Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle?
All Commentaries on John 4:12 Go To John 4
Theophylact of Ochrid
AD 1107
She claims Jacob as her father, inserting herself into the noble lineage of the Jews. Do you see the intelligence of the woman? From the difference between the two kinds of water, she at once infers the difference between the two who give these waters. "If," she says, "You can give such water of which you speak, certainly You would be greater than Jacob who gave us this water." Her words, and drank thereof himself, are in praise of the sweetness of the water in Jacob's well. The patriarch was so pleased by the water in this spring that both he and his sons drank of it. Her words, and his cattle, indicate the abundance of the water. Not only was the water so sweet that Jacob himself drank of it, the supply was so plentiful that it watered his multitude of cattle. When the woman said, Surely Thou art not greater than our father Jacob, the Lord does not reply openly, "Yes, I am greater!" lest He appear to boast, not yet haven given any sign of His own power. But by His answer this is exactly what He implies. "He who drinks of this water will thirst again, but he who drinks of My water will never thirst. If you marvel at Jacob who gave you this water, much more should you be amazed at Me. For I give you a far superior water, which becomes a spring of water continuously multiplied." The saints do not receive a portion from God and preserve that same quantity until the end, but instead accept their portion as the seeds and the beginnings of good, which they themselves use up entirely, making it multiply. The Lord teaches this very thing in His parables of the talents and of the innkeeper. The man who had been given two talents earned another two by laboring and putting them to work; and to the innkeeper who received the man wounded by thieves the Lord promised, "Whatever more you have spent of your own, I will give back to you." [See Mt. 25:20-30 and Lk. 10:35] Therefore, this is what the Lord implies here: "I too give water to the thirsty, but what I give does not remain the same quantity that was given, but overflows and becomes a spring." The Lord gave Paul a small amount of water, that is, the catechesis imparted to him by Ananias, but Paul showed this small gift of instruction to be a fountain pouring out torrents of preaching that reached from Jerusalem to Illyria. How then did the woman react to these words? Still in a lowly manner, for she thought that His words were about actual water, yet she also shows signs of spiritual advance. Before, when she could not understand, she had asked dubiously, Whence then hast Thou that living water? Now she accepts His words without doubt and says, Give me this water. She appears wiser than Nicodemus, who received a much lengthier explanation from the Lord and still responded, How can these things be? [Jn. 3:9] But she already begins to look down on Jacob’s well. For she says, "If You have such water, give it to me, and I will no longer come here to draw." Do you see that she now holds the Lord in higher esteem than she does Jacob?
