I changed my name that day, claiming for myself a new name, the name Gilah, Gilah means joy, for now I not only feel joy, but speak with joy. Until that day my days had been marked by bitterness, and my name had been Mara, and my voice had been silenced by alienation and shame.
That day I met a man who understood my hurts and pains, a man , a Jew, who revealed myself to me in a deeper way than I knew possible, he washed away my shame and restored me. I had, had five husbands, he was right, three of them I had buried when I was younger, and at each burial my heart broke a little more. The rumour went around that I was a curse, marry me and die, and so I lived alone for several years until my fourth husband, we were married for two years when he divorced me, put me out for spoiling his supper, at least that was his excuse- although I heard later he was afraid that I was poisoning him! My fifth husband also divorced me, calling my unsatisfactory in every way. Soon alone and embittered I accepted shelter as a concubine from a Greek trader who lived for convenience in our village in Samaria.
I went as always to the well at mid-day, not wishing to run the gauntlet of whispers and stares of those who had been my friends, those who now shunned me. As I approached I saw him resting by the well, I thought of returning home without water, but it was hot and I needed refreshment, and so I approached, hoping he would ignore me, hoping that I could get away quickly.
He did not ignore me, as I placed my water jar on the ground and prepared to draw water he spoke, asking me for a drink. I was shocked, this man, this Jewish man was speaking to me. I was so shocked that, forgetting about convention, I answered him, noting that he had nothing to draw water with, nothing to drink from. Was he really asking to share my cup?
From that point the conversation took a strange direction, stranger even than the fact that we were having a conversation in the first place. He spoke of an stream flowing from within, such deep and intimate conversation with me a stranger, and I responded, asking to draw from that well, that I might never be thirsty again. This was indeed a conversation of many layers!
I asked him about worship, where was the right place to worship, he responded by pointing inward once again, to the place within each one of us where worship begins, in spirit and in truth, in intimacy. He asked me to fetch my husband, and I answered him truthfully, he responded by revealing that he already knew so much more than I had told him, and I knew at once that this was a man of God. He revealed himself to be so much more, here he stood before me, a Samaritan woman God's Messiah, the chosen one.
I heard a whispering behind us, and turned to see the shocked and questioning faces of his companions, he on the other hand was perfectly at ease with both me and them! It was then that I knew, everything had changed, and so I ran, back to the town, right into the square where the men were meeting and called to them to come and see:
"Come and see a man who has told me every ting I ever did."
Shame no longer held me, I had re-claimed my voice, and found a new name!
Commentary
Over the last few weeks I have told and re-told the story of this woman, in preparation for writing an exegesis on this passage. I believe she is a significant character in John's gospel, and in the feminist discourse because here we have a woman, although not named who is given a significant voice!
Surekha Nelavala- a Dalit Feminist Liberation Theologian suggests that this woman gives us a picture of true liberation, not simply because she found her voice, but because she acted to bring about change within her community- there is a true recognition of person-hood here from both the oppressed and the oppressor, that involves acceptance, repentance and a radical transformation particularly from the privileged groups. She states we see Jesus executing a reconciliatory model of liberation. (1)
It is important to note the depths to which this conversation goes in terms of intimacy. Jerome.H. Neyrey looks at this account noting that we can find many things historically/ culturally challenging about the picture being painted. He also looks carefully about the issues of public and private space, suggesting that public space was a place for male rhetoric, whereas women inhabited the private spaces of home and family life.
The woman met Jesus at one of the only acceptable public places for women, and yet it was still unacceptable for them to enter into a conversation, the conversation however moved them from the public space of strangers meeting to the private space where she was accepted into his inner/ family circle. We must note the depth of the encounter here as he not only reveals that true worship comes from within, but also that he knows about her inner thoughts and anguish. (2)
In this retelling of the story I have invented 5 marriages and a lover for this woman, casting aside any suggestions of immorality with which she has been tainted in the past. Although I cannot prove this, and it is therefore speculation, I do so to emphasise Jesus non-judgemental attitude towards her and that the text is not explicit in telling us why this woman had, had five husbands. (3)
The conversation about worship reveals her as a theological voice, again an arena reserved for men. She questions Jesus about geographical places, once again reflecting a concern about public spaces, his answer points to an inner response, a response from the private place, culturally the world and domain of women.(4)
This woman had been able to be open with Jesus about her inner thoughts, Riet Bons- Strom notes that this is unusual even today, where women still fall silent in the face of an androcentric culture, about their needs and about what truly motivates them. (5)
Released and with a new voice she runs to her community to the meeting place and calls them forth to come and see Jesus. I gave this woman a new name to match her new and liberated voice, highlighting her person-hood. She goes to the well thrice alienated, by gender, race and social standing, she returns to her village as a spokesperson, liberated and released from shame.
Notes.
(1) Surekha Nelavala- http://ww.lectio.unibe.ch
(2) Jerome.H. Neyrey- http://www.nd.edu/-jneyrey1/picture.html
(3) Frances Taylor Gench: 2004- Back to the Well p. 117
(4) Jerome.H. Neyrey- http://www.nd.edu/-jneyrey1/picture.html
(5) Riets Bons-Strom 1996- The Incredible Woman- p. 19
