The woman at the well: scorned sinner or holy woman?

As a single person, I'm constantly asked why I'm single. More often than not, I'm asked it when I attend a new Christian fellowship (new for me that is). What a ridiculous thing to ask! Do what kind of answer do they expect? "Yes, I'm a wanker that women wouldn't want to wed!" Hmm... It wouldn't be appropriate in mix company much less a Christian fellowship.

Anyway, I finally came up with a more appropriate answer. It involves the story of Jesus' encounter with the woman an the well.

John 4:17-18
17 "I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, You are right when you say you have no husband.
18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."

I have seen many commentaries jump on these verses and immediately pronounce that this woman is an adulteress. Their reasoning:

1. All five of her husbands divorced her.


2. The man, with whom she is living, is not her husband.


3. She was probably scorned by the town since she had to get water from the well at high noon.

Here's my defense of this poor woman:

I don't believe that these men divorced her because she committed adultery. Do you remember what they do to adulterer at that time. Remember when they brought the adulterer to Jesus and asked him what they should do with her. That's right, they would stone adulterer. Jesus had to answer, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." I can understand that she might get away with it once if her first husband quietly divorced her. However, I'm doubtful that she would be able to get away with it four more times.

Is she intimate with the person she is currently living with? There is a high probability that she may be. However, in those days, unlike our own, women are dependent on men for protection and for provision. With out a husband, she is forced to seek the protection of a man who is not her husband. But does that make her an adulterer? I think we can safely say that they have a common law marriage relationship.

I do agree that she was scorn by the town, but why? More particularly, why did her husbands divorced her?

If you've ever been anywhere in the middle east, you would see one commonality among married women. Wherever they go, their children are there.

This woman did not have a single child with her when she went to fetch the water. Let's assume that someone else is watching her children. She's a scorned woman; who would watch her children? You may be thinking, what about a relatives; if she has relatives, would she have been forced to live with a man who is not her husband? I'm not saying it's impossible but I am saying it's highly unlikely.

I believe that this woman was divorced and scorned because she was barren.

This poor woman, who couldn't have a child, was passed from man to man until the last guy wasn't even willing to giver her his name.

Unfortunately, at that time, children were considered blessings from God. So if you have neither children nor wealth, the town would consider you as someone from whom God had withheld His blessings. If so, they can accuse her of doing something displeasing to God causing God to withhold his blessings.

The obvious question would be: Why did God withhold children from this woman.

The answer: So that she would be there at the well when Jesus arrives and she can lead the town to Christ.

This woman was made holy (set apart) for this purpose.

Why am I single? Because I was made holy (set apart) for God's purpose.