John 4:13-15 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jesus said, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again How much soever this water may be esteemed, and though it may refresh the body, and allay its thirst for a little while, yet the appetite will soon return, even if it be drunk ever so plentifully. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him Will find it so reviving and satisfying to his soul; that he will never thirst Be without refreshment, dissatisfied, or unhappy; that is, provided he continue to drink thereof. If ever his thirst, or his dissatisfaction and uneasiness return, it will be the fault of the man, not of the water. But the water that I shall give him The Spirit of faith and love, hope and joy, of holiness and happiness; shall be in him An inward, living principle; a well of water A fountain, as πηγη signifies. A well is soon exhausted. Springing Αλλομενου, bubbling up, and flowing on into everlasting life, which is a continence, or rather an ocean of streams arising from this fountain. “Some would render the original expression, ου μη διψηση εις τον αιωνα, (instead of shall never thirst,) shall not thirst for ever: but not to urge how much this spoils the antithesis, the expression used, John 6:35, ου μη διψηση πωποτε, is not liable to any such ambiguity. The force and truth of our Lord's assertion seems to lie in this, that the most impatient and restless desires of the soul being satisfied, when it is fixed on God as its supreme happiness, other thirst was not worth being mentioned.” Doddridge. The woman Still ignorant of our Lord's meaning, and understanding him as speaking only of natural water; saith unto him, Sir, give me this water Extraordinary as it is, according to thy declaration; that I thirst not Any more for ever, and may be saved the trouble of coming every day so far for water. She seems to have had a mind to turn Christ's words into ridicule. It therefore became necessary that he should open to her a new scene, and, by bringing her besetting sin to remembrance, touch her in a tender part, as he does in the next words.