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When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
John 4:7 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
  • KJV There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
  • NKJV A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
  • NASB A woman of Samaria *came to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
  • NLT Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”

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

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink. By initiating contact, Jesus crosses social barriers to reach an outsider.

Overview

Jesus' simple request begins a conversation that breaks ethnic and gender conventions of the day. His willingness to engage a Samaritan woman reveals the reach of his grace. The everyday act of drawing water becomes the entry point for teaching about eternal, living water.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 6

  • Matt 10:42And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”
  • 1 Kgs 17:10So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.”
  • John 19:28After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
  • John 4:10Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
  • Gen 24:43Here I am, standing beside this spring. Now if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your jar,’
  • 2 Sam 23:15–17David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 4:7YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 4:7 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.