 4:7There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
- Matt 28:8And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
- Luke 24:33And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,
- Mark 16:8–10And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
- Luke 24:9And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.