The Samaritan Woman at the Well:

Two Texts and Two Traditions in Art

The Samaritan woman at the well was the first evangelist to the gentiles.

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony.

- John 4:39a (RSV)

Two very different early traditions depicted her status in early art.

In the first tradition, she and Jesus stood as equals. Sarcophagus, Gaul, 4th century

Both stand. Catacomb fresco, Rome, 4th century

She and Jesus stood together. Catacomb fresco, Rome, 4th century

She and Jesus both stood. Tile from northern Africa, 5th century

She and Jesus both stood. Bishop’s gold enkolpion from near Ancient Syria, 6th c.

She and Jesus stood together. Constantinople, 550s

Two Texts, Two Traditions

The text of John 4:27 in a 4th-century manuscript written in a dialect of Aramaic (old Syriac) says:

His disciples came and wondered that he was standing and talking with a woman.

Later manuscripts (and our modern bibles) do not say Jesus was standing with her. They only say:

His disciples came and wondered that he was talking with a woman.

In the second tradition, she stood alone. Jesus sat, as if her master.

Saint Apollinaire Nuovo, Ravenna, 6th century

She stood. Jesus sat. Coptic Egypt, 6th century

His disciples came and wondered that he was standing and talking with a woman.

What a difference two words made.

Art as Text

By Ally Kateusz

In honor of Mary Ann Beavis