“Give me this water”: she names him Lord a second time and receives
The woman says to him, “Lord, give me this water, so that I may not thirst or keep coming here to draw.” This is already the second time the Samaritan woman names the Savior “Lord.” First it was, “Lord, you have no bucket, and the well is deep” — when she also longed to know where he got living water, and whether he was greater than Jacob, whom she counted her father. Now she asks for the water that becomes, in the one who drinks, a spring leaping up to eternal life.
And if it is true that “If you asked him, he would have given you living water,” then when she said, “Give me this water,” she received living water — so that she need no longer be at a loss in thirst, or keep going to Jacob’s spring to draw, but may behold the truth in an angelic way, beyond the human, even without Jacob’s water. For angels do not need Jacob’s spring in order to drink; each has within himself a spring of water leaping up to eternal life.
Greek
Λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ἡ γυνή· Κύριε, δός μοι τοῦτο τὸ ὕδωρ, ἵνα μὴ διψῶ μηδὲ διέρχωμαι ἐνθάδε ἀντλεῖν. ἤδη δεύτερον κύριον ἀναγορεύει τὸν σωτῆρα ἡ Σαμαρεῖτις, πρότερον μὲν ὅτε φησί· Κύριε, οὔτε ἄντλημα ἔχεις καὶ τὸ φρέαρ ἐστὶ βαθύ — ὅτε καὶ ἐπιποθεῖ πόθεν ἔχει τὸ ζῶν ὕδωρ, καὶ εἰ μείζων εἴη τοῦ νομιζομένου πατρὸς αὐτῆς Ἰακώβ — νῦν δὲ ὅτε καὶ αἰτεῖ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ γινομένου πηγῆς ἐν τῷ πίνοντι ὕδατος ἁλλομένου εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
καὶ εἴπερ ἀληθὲς τό· Εἰ ᾔτεις αὐτὸν καὶ ἔδωκεν ἄν σοι ὕδωρ ζῶν, δῆλον ὅτι εἰποῦσα· Δός μοι τοῦτο τὸ ὕδωρ ἔλαβε τὸ ζῶν ὕδωρ, ἵνα μηκέτι ἀπορῇ διψῶσα μηδὲ διέρχηται ἐπὶ τὴν πηγὴν τοῦ Ἰακὼβ διὰ τὸ ἀντλεῖν, ἀλλὰ χωρὶς τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ Ἰακὼβ θεωρῆσαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀγγελικῶς καὶ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον δυνηθῇ. οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ ἄγγελοι δέονται τῆς τοῦ Ἰακὼβ πηγῆς ἵνα πίωσιν, ἀλλ’ ἕκαστος ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἔχει πηγὴν ὕδατος ἁλλομένου εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
About this text
Origen’s Commentary on John, Book 13 (later tomoi). Complete on this page: §§1–64.
English follows Preuschen, Origenes Werke IV (GCS 10, 1903). Heine FOTC was not used as wording. This page is Book 13 §§1–64 of the later books (13, 19, 20, 28, 32).
Witnesses
- Copy-text Preuschen, Origenes Werke IV = GCS 10 (1903) (Greek · Book 13 §§1–64)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.