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Okami -> RE: Was the woman at the well a floozy? (reading into scripture what's not there.) (3/1/2008 11:18:51 PM)
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OK, "forces" was a strong word, but used to get the meaning across. His question was to "cause" her to realize it.
quote:
Huh? It was not for "dispute regarding two national religions, IMHO. I believe she was very surprised that this Jewish Rabbi was talking to her a Samaritan woman. The Jews avoided the Samaritans at all cost, even going around Samaria when traveling north and south so as not to have any contact with them
That would have been part of it, ya. I'll cover that at the bottom.
Her very next response though was
"sir, I perceive you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain (referring to samaritans, and possibly their common ancestors) and you say in Jerusalem is where men ought to worship"(referring to current Jews of her time)
She blatantly changed the subject by basically saying "why are you here, your kind believes everyone should worship in Jerusalem"
By saying "our fathers worshipped in this mountain" , she evidently refers to the erection of the Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim nearly 400 years before her time. However, she may also be be referring to the fact that Jacob built altars at Shechem, which was practically on the slopes of Gerizim. Of course, the Samaritans would be constantly preached to by the Jews that the scriptural place of worship was the temple at Jerusalem.
Samaritans only recognized the first five books of the OT as authoritative. They would not have known of the prophetic promises of salvation from the Jews through God's servant, the devotion and prophecies of the Psalms, or that salvation comes exclusively from the Jews is verified in practically all the prophetical books.
Jesus reminds her that the Samaritans are worshipping in ignorance, and yet the Jews are worshipping that which they know. He then said that "the hour is coming and now is" becuase in His mind, the future is already perfected. In just a few short months, He will have fulfilled the Law, the veil will be rent, and "the hour will have come" when men will no longer be required to worship at one single place.
Her question got the desired result. It sparked a religious discussion, and diverted attention from the subject at hand about her living arrangement.
On a side note:
The hostility between the Samaritans and the Jews was basically over religion as well as a mixed blood, which is why they were considered "unclean".
When he kingdom of Israel was divided in about 926 BC (1 Kings 12), the northern kingdom under Jeroboam enbraced all the territory originally allotted to the ten northern tribes. This kingdom was known as Israel, and encompassed the provinces of Samaria and Galilee. Hoshea, Israel's last king, spurned the powerful nation of Assyria and made a political alliance with Egypt. About the year 722 BC the Assyrian king besieged the capitol city and later carried nearly all the people of the northern kingdom away into slavery and captivity.(II Kings 17) A small remnant of the ten tribes was left. The Assyrians imported foreign people into Samaria in order to better control the conquered territory.
The remnant of the Jews intermarried with the foreign people, and it was these mixed people that were given the name of "Samaritan".
This heathen mixture worshipped idols. God sent wild beasts and many Samaritans were slain. They attributed the plague of lions to their failure to know the Law of God, and they appealed to the king of Assyria for help. He sent them a Jewish priest to "teach them the manner of God of the land". Although the Samaritan religion was very nearly the same as that handed down by Moses, it was most likely tainted with some paganism. That would be one of the main reasons for the aversion of the Jew toward the Samaritan.
Approximatelyu 200 years later after the captivity of the northn tribes, the kingdom of Judah was taken captive by Babylon. Judah was then allowed to return to her homeland in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. The first thing the people of Judah did was begin reconstruction of the Temple at Jerusalem. In Ezra 4, the Samaritans wanted to join the Jews in rebuilding. The Samaritans were told with contempt, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house unto our God". That caused the Samaritans to start hating the Jews.
Hostility continued and increased since then. Around 409 BC Manasseh built a rival temple on Mt.Gerizim. The Samaritans were generally inhospitibale toward pilgrims from Galilee going to Jerusalem for the feasts, and many went by the way of the eastern side of the Jordan valley.
Heh, the rivalry became so intense that the Samaritans would often set rival fires to perplex and confuse the Jews as they watched for their own signal fires which were to announce the rising of the Passover moon.
The woman's surprise at Jesus even speaking to her would have been largely a part of such a history. The other part of her surprise would have come from Jews not speaking to any woman in public, not even his own wife or daughter.
This foolish tradition was carried to such an extreme that some Pharisees would close their eyes when they saw a woman on the city streets. As a result, they often bumped into walls and houses, and came to be known as "the bruised and bleeding Pharisees."
If Jesus had been a normal Jewish rabbi, He would have gone home immediately and washed Himself because He had been in her presence.
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