jacob traditions and the interpretation of john 4

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Jacob Traditions and the

Interpretation of John 4:10-26

JEROME H. NEYREY, S.J.

Weston School of Theology

Cambridge, MA 02138

THE WOMAN at the well asks Jesus "Are you greater than our fatherJacob?" Previous discussions of John 4 have not dealt specifically with thisquestion and what such a comparison might mean for the interpretation ofthe passage. Important contributions, of course, have been made to theunderstanding of John 4 which have sometimes been allegorical in nature1

or symbolic.2 Recent debate on the historical background of John's gospelhas led to discussion about Samaritan religion, a Samaritan mission in theearly church, and other such issues.3 But the question in John 4:12 seems

' A survey of the allegorical interpretations of John 4 may be conveniently found in B.

Olsson, Structure and Meaning in the Fourth Gospel (Lund: C.W.K. Gleerup, 1974)120-121.2 H. Odeberg, The Fourth Gospel (Uppsala: Almquist & Wiksell, 1929); although

Odeberg is presenting the general Jewish background to specific items in John 4, his operative

concept is the explanation of the "symbolic sense" of these items, which aim is evident in his

summaries, see 168-169, 170-174; see Olsson, Structure and Meaning in the Fourth Gospel,162-172.

3 Odeberg, The Fourth Gospel, 174-190; O. Cullmann, "Samaria and the Origins of

the Christian Mission," The Early Church (London: SCM, 1956) 185-192 and The JohannineCircle (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975); J. Bowman, "Samaritan Studies," BJRL 40 (1958)298 327 E D F d "Did J h it hi G l t i S m it t " NT 12 (1970)


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rarely to have been studied in terms of what specific Jacob materials areoperative in the comparing ofJesus and Jacob.4

Since John's text is explicit about Jacob at this point (4:5,6) andpointedly asks if Jesus is ' 'greater than Jacob" (4:12), a systematic inquiryinto the Jewish materials concerning Jacob seems warranted. The very question ofthe woman presupposes that Jacob is a well-known person, such thatthe points of comparison between Jesus and Jacob would be evident to theaudience, both from its knowledge of the biblical text and from interpretations of that text found in sources such as targum and midrash. It is precisely this material which I propose to investigate: what is presupposed bythe author to make "greater than Jacob" an intelligible statement and what

importance does this comparison have for the understanding of thepassage?

Although many of the sources of information about Jacob come fromwritings transcribed considerably later than John's Gospel, it will be shownthat many of the Jacob traditions in them are presupposed by the argumentin John 4, which fact presents evidence that these traditions certainly existedprior to John. Even when specific traditions, such as Jacob's visions of afuture, restored temple, cannot be dated as early as John, nevertheless there

seems to be evidence suggesting that Jacob texts were already loci for suchexpansion and that such lines of expansion were well under way in the firstcentury. John's text, therefore, may prove to be an important relay stationin the development of certain Jacob traditions even as it witnesses to afrequency which will soon bear greater traffic of legendary expansion.

The question asked in John 4:12, "Are you greater than our fatherJacob?" formally resembles the one put to Jesus in 8:53, "Are you greaterthan our father Abraham?"5 Together the two questions belong to a themein the Gospel which asserts Jesus' superiority to the founding fathers of traditional Jewish religion (see 1:17-18; 5:38; 6:32).6 The thrust of the ques-

4 Recent commentaries have all but ignored the Jewish background about Jacob

implied in the question; see R. Schnackenburg, The Gospel According to St. John (New York:Herder & Herder, 1968) 429; B. Lindars, The Gospel of John (London: Oliphants, 1972) 182;R. Brown (The Gospel According to St. John [AB 29; Garden City: Doubleday, 1966] I. 170)cited the article of J. Ramn Daz ("Palestinian Targum and the New Testament/* NT 6[1963] 76-77); even in his recent book, C. K. Barrett (The Gospel of John and Judaism[London: SPCK, 1975] ) takes no note of John 4:12 or the Jacob material.


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"Jacob was seventy-seven years old when he went forth from his father'shouse, and the well went with him."12 And this same source also tells us thatat one point Jacob left this traveling well at Bethel: "there he left thewell."13 The legend of the traveling well should, of course, be linked primarily with Miriam's well in Numbers 21.M But as the targums on Numbers21 indicate, Miriam's well was itself simply the old partiarchal well whichhad been lost and was only then rediscovered:

And from thence was given them the living well, the well concerningwhich the Lord said to Moses, assemble the people and give themwater. Then, behold, Israel sang the thanksgiving of this song, at the

time that the well which had been hidden was restored to themthrough the spirit ofMiriam: Spring up, o well, spring up, o well! sangthey to it, and it sprang up: the well which the fathers of the world,Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, digged; the princes who were of olddigged it, the chiefs of the people, Moses and Aaron, the scribes ofIsrael, found it with their rods; and from the desert it was given tothem for a gift.15

It is presumably this very well which was said to have been one of the ten

things created before the world's founding.

16

Hence, while there is nothingin the legends to suggest why Jacob specifically should be associated with agiven well at Bethel or Shechem, he is linked to the general well tradition.The well in John 4:12 might be called Jacob's well simply because it lies inJacob country, at Shechem.

A second item in the discourse seems to presuppose more specificknowledge of Jacob legends. Jesus remarked that the woman should askhim for water (4:10), to which she replied, "You don't have a bucket andthe well is deep; how do you get this living water?" (v 11). In the legends

about Jacob mention is made of a miracle whereby water would automatically surge to the top of Jacob's well and overflow, a phenomenon well-attested in the targums of Genesis 28 and in other midrashic accounts: "Fivemiracles were wrought for our father Jacob at the time that he went forthfrom Beersheba . . . The fourth sign: the well overflowed, and the water

12 Pirqe R. El. 35 (trans. G. Friedlander [London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1916]263).

13

Pirqe R. El. 35 (Friedlander, 267).14 See 1 Cor 10:4; Ps Philo, BiblicalAntiquities 10:7; 11:15; 20:8; E. Earle Ellis, "ANote on First Corinthians 10:4 " JBL 76 (1957) 53-56; R Le Daut "Miryam soeur de Mose


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rose to the edge of it, and continued to overflow all the time he was inHaran."17 The woman's remarks to Jesus that he has no bucket and that thewell is deep set the stage to ask how Jesus expects to draw water from the

well. Without a bucket, the only alternate way to get the water would be toperform a miracle like Jacob's. Jacob's miraculous drawing of water, therefore, seems to be presupposed in the dialogue in 4:11.

A third item in the discourse that might allude to Jacob material is theremark by Jesus in 4:10. If only the woman knew "the gift of God and whoit is that speaks to you," then she would ask and he would "give you livingwater." Jacob is known as a crafty person who stealthily achieved hisdesigns, but the pertinent allusion may lie in the interpretation of the well

itselfas "gift."18

The text of Num 21:16 indicates that when the Israelites arrived atBeer, God promised Moses, "I will give them water." After finding a wellin this place, the Israelites traveled on to Mattanah, Nahaliel, Bamoth, andMoab (21:18-20). The point is that the place name, Mattanah, is interpretedin targumic expansions according to its perceived root (ntn) as "gift." Theinterpretation, of course, would logically be understood in the light of Num21:16c ("I will give them water"). Whereas the MT on Num 21:18c reads"And from the wilderness they went on to Mattanah," it was changed inthe LXX to kai apo phreatos eis Manthanain; and finally in the targums toNum 21:18, "Mattanah" is read, not as a place name, but as "gift."19

Tg. Neof. And from the wilderness it was given to them as a giftTg. Yer. I And from the desert it was given to themTg. Yer. II And from the desert it was given to them as a gift

This reading is also found in a midrash on this passage as well: "And from

the Wilderness at Mattanah. This implies that it was given (nittn) to themin the wilderness to serve their needs."20

The midrashic interpretation of the place name as "gift" is still moreevident in the targumic reworkings of Num 21:19. Whereas the MT reads

l7Tgs. Yer. I, / / and Neof. Gen 28:10. The targums to Gen 29:10 and 12 actually describethe miracle happening at Laban's well when Jacob meets Rachel there and waters her flocks;

on this miracle, see Pirqe R. El. 36 (Friedlander, 268); Midr. Pss. 91.7. This Jacob legend wasnoted by J. R. Diaz, "Palestinian Targum and the New Testament," 76-77.

11 H. Odeberg (The Fourth Gospel, 149-152) cites numerous midrashic parallels whichspeak primarily of Torah, not the well, as "gift."


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only place names ("from Mattanah to Nahaliel and from Nahaliel toBamoth . . ."), all ofthe targums expand on the gift quality ofthe well.

Tg. Neof. and after the well had been given to them as a gift...Tg. Onq. and from thence it was given to them . . .Tg. Yer. I and from thence it was given to them at Mattanah

Thus the miraculous well was interpreted as "gift of God."Now when Jesus told the woman, "if only you knew the gift of God,"

on one level the "gift" might be the general recognition of the true well ofIsrael's history which God gave the people (see Num 21:16). But Jesusqualifies the statement so that the allusion is not simply to the well but tohimself: "If only you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you'Give me a drink.' " Thus the person of Jesus is equated with the true "giftof God," the true well of Israel. Jesus' giving of special waters is developedlater in the gospel (see 7:37-39; 19:34).

Thus far the comparison of Jesus and Jacob seems to presupposeknowledge of two items: a miraculous welling up of water and designationof the well as a gift. The point of the comparison, of course, has been toshow that Jesus is certainly "greater than our father Jacob;" and Jesus'

superiority is explained in response in 4:13-14, whereby an absolute claim ismade on his behalf.

Everyone who drinks ofthis water will thirst again,but whoever drinks ofthe water that I will give him will never thirst.

The form of the response is significant because it represents a pattern ofantithetical statements that characterizes Jesus' mode of discourse in theGospel and that claims superiority for him or asserts his absolute impor

tance.

21

The assertion made here especially resembles the statement ofmanna and bread from heaven (see 6:49-51), especially in its claim to produce and eternal result (eis ton a/na).

The response of Jesus in 4:13-14 claims that he is not just a latter-dayJacob or even that Jacob was a type of Christ. A more radical claim ismade: Jesus supplants/replaces Jacob. The woman's question in 4:12 seemsto contain a pun, implying that Jesus is supplanting Jacob, the Supplanter,thus doing to Jacob what he did to Esau.

According to Gen 25:26, Jacob's name means "to grab by the heel" or

"to supplant"; Jacob is so proficient at being "Jacob," that he supplantsEsau in birth (25:26), birthright (25:34), and blessing (27:36). In one sense,


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JOHN 4:10-26 425

he is just one more example of the traditional experience in Israel of theyounger son supplanting the elder, a pattern found in the case of Isaac-Ishmael, Jacob-Esau, Joseph-his brethren, Ephraim-Menasseh, David-his

brethren and Solomon-other siblings, and which is later applied by Paul toGentile Christians vis--vis the Jews (Rom 11:7-12).

22But in a writer like

Philo, Jacob's sobriquet is, as his name suggests, "the Supplanter"pternists).2* Hence in the first century, Jacob was still known as "Jacob,"the supplanter.24

If Jesus is supplanting Jacob, in what does the replacement consist?Since the thrust ofthe dialogue is to assert that absolute quality ofJesus andhis gift, the comparison with Jacob is not simply to suggest that Jesus does

greater miracles than Jacob, nor to have Jesus give a better well.

Jacob's Courtship at the Well (4:16-18)

Is there an allusion to Jacob in 4:16-18? The OT background suggests aparallel between the courtship meetings at a well ofAbraham's servant andRebekah (Gen 24:Iff.), Jacob and Rachel (Gen 29:1-14), Moses and Sip-porah (Ex 2:15-22)25 and Jesus and the Samaritan woman. In Josephus'

22 SeeR. N. Whybray, The Succession Narrative (London: SPCK, 1968) 10-55.23

Philo, Cher. 67; L.A. I. 61; II. 89; III. 15, 93, 180; Mut. 81; Q.G. IV. 163; Som. I.

171.24 Despite the deviousness ascribed to Jacob in Genesis, in the first century the figure of

Jacob was considerably restored and polished; his lies and deceptions are allegorically explain

ed away (Philo, Q.G. IV. 172, 201, 206). Wisdom, not craftiness, comes to him (Wis 10:10; Sir

24:8; 1 Baruch 3:36-37); and he heralds the beginning of the eschatological age (4 Ezra 6:7-10).

According to Philo, Jacob is the archetypal "practiser" of virtue (Sac. 17; L.A. III. 18, 22,93;

Mut, 214; Mig, 153, 200; Som. I. 46, 68, 150, 159, 166, 171; 11.19) who supplants passion

(L.A. III. 93, 190; Sac. 42; Mut. 81; Her. 252-253); he is the true lover of virtue (Som. I. 45,69, 127, 159), first in virtue (L.A. HI. 192), acquiring virtue with great toil (L.A. III. 15; Som.

I. 170), and living full of wisdom in a house of virtue (L.A. III. 2). In Pesiq. R. 26.1, Jacob is a

"perfect man," one of the four "supremely perfect creatures whom God Himself had

formed." In the Samaritan literature Jacob belongs to the triad of perfect ones (Memar

Marqah I. 2; IV.8);he is not devious but righteous (Memar Marqah II. 11; V. 2, 4; IV. 4); for

all his ways are justice (IV. 3). The vehicle for this rehabilitation seems to be tied to a fresh

reading of Gen 25:27, where the word tarn is no longer translated as "quiet," but as "perfect."25

The link between the well and matrimonial imagery is well attested not only in

biblical texts but in later midrash as well; see Song of Songs Rab. 4. 12.3 "Thy God will one

day make thee like a park of pomegranates (Song 4:13) in the Messianic era. What is that? The

well [of Miriam]. Whence did the Israelites procure wine for drink offerings all the forty years


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account of these well encounters, only the Jacob-Rachel story contains astory ofa tender and elaborate courtship (Ant. 1.286-292). Justin was quickto see Jacob's marriages as types of what Christ was to accomplish: Leah

was the synagogue who was replaced by Rachel, the Church (Dial. 134).Any matrimonial allusions in John 4:16-18, therefore, would seem to castJesus in the role of groom and the woman (Samaritan church?) as thebride.26

Using allegorical methods of interpretation, critics have attempted toidentify the five husbands (4:18) with the five books of the Samaritan Pentateuch27 or with the five gods (bacalas husband/god) which the Samaritanswere said to worship,28 but such interpretations have fallen into disfavor.29

The thrust of such investigations has been primarily in terms of Samaritantraditions, whereas our focus is the Jacob traditions.If there is a Jacob allusion operating here, it would be primarily in

terms of courtship at a well. Courtship would imply that Jesus replaces theformer "husbands" of the woman with the true bacal, viz., himself. Sincethe woman is portrayed as accepting Jesus as Messiah (4:39), he effectivelybecomes her bacal; and he replaces Samaritan expectations when they tooconfess him as "Savior of the world" (4:42). The Jacob matrimonial allusions then seem to lie in Jesus' becoming the husband/lord of these new

converts, even his replacement oftheir former allegiances.Such implications are realistic options here. In the language of the

Gospel, John the Baptizer has already acknowledged that Jesus, who hasthe bride, is the bridegroom (3:29). Jesus, moreover, has attended a marriage feast (2:1-11) where he replaced the waters of purification with hisown superb wine. Thus in matrimonial imagery Jesus has been proclaimedas winning the allegiance of new followers and as supplanting previouspersons and rituals in Jewish religion.

The Right Place to Worship and Visions of the Future (4:19-20)

The woman's response in 4:19-20 reflects a shift in the dialogue: "Sir, Iperceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain;

26 In only one rabbinic text is any patriarch called a bridegroom; after Isaac blesses

Jacob, his leaving is described: "When Jacob went forth from the presence of his father Isaac,

he went forth crowned like a bridegroom, like a bride in her adornment'' (Pirqe R. El. 32(Friedlander, 238)]. The problem with this is not only its late date, but the fact that Jacob is

called both groom and bride; nor has it anything to do with a well or Rachel.27 Origen, In Johannem 13.8 (GCS 10, 232).


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and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship."The operative images turn from well and water to the topic of worship,especially knowledge pertinent to worship. Jesus' remark to the womanabout her many husbands indicates that he is indeed knowledgeable enoughto warrant the title "Prophet," that is, one who perhaps has access toknowledge, especially about the right place of worship.30 The knowledge ofJesus, therefore, seems to function as the mediating link between the twohalves ofthe discourse.31 It distinguishes him from the woman who does notknow (4:10) and it looks forward to his identification as Messiah whoknows all (4:25, 39). But does the second half of the dialogue (vv 19-26)allude to or presuppose allusions to Jacob? If not to specific Jacob legends,

then might Jesus continue to "supplant" older traditions, i.e., does he stillfunction as "Jacob"?

In acclaiming Jesus as "a prophet," the woman expects him to settle atheological issue: she poses the question of the right place of worship, anobvious difference between Samaritans and Jews. Northern and Samaritantraditions did not accept Jerusalem as "the place where I will put myname."32 The most obvious evidence of this disagreement with Jerusalemwas the erection of the golden calf at Bethel in the days of Jeroboam (1 Kgs

12:28-29). The deuteronomic redactor was likewise reluctant to localize Godin any one place, especially Jerusalem (see Deut 12:5,11,14,18,21,26), apolemic which is found also in the redaction of 1 Kgs 8:28ff.

Besides this general orientation of non-Judah tribes,33 there are passages in the Jacob stories which could be read in support of an alternate siteto Jerusalem as the legitimate place of worship. Jacob experienced a visionof a ladder stretching from heaven to earth; when he awoke he designatedthe spot ofthe vision as "the place": "Surely the Lord is in this place; and Idid not know it. . . how awesome is this place! This is none other than thehouse of God and the gate of heaven" (Gen 28:16-18). Samaritan traditions

30 Seel Mace4:46and 14:41.31 Lindars, The Gospel ofJohn, 18632 It is customary to associate Stephen's speech in Acts 7 with Jesus' remarks in John 4,

the link being a Samaritan anti-temple bias; see W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann, "Stephen's

Samaritan Background," The Acts of the Apostles (ed. J. Munck; AB 31 [Garden City:Doubleday, 1967] 285-300; O. Cullmann, "L'Opposition contre le temple de Jrusalem, motif

commun de la thologie johannique et du monde ambiant," NTS 5 (1958-59) 157-173 andmore recently in The Johannine Circle, 16, 39-53. Also relevant to this discussion is theexpansion of the Tenth Commandment in the Samaritan Decalogue; see John Bowman,


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428 THE CAT HOL IC BIBLICAL QUA RTE RL Y | 41, 1979

which supported worship on Mt. Gerizim interpreted Jacob's vision asoccurring on that mountain.34 Also supporting the Samaritan claim is Gen33:19-20, Jacob's building ofan altar at Shechem. Thus Jacob is certainly a

factor in a northern and Samaritan tradition which asserted that Mt. Gerizim is the legitimate place of worship.

Recent archaeological research on Mt. Gerizim has uncovered amassive building under a Roman temple to Zeus, a building which has subsequently been identified as the Samaritan temple.35 Moreover, in an important article on Samaritan traditions of the temple's "hidden vessels," M.Collins has shown that in the first century there was strong expectation thatan eschatological prophet would recover the hidden vessels on Mt. Gerizim

and thus restore true worship there as the rightful place.36

Collins' articlehas shown that Josephus' account of Samaritan attempts to meet on Mt.Gerizim in the first century (sec Ant. 18.85-87) reflects a live religious issue,an issue which focuses attention on the woman's question in John 4:19-20,especially to her remarks about a prophet.37

Beyond general acceptance of Jacob as part of the legitimation ofSamaritan traditions of Mt. Gerizim as the place of worship, Jacob's vision(Gen 28:16-18) was alternately used in Jewish sources as validation of their

own claims for Mt. Zion. Gen. Rab. 69:7 notes that the spot of Jacob'sladder was the very site of the temple; Tg. Yer. IGen 28:17 explicitly connects Jacob's site with Jerusalem: 'This place is not profane but the holyhouse of the name of the Lord, the proper spot for prayer, set forth beforethe gate of heaven, founded beneath the throne of Glory."38 The essentialsof this reading are found also in two variant readings of Tg. Neof. Gen

34 See John Macdonald, The Theology of the Samaritans (Philadelphia: Westminster,1964) 327-333; Josephus Ant. 18. 85-87; Hans Kippenberg, Garizim und Synagoge (Berlin: W.de Gruyter, 1971) 258-259, 263; see Memar Marqah 11.10.

35 The literary evidence for the Samaritan temple may be found in Josephus, Ant. 11,322; 13, 254; see H. H. Rowley, "Sanballat and the Samaritan Temple," Men of God(London: Nelson, 1963) 246-276; H. Kippenberg, Garizim und Synagoge, 48-59, 188-200.Archeological evidence may be found in R. J. Bull "The Excavation of Tell er Ras (Mt.

Gerizim)," BASOR 190 (1968) 11-18 and "An Archeological Footnote . . . " NTS 23 (1976-77)460-462. Further information on the excavations at Tell er Ras may be found in Eleanor K.

Vogel, Bibliography of Holy Land Sites (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Instituteof Religion, 1974)62-63.

36 M. F. Collins, "The Hidden Vessels in Samaritan Traditions," JSS 3 (1972) 97-116.37 Collins, "The Hidden Vessels in Samaritan Traditions," 110-112,115-116.38 Tg. Yer. IGen 28:11 commented that Jacob "prayed in the place of the house of the

t " Pi R El 35 (F i dl d 266) li k d G 28 12 li itl t J l


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JOHN 4:10-26 429

28:17.39 Although such targumic expansion may be of later date, inasmuchas it reflects a period after the fall of the temple in 70 A.D. when sacrificewould be replaced by prayer, nevertheless, the use of Jacob's vision to vali

date a particular spot is clearly very old. Proof of this claim comes from apassage in Jubilees which, dealing with Jacob's vision of the ladder,emphatically restrains him from consecrating Bethel as the legitimate placeof worship. The insistence that the dream site is "not the place"

Do not build this place.Do not make it an eternal sanctuary;Do not dwell here;this is not the place (Jub 32:22)

presupposes that Gen 28:16-18 was used as early as Jubilees to legitimate thesacred place of worship.

Thus Jacob traditions were generally operative in the scheme of locating the place of worship. But as "greater than Jacob," Jesus is hailed asa prophet with special knowledge, one aspect ofwhich prophetic knowledgewas to settle the disputed location of Jacob's vision vis--vis the legitimateplace of worship. Hence Jesus' knowledge may be said to be greater at thispoint than Jacob's vision.

Just as Jacob was linked to a specific place of worship in virtue of Gen28:16-18, he is likewise treated as a visionary according to midrashic developments of several other Jacob texts in Genesis. The passage from Jubilees,which we just examined, expands the vision of Jacob's ladder in the direction of his receiving heavenly secrets about the future of Israel. Gen28:12-15 tells only of a vision of a ladder and of the Lord promising toestablish a covenant on the land with Jacob and sons, but the retelling ofthis vision in Jub 32:21-24 supplements the divine oracle with a messenger

angel bringing seven tablets of heavenly secrets for Jacob to read: "And heread them and knew that all that was written therein which would befall himand his sons throughout the ages" (v 21). And the text continues with theangel commanding Jacob to record his special revelations: "do thou writedown everything as thou hast seen and read" (v 24). Thus in virtue of Gen28:12-15, Jacob was considered privy to heavenly revelations and the purveyor of them as well (see Jub 32:26).40

39 A. Diez Macho, Neophyti 1,1. Genesis, 181.40 The targums to Gen 28:12 tell of a different sort of expansion of the Jacob story.J b hi lf i l d t th l i h th " h lik i d th


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Another Jacob text (Genesis 49) also became the occasion for claimingthat Jacob possesses special heavenly knowledge. The MT of Gen 49:1 describes the dying Jacob gathering his sons together "that I may tell you

what shall befall you in the days to come." The LXX puts a different nuance to the text by translating "following days" as ep eschatn tn heme-

rn. This verse became the locus of considerable expansion in targum andmidrash41 as Jacob was credited with visions of the eschatological future,typical of which expansion is Tg. Neof. Gen 49:1: "I will tell you the concealed secrets, the hidden ends, the giving of rewards of the just and thepunishment ofthe wicked and what the happiness ofEden is. "42

J. M. Allegro published a text from Qumran (4QpGn 49) which con

tains Jacob's visionary blessing of Judah (Gen 49:10) interpreted as amessianic prophecy.43 In the passage, Jacob foresees the coming messiah("a ruler from the tribe of Judah") who, it appears, will be associated withthe "Interpreter of the Law" for the sectarian community. Allegro arguedfrom 4Q Flor that this "Interpreter of the Law" in 4QpGn49 is himself amessianic figure, citing the Flor as evidence "He is the Shoot ofDavid, who will arise with the Interpreter of the Law."44 Granting theQumran doctrine of a royal as well as a priestly messiah,45 we have clearpre-Christian evidence of Jacob's vision (Genesis 49) functioning as the

41 The targums to Gen 29 1-2 contain a confusion over whether Jacob actually revealed

mysteries and secrets Tgs Yer I and Neof Gen 49 1-2 both record that important mysterieswere withheld from Jacob, for example, Tg Neof records "when the mystery was revealed tohim, it was closed to him " Tg Yer /Gen 49 1-2, however, while attributing some revelationsto Jacob, insists that others were "hidden from him", see b Pesah 56a, Gen Rab 93 3, seeMoses Aberbach and Bernard Grossfeld, Targum Ongelos on Genesis 49 (Missoula, MTScholars Press, 1976) The fact that later traditions seem to emphatically circumscribe Jacob's

knowledge suggests that they are reacting to other traditions which do so credit Jacob with

heavenly revelations42 The proper background of Jacob's death-bed revelations is the somewhat loose genre

of testimonies and farewell addresses, see E Stauffer, "Abschiedsreden," RAC I 29-35,Johannes Munck, "Discours d'adieu dans le Nouveau Testament et dans le littrature bib

lique," Aux Sources de la Tradition Chrtienne (Neuchtel Delachaux et Niestle, 1950)150-170, Aelred Lacomara, "Deuteronomy and the Farewell Discourse (John 13 31-16 33),"

CBQ 36 (1974) 65-84, and Anitra Kolenkow, "The Genre Testament and Forecasts of theFuture in the Hellenistic Jewish Milieu," JSJ6 (1975) 57-71

43 J M Allegro, "Further Messianic References in Qumran Literature," JBL 75 (1956)174-175, for further literature on this text, see J Fitzmyer, "A Bibliographical Aid to the

Study of the Qumran Cave IV Texts 158-186," CBQ3 (1969)7144 J M Allegro, "Further Messianic References," 176


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locus of speculation concerning a royal messiah as well as an official inter

preter of Jewish law and worship.

Other Jacob texts link him with special revelations, especially knowledge concerning the future place of worship. Attached to Isaac's blessing of

Jacob (Gen 27:27) we find the following midrash:

This verse teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him (Jacob)

the Temple built, destroyed, and rebuilt. Thus: See the smell of my son isan allusion to the Temple built, as in the verse, "a sweet smell unto Me

shall ye observe" (Num 28:2). As the smell of the field suggests it whendestroyed, as in the verse, "Zion shall be ploughed as a field" (Mie 3:12);

which the Lord hath blessed this hints at it being rebuilt and perfectedin the Messianic future, as it is said, "For there the Lord commanded theblessing, even life for ever" (Ps 133:3).46

Although such traditions speak of a period after the fall of the temple in 70

A.D., nevertheless the ease with which they are attached to Jacob texts

suggest a prior readiness to attribute such materials to the patriarch.

Other sources say that Jacob revealed the history of Judah until, but

not including, the coming of the Messiah, who would then know and tell

everything:

The tribe of Judahthe wise and great among thempossessed a

tradition from our father Jacob as to all that would befall the whole

tribe until the days of the Messiah. Everyone of the tribes similarly

possessed such traditions from their father Jacob as to what would

happen to them until the days of the Messiah.47

Thus Jacob, while credited with special revelations as well as visions,

was expected to be supplanted in turn by the Messiah when he came, whichtradition seems pertinent to understanding the woman's remark in 4:25: "I

know that the Messiah, when he comes, will show us all things." There

46 Gen. Rab. 65.23. Several of the targums to Gen 27:27 record another form of thisassociation of Jacob with worship, but omit the mention of the temple destroyed. With slight

differences, Tgs. Neof. and Yer. /both describe the smell of Jacob "as the smell of incense ofgood perfumes which will be offered upon the altar of the mountain of the sanctuary." These

developments of Gen 27:27 seem to be earlier than the midrash cited above because they are

less complete in the allegorical interpretation of the total verse and because they omit referenceto the destroyed and rebuilt temple. They witness, however, to the trajectory of linking Jacob

with worship even revelations of worship Other midrashim which associated Jacob with visions


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seems, therefore, to be a foundation for proclaiming that Jesus, as prophetand Messiah, would have greater knowledge than Jacob.

But the dialogue in John 4:21-24 does not consider Jesus as a latter-dayJacob whose visions decide long-standing disputes as to the right place ofworship. Jesus supplants that entire discussion by invalidating Jacob'svisions of the ladder as the place (". . . neither on this mountain nor inJerusalem . . .").48 And Jesus supplants Jacob's revelations ofthe future ofIsrael and its worship by declaring a new time ("the hour is coming . . . andis now here") and a new cult ("true worshippers will worship in spirit andtruth").

Worship in Spirit and Truth (4:21-24)

Jesus' first response in the second half of the discourse (v 21) categorically rejects Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Zion as "the place where one mustworship." His subsequent remarks may allude to other Jacob traditions. InGen 28:16-18, when Jacob awoke from his dream-vision he exclaimed:"The Lord is in this spot and / did not know it." In 4:22 Jesus tells thewoman, "You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know."

The question is: did Jacob know or did he not?According to some Samaritan traditions, Mt. Gerizim was "theplace"; and in certain strands of that literature it is positively asserted that"Jacob knew it," probably a corrective apology to rival Jewish readings ofGen 28:16, "I did not know it."49 But in this context, in which John'scommunity asserts both the superiority of Jewish to Samaritan traditions aswell as Christian superiority to both, the remark "you do not know" undercuts all previous claims, Samaritan and Jewish, by reasserting Jacob's statement that "I did not know." And it affirms the replacement of Jacob's

concern with the "place of God" with Christian claims concerning trueworship, viz., "what we know." The thrust of the replacement, moreover,is again in the direction of an absolute claim on behalf of Jesus and hiscommunity's practice.50

48 Besides Jub 32:22, further evidence of a polemic against Samaritan worship can befound in Ps Philo 25. 10, where it is noted that seven idols were found at Shechem, suggesting

that that area was always considered as a place of false worship (see 1 Kgs. 12:25-29). See

Raymond Brown, "Johannine Ecclesiologythe Community's Origins," Int 31 (1977) 389.49 In praise of Mt. Gerizim, Memar Marqah 11.10 echoes Gen 28:17 in commenting that"Isaac saw it (Mt Gerizim) Jacob knew it Joseph possessed it "


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JOHN 4:10-26 433

Another item in Jesus' response presses forward the absolute claimmade on behalf of the new community: "true worshippers worship theFather in spirit and truth" (v 23a). The dialectical language continues the

contrasts of vv 21-22; when the woman asked about the correct "place,"Jesus denied in principle that there is such a place; previous claims to knowwere invalidated by the charge that "you do not know," whereas "weknow." Now former eras are negated in favor of a new time, "the hour iscoming and is now here." False or incomplete cultic actions presently giveway to "true worshippers" and the old mode of worship is supplanted by"worshipping in spirit and truth." Indeed nothing of the old traditionremains; it is totally supplanted.51

But is there a specific Jacob allusion in 4:23? Is the operative factor stillthe supplanting of Jacob by Jesus? Or is there a possible link between thetwo halves ofthe discourse, such that well/water (4:10-14) tend to be linkedwith spirit and revelation (4:21-24) in Jewish literature? In general it can besaid that spirit was metaphorically linked with water in the OT, especially inphrases such as "pour out my spirit" (Isa 32:15; Joel 2:28). In Ezek36:25-27, the water which purifies is associated with a new spirit of God: "Iwill sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your

uncleannesses, and from your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will giveyou, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your fleshthe heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spiritwithin you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observeall my ordinances"52 Spirit, water and purification are linked in 1QS 4:21.Thus there was a solid basis in Jewish symbols for associating well/waterwith spirit and purification, which is just the link that John seems to havemade.

Although the dating of the tradition concerning Jacob's well in thefollowing midrash on Gen 29:1 may be problematic, it reflects the traditionwe have seen which associates well/water with spirit and worship, in thiscase cultic festivals. Concerning the well of Jacob we read:

51 It is worth noting that at this point in the gospel Jesus has already offered a replace

ment for Jewish purificatory rites (2:6-11 and 3:25-30); in fact his water-made-wine is clearly

said to be superior to what was previously used (2:10). The Temple is likewise replaced

(2:13-22) by Jesus' own body. Later in the gospel Jesus' death as the passover Lamb willreplace the old ritual; see A. Guilding, The Fourth Gospel and Jewish Worship (Oxford:Clarendon 1960) 58-68 154-166; R Brown The Gospel According to John 2 953-956; C H


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Another interpretation: And behold a well in the field symbolizesZion; And lo three flocks of sheepthe three Festivals (Passover,Pentecost, Tabernacles); For out ofthat well they wateredthe flocksfrom there they imbibed the divine spirit; And the stone . . . was

greatthis alludes to the rejoicing of the place of the water drawing.R. Hoshaya said: Why was it called the rejoicing of the place of drawing water? Because from there they imbibed the divine spirit. And

thither were all the flocks gatheredthey all came, "from the entranceof Hamath unto the Brook of Egypt" (1 Kgs 8:66). And they rolledthe stone from the well's mouth in its place: it was lying for the nextFestival.53

As well and water are associated with spirit and worship, the samecomplex imagery is also linked with special knowledge and revelation.There are passages from Enoch which speak of "fountains of wisdom" (1

Enoch 48:1) or of "wisdom poured out like water" (/Enoch 49:1).54

The Damascus Document is another important key, for it links welland instruction. In their context, well and teaching are perceived as anexclusive interpretation of Jewish practice which the community to whichthe Damascus Document belonged would see as supplanting the corrupt

practices of Jerusalem. According to the document, holiness and purity arefound only in the sect; of old, God "revealed hidden things" to the holyremnant about "holy Sabbaths, glorious feasts, testimony of righteousnessand ways of truth" (3:14-15), which revelation is expressed in the metaphorof a well: "He opened (this) before them and they dug a well of abundantwaters and whoever despises these waters shall not live" (3:16-17). The sectrecognized that one aspect of their exclusive claim to holiness was the accurate knowledge of who the true priests were (4:1-6), and who had defiledthe sanctuary (4:18; 5:6-7). The authentic tradition of Torah was attributedto the teachers ofthe sect, who dug a well from which they drew their teaching of truth:

And God remembered the covenant ofthe Patriarchsand raised out ofAaron men of understandingand out of Israel sages,and He caused them to hear (His voice) and they dug the well:

53 Gen. Rab. 79.8.54 H. Odeberg, The Fourth Gospel, 152-156, 158-160; B. Olsson, Structure and Meaning


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JOHN 4:10-26 435

The well which theprinces dug,Which the nobles of the people delvedwith a rod.The well is the Law,

and those who dug it are the converts of Israelwho went out from the land of Judahand were exiled in the land of Damascus (6:2-5).

The general symbolic linkage between well/water and special knowledge is found in Philo, who explicitly ties these associations to Jacob's well(Gen 29:1). The spring is divine wisdom (Fug. 195-196; Post. 138) or Godhimself, as in Jer 2:13 (Fug. 197), from whence come ever-flowing waters(Fug. 197; Post. 136; Som. 1.11) so that whoever drinks the waters of thedivine spring gains ultimate knowledge and understanding (Fug. 195-196;

Post. 136, 138). God's waters, moreover, are waters of life, even of immortality (Fug. 198-199). The "wise ones," Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, dugthe wells of divine wisdom (Fug. 200); Moses likewise witnesses to the"wisdom of the well" in Num 21 (Ebr. 112); but it is Rebecca, thefigureofSophia, who gives the waters ofthe wisdom ofGod to those who would learnfrom her (Post. 136; Q. G. IV. 98-108). For Philo, a well is often a "symbolof education and knowledge" (Q.G. IV. 191; Som. 1.6; II. 271).

Before explaining Jacob's dream of the ladder in Gen 28:12,15, Philoinsisted on investigating three items: 1. the well of the oath, 2. Haran, and3. "the place" (Som. 1.5). The well symbolized knowledge (Som. 1.6, 11);Haran, according to the epistemological allegory, represents the "mothercity of the senses," which even the wise man depends upon. The reprehensible thing is to live always on the sense level, like Laban; Jacob, likeAbraham, only spends a brief time on the sense level before fleeing it forrealms of true knowledge (Som. 1.41-47). The "place" mentioned in Gen

28:11 cannot mean the "place of God," for God who contains all thingscannot be contained in "a place"; according to Philo, "place," when itappears in statements like Gen 22:3 and 28:11, must refer to the logos (Som.1.61-64). When Jacob encountered "the place," he was in contact with". . .the Word of God, showing, as it does, the way to the things that arebest, teaching, as it does, such lessons as the varying occasions require"(Som. 1.68). In Philo, then, we find the same general identification of welland water with divine teaching as was observed in the OT and targumicmaterial, and even a specific linkage ofsuch material with our father Jacob.

We have shown that the images of well/water were not taken at theirface value but frequently associated with spirit, worship, and knowledge.


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problematic for firmly establishing the background of John's discourse

about Jacob. The ease, however, with which such ideas as worship and

knowledge are attached to Jacob texts suggests an existing foundation for a

developing tradition whereby Jacob, the premier patriarch associated withworship, was linked with special knowledge, cult and spirit, especially

through his association with the well (Gen 29:1). If Jacob's well is itself the

cipher for knowledge, cult and spirit, then we think that John's dialogue in

chap. 4 intends the reader to link the well part of the discourse with the

subsequent material on worship. Jesus, who supplants Jacob's well and

water, replaces the reality for which well/water are symbols. As "greater

than Jacob" he supplants the old traditions of spirit, cult and knowledge

which were associated with Jacob's well.

THE SYSTEMATIC examination of Jacob traditions has thrown light on

several statements in John 4:10-26. (1) The text was shown to presuppose

allusions to Jacob's miracle of automatically rising well water and to the

identification of the well as God's "gift." The primary Jacob allusion,

however, seems to be the etymological appreciation of Jacob as "sup-

planter." Hence, the fundamental point of 4:12 is to assert that Jesus sup

plants Jacob and all the traditions associated with Jacob, in particular

Jacob's legitimation of a correct place of worship and eschatological knowledge. Being "greater" means in fact that Jesus supplants Jacob in an ab

solute way. He gives water such that the one who drinks it will never thirst

(4:14), for the new water will well up to "eternal life." (2) In 4:16-18 it

seems that the revelation of the woman's confusing matrimonial situation is

calculated to evoke echoes of courtship meetings at wells in Genesis, es

pecially Jacob's meeting with Rachel. The point of this allusion seems to be

tied to an aspect of marriage as covenant/worship. Jesus' knowledge of her

confused matrimonial state leads to questions of worship and finally to theresolution of marital allegiance in 4:42 when Jesus is acknowledged as

"Savior of the world" by the Samaritans. (3) The background of 4:19-20

would seem to include allusions to Jacob both in terms of his vision (Genesis

28), and possibly in terms of his knowledge (Genesis 49). Jacob's vision, which

was part of the legitimating process for both Mts. Gerizim and Zion, is

supplanted by the revelations from the eschatological prophet, Jesus. (4) In

4:21-24 there seems to be an allusion to Jacob's remark in Gen 28:16 ("I did

not know"), whereby Jesus supplants Jacob's Jacob's vision and knowledge

by "what we do know." The discussion of 4:23-24 showed that well and waterare frequent ciphers for Torah, spirit and knowledge of worship and that


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JOHN 4:10-26 437

"worshipping in spirit and truth." Even in the second half of the discourse at

the well (4:19-26), the fundamental allusion to Jacob is still that of supplanter.

The sectarian Johannine community is not simply claiming that Jesus is

supplanting Jacob's well; rather Jesus as the supplanter is invalidating allprevious cultic places and rites and is replacing them with a worship centered

in Jesus' own person (4:42). Thus it is not a question of comparision between

Jesus' and Jacob's waters which is at issue (4:12-15); absolute claims are made

by the Johannine community on behalf of Jesus, claims which deal with no

less than "true worship" of God. (5) Why Jacob? Of all the OT patriarchs,

Jacob is most closely associated with cult, either the place of worship or

knowledge about worship (Gen 28:11-17). This association is utilized by John

as he systematically asserts the superiority of Jesus to Moses, Abraham andother founding fathers of Jewish religion. In the apology for the correctness

and even the superiority of Christian worship, Jacob was an apt foil to Jesus

for legitimizing Christian practices in John's community. (6) Finally, since the

primary thrust of the question in 4:12 was to present Jesus as supplanting

Jacob and traditions associated with him, a summary of the worship replace

ment motif in the Gospel might be in order. The Jewish waters of purification

are supplanted by Christian purificatory rites, only one of which seems to be

baptism (see 13:5-10). Moreover, what constitutes impurity seems to be

redefined in John's community; Jesus was in no way contaminated by theSamaritan woman55 but rather became the source of purification for her and

her and her fellow Samaritans, thus suggesting a supplanting of Jewish

notions of what is unclean. The old well of Torah is supplanted by a new font

of revelation, Jesus himself. The superiority of the new rites and the new

Torah lies in their effecting satisfaction "forever" (cf. 4:13-14). The old places

of worship are invalidated and replaced with a new time, a new place, and a

new mode of worship. Although Jesus is greater than Jacob, he does not

replace God in the community's worship. But confession of him as prophet,Messiah, and Savior of the world and even as equal to God becomes part of

the true worship of God who stands behind Jesus ("the Father seeks such to

worship him" Jn 4:24). To this summary one might add the replacement of

manna with the bread of life, the supplanting of Jewish feasts with Christian

feasts which celebrate Jesus as the new lamb, the light, the water, etc.56

Understanding how the Jacob allusions function invites us further to reinves

tigate the worship of the Johannine community, especially in its dialectical

conflict with supplanted Jewish rites.

55 See D. Daube, "The Samaritan Woman," JBL 69 (1950) 137-147.


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