John 4:10 (WEB)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
Catechism · 5
Celebrating the Church's Liturgy
“Finally it presents "the river of the water of life . . . flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb," one of most beautiful symbols of the Holy Spirit.” — Catechism footnote: Rev 22:1; cf. 21:6; Jn 4:10-14.
Prayer in the Christian Life
“"If you knew the gift of God!"” — Catechism footnote: Jn 4:10.
“"You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."” — Catechism footnote: Jn 4:10.
"I Believe in the Holy Spirit"
“Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified as its source and welling up in us to eternal life.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Jn 4:10-14; 738; Ex 17:1-6; Isa 55:1; Zech 14:8; 1 Cor 10:4; Rev 21:6; 22:17.
“He also alludes to the Spirit in speaking to Nicodemus, to the Samaritan woman,” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Jn 4:10, 14, 23-24.
Fathers and councils · 29
Augustine of Hippo
“…have given thee living water, of which whoso drinketh shall never thirst, but it shall be made in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”” — editor's note: John iv. 10, 14.
Read the whole comment“…the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life.”” — editor's note: John iv. 7–14
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John Chrysostom
“Ver.” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment“The woman before this had heard of “living Water” ( v. 10 ), but had not known its meaning.” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment““If thou knewest who it is that saith unto thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given unto thee living water” ( c. iv. 10 ); and again, “The water which I shall give.”” — the author cites it
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Tertullian
“…as when to the Samaritaness—not an adulteress by her now sixth marriage, but a prostitute—He showed (what He did show readily to any one) who He was;—no benefit is hence conferred upon our adversaries, even if it had been to such as were already Christians that He (in these several cases) granted pardon.” — editor's note: John iv. 1–25.
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Ambrose of Milan
“Wherefore the Lord said: “If thou knowest the gift of God, and Who He is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked Him, and He would have given thee living water.”” — editor's note: S. John iv. 10.
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Hippolytus of Rome
“This, he says, is “the water that is above the firmament,” concerning which, he says, the Saviour has declared, “If thou knewest who it is that asks, thou wouldst have asked from Him, and He would have given you to drink living, bubbling water.”” — editor's note: John iv. 10.
Read the whole comment“Nay, more than this was requisite; for after his entrance into the foul mysteries of the womb, he was washed, and drank of the cup of life-giving bubbling water.” — editor's note: John iv. 7–14. For πιεῖν some read ποιεῖν, “a course which he must pursue who,” etc.
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Catena Aurea on John
- John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
That this conversation might not appear a violation of His own injunctions against talking to the Samaritans, the Evangelist explains how it arose; viz. for He did not come with the intention beforehand of talking…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
The woman here is the type of the Church, not yet justified, but just about to be. And it is a part of the resemblance, that she comes from a foreign people. The Samaritans were foreigners, though they were…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on John
The argument with the woman arises naturally from the occasion: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. As man, the labour and heat He had undergone had made Him thirsty.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Jesus also thirsted after that woman’s faith? He thirsteth for their faith, for whom He shed His blood.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
This shews us too not only our Lord’s strength and endurance as a traveller, but also his carelessness about food; for His disciples did not carry about food with them, since it follows, His disciples were gone away…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
The Jews would not even use their vessels. So it would astonish the woman to hear a Jew ask to drink out of her vessel; a thing so contrary to Jewish rule.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
But why did Christ ask what the law allowed not? It is no answer to say that He knew she would not give it, for in that case, He clearly ought not to have asked for it. Rather His very reason for asking, was to shew…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
He who asked to drink, however, out of the woman’s vessel, thirsted for the woman’s faith: Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, or Who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink, thou…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on John
For it is as it were a doctrine, that no one receives a divine gift, who seeks not for it. Even the Saviour Himself is commanded by the Father to ask, that He may give it Him, as we read, Require of Me, and I will…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
He lets her know that it was not the water, which she meant, that Ho asked for; but that knowing her faith, He wished to satisfy her thirst, by giving her the Holy Spirit. For so must we interpret the living water,…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Living water is that which comes out of a spring, in distinction to what is collected in ponds and cisterns from the rain. If spring water too becomes stagnant, i. e. collects into some spot, where it is quite…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
In Scripture the grace of the Holy Spirit is sometimes called fire, sometimes water, which shews that these words are expressive not of its substance, but of its action. The metaphor of fire conveys the lively and…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on John
The grace of the Holy Spirit then He calls living water; i. e. lifegiving, refreshing, stirring. For the grace of the Holy Spirit is ever stirring him who does good works, directing the risings of his heart.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
These words raised the woman’s notions of our Lord, and make her think Him no common person. She addresses Him reverentially by the title of Lord; The woman saith unto Him, Lord, Thou hast nothing to draw with, and…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
She understands the living water to be the water in the well; and therefore says, Thou wishest to give me living water; but Thou hast nothing to draw with as I have: Thou canst not then give me this living water; Art…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
As if she said, Thou canst not say that Jacob gave us this spring, and used another himself; for he and they that were with him drank thereof, which would not have been done, had he had another better one. Thou canst…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on John
The addition, and his cattle, shews the abundance of the water; as if she said, Not only is the water sweet, so that Jacob and his sons drank of it, but so abundant, that it satisfied the vast multitude of the…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
See how she thrusts herself upon the Jewish stock. The Samaritans claimed Abraham as their ancestor, on the ground of his having come from Chaldea; and called Jacob their father, as being Abraham’s grandson.
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on John
Or she calls Jacob their father, because she lived under the Mosaic law, and possessed the farm which Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on John
In the mystical sense, Jacob’s well is the Scriptures. The learned then drink like Jacob and his sons; the simple and uneducated, like Jacob’s cattle.
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Cross-references · 14
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit I.15.
Cited together in Catechism §2561.
Cited together in Catechism §2561.
Cited together in Catechism §2561.
Cited together in Catechism §2561.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit I.15.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit I.15.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies V.14.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit I.15.
Cited together in Catechism §2561.
Cited together in Catechism §2561.
Cited together in Catechism §2561.
Cited together in Catechism §2561.
Cited together in Catechism §2561.