6. Erat autem ibi fons Iacob, 6. Now Jacob’s well was there. Iesus ergo fatigatus ex Jesus therefore being wearied itinere, sedebat sic supra with his journey, sat thus on fontem. Hora erat quasi sexta. the well. It was about the sixth hour. 6. *Jacob’s well*, which he had dug or bought, was there; and Jesus, weary because of His journey, sat _thus_ (_sic._, “hoc est, fatigatus ut erat,” Beel.) by the well. *It was about the sixth hour.* See on i. 39. 7. Venit mulier de Samaria 7. There cometh a woman of haurire aquam. Dicit ei Iesus: Samaria to draw water. Jesus Da mihi bibere. saith to her: Give me to drink. 7. There cometh a woman of Samaria, not of the city of Samaria, for that was six miles distant, but of the country of Samaria, a Samaritan woman, to draw water.(40) 8. (Discipuli enim eius 8. For his disciples were gone abierant in civitatem ut cibos into the city to buy meats. emerent.) 8. Because He had no one else to give Him to drink, He asks her to do so, and thus leads up naturally to the following discourse. 9. Dicit ergo ei mulier illa 9. Then that Samaritan woman Samaritana: Quomodo tu Iudaeus saith to him: How dost thou, cum sis, bibere a me poscis, being a Jew, ask of me to quae sum mulier Samaritana? drink, who am a Samaritan non enim coutuntur Iudaei woman? For the Jews do not Samaritanis. communicate with the Samaritans. 9. The Samaritans, with whom, as here stated, the Jews avoided all intercourse, were either pure Assyrians or a mixture of Jews and Assyrians, at best a mongrel race. Very probably some Jews were left behind in Samaria at the time of the Assyrian captivity, under Salmanassar, 721 B.C.; and from these intermarrying with the imported Easterns sprang the Samaritans. The Jews regarded the Samaritans with special aversion for many reasons. They were the descendants of the Assyrian conquerors; they held what was the rightful inheritance of the Jews; they corrupted Jewish worship; they endeavoured to prevent the rebuilding of the Temple under Zorobabel (1 Esd. iv. 2, 7, 8), and were always prepared to harbour the false friends or open enemies of the Jews. Hence this woman, recognising in Christ’s dress and accent His Jewish origin, wonders that He would speak to, much less drink from, a Samaritan. The last clause: *For the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans*, is added by the Evangelist as an explanation of the woman’s question for Gentile readers.