What's Wrong With This Picture? John 4, Cultural Stereotypes of Women, and Public and Private Space

Abstract

Since John 4 makes much of gender issues, readers must know the typical cultural expectations in antiquity concerning females in terms of places, times, persons, and things. Initially, the Samaritan woman appears to be shamefully "out of place" at the well at noon; but as she is transformed into a disciple, she becomes "in place," and so her actions and behavior are judged appropriate within the fictive-kinship circle of disciples. Thus she moves from "public" to "private" space, with corresponding shifts in behavior and evaluation. According to cultural expectations, she represents the quintessential deviant (non-Jew, unclean, shameless, even sinner); but in her transformation, she exemplifies the radical inclusivity of Jesus' circle.