11, 12. She understands Him to speak of natural water, which He seemed to think superior to that of Jacob’s well; and, concluding that He must refer to the water of some other well, since indeed He had no bucket, no means of drawing from the deep well at which she stood, she asks Him: Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, so as to be able to provide a better water than he provided for us in this well? That its waters were good enough for him and his sons, is a proof of their excellence; that they sufficed for all his household and cattle, is evidence of their abundance. There is a tinge of resentment in the words of verse 12, for the Samaritans claimed descent from Jacob (*our father, Jacob*), through Joseph and Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasses, whose tribal territory they possessed, and this Jewish Stranger seemed to the woman to set Himself above the great Patriarch of her race. 13. Respondit Iesus, et dixit 13. Jesus answered, and said ei: Omnis qui bibit ex aqua to her: Whosoever drinketh of hac, sitiet iterum: qui autem this water, shall thirst biberit ex aqua quam ego dabo again: but he that shall drink ei, non sitiet in aeternum: of the water that I will give him, shall not thirst for ever. 13. Without replying explicitly that He was indeed greater than Jacob, Christ implies this by declaring that the water which He will give is superior to that of Jacob’s well. For while the latter only satisfies present wants, that which He will give will quench present and prevent future thirst. What is said in Eccl. xxiv. 29: “They that drink Me shall yet thirst,” is not opposed to our Lord’s words here; for in Ecclesiasticus there is question of desire springing from love, here of a craving arising from want. These words of our Lord show, then, that sanctifying grace is of its own nature perennial in the soul. Time does not wear it away; use does not consume it; unless it be expelled, it never departs: “He that drinks ... shall not thirst for ever.” 14. Sed aqua, quam ego dabo 14. But the water that I will ei, fiet in eo fons aquae give him, shall become in him salientis in vitam aeternam. a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting. 14. But so far from thirsting, he shall have that within him, that is, the Holy Ghost and His graces, which will conduct him to eternal life. In this beautiful metaphor, the spiritual water of grace is represented as finding its own level; coming from heaven, it will return thither in those whom it has saved. The mention of *eternal life* ought to have made it clear that Christ spoke of supernatural and spiritual water. 15. Dicit ad eum mulier: 15. The woman saith to him: Domine, da mihi hanc aquam, ut Sir, give me this water, that non sitiam, neque veniam huc I may not thirst, nor come haurire. hither to draw.