Exegetically Speaking Immoral or Missionary: Perspectives on the Woman at the Well, with Benjamin Wall: John 4:16-18
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Mar 23, 2026 Benjamin Wall, Professor of Theology and Ethics and Lanier resident scholar, explores how assumptions shape readings of John 4. He examines whether the Greek term for 'husband' implies marital history, offers non-sexual readings like widowhood or divorce, traces patristic allegory and Eastern praise, and considers how cultural sexualization affected interpretation.
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Assumptions Drive Biblical Interpretation
- Hermeneutical assumptions shape interpretation before reading the text.
- Benjamin Wall shows assumptions about gender, sexuality, and sin produce a default narrative that the Samaritan woman is immoral.
Five Men Does Not Necessarily Mean Five Husbands
- The Greek term translated husband fundamentally means man, not necessarily spouse.
- Wall argues moving from 'five men' to 'five husbands' and sexual immorality is a narrative inference, not a grammatical necessity.
Plausible Nonsexual Explanations For Her Life
- Alternative readings include widowhood, forced abandonment, or social circumstances causing her situation.
- Wall cites historical possibilities like repeated widowhood or non-consensual divorce and patristic allegory linking five husbands to 2 Kings 17.
