The Woman at the Well (Part 2): A Play on “Yeshua” and the Argument for Mount Gerizim

Read the series.

(Numbers 28:11, Isaiah 12:3-4, and John 4:1-42)

Jesus’ meeting with the Woman at the Well is a popular text for preaching and teaching, rich with application. Space forbids me from addressing the many details about this meeting; I have chosen instead to focus upon a few questions rarely raised. I have already answered the question: “Why was Yeshua so forthright about His Messiahship with the Woman at the Well, but not others?”

Today we will ponder two more questions.

2. How did Jesus play on the word for salvation (yeshuah) and His name (Yeshua), using perhaps a midrash from Isaiah 12:3-4?

Jesus certainly knew and spoke Hebrew.¹ As a matter of fact, literal translations of the Bible suggest that the Jews who lived in Palestine understood and especially responded to Hebrew (Acts 21:40, 22:2).²

In Hebrew, the word for salvation is “yeshuah.” Jesus’ Name is “Yeshua.” To the ear, they sound the same.

Whether Jesus and the Woman at the Well conversed in Hebrew (as I believe) or in the related Aramaic (as most academics believe) does not effect the play on words; the word for salvation and for Jesus are virtually the same in both languages.

Let’s rewind to the Christmas narrative and Joseph’s dream. The angel’s message to him would have sounded something like this: “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Yeshua, for he will yeshuah his people from their sins.” The play on words is evident in Hebrew or Aramaic, but not in Greek.

Let’s fast forward back to John 4:22, where Jesus responds to the Samaritan woman’s objection about where God is to be formally worshiped. He scolds: “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.”

The theological import of this statement is significant. It clearly suggests that the nation of Israel is the one nation on earth through which salvation comes. It also makes it obvious that Jesus considered Himself to be a Jew (“we worship,” “we know”). It is also possible (audibly) to understand this as a play on words: “Yeshua is from the Jews.” Thus Yeshua (Jesus) is yeshuah (salvation). Of course the woman may not have understood this play on words—at least initially.

Things get thicker. Consider how Isaiah 12:3-4 relates the idea of “wells” being linked to salvation and how the passage parallels the woman’s faith response:

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation [yeshuah]. And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.”

Drawing water from the wells of yeshuah (Yeshua) means one not need thirst again. He offers truly satisfying waters. And those who drink of that well are quick to tell everyone they know about Him, as this woman did (John 4:28-30).³

3. What argument did the Samaritans have for locating their temple on Mount Gerizim?

The Samaritans were not dumb. Their conviction—that the temple should be built on Mt. Gerizim—was not random. In our day, modern Jews consider the Samaritans to be true Jews. Jesus, however, made a distinction between the Samaritans and the Jews. Part of that difference is theological.

One such difference between the two groups is that the Samaritans only accepted the Torah (Pentateuch) and did not recognize the rest of the Tanakh (Old Testament) written afterward. More than 400 years after the time of Moses (and the Torah) Solomon built the temple on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1).⁴

If one only accepts the Torah and not the rest of the Tanakh, the argument for locating the temple on Mt. Gerizim is formidable. Deuteronomy 27:4-7 passim reads:

And when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. And there you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones… And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God, and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 11:29 reads:

And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

Why would the Jews build an altar on Mt. Ebal, when it was the mount representing curses? Some understand the text to be better translated as a command to build an altar facing Mt. Ebal (which would then be Mt. Gerizim).

Professor Jonathan Ben-Dov of the University of Haifa summarizes some of the elements of the argument. He informs us that a number of ancient Old Testament manuscripts list Mt. Gerizim (not Ebal) as the place to build the altar.

Before we quote him, let me define the abbreviations used in his summary. SP stands for Samaritan Pentateuch (Torah) which differs slightly from the Masoretic (mainstream Jewish and Christian) Pentateuch. LXX represents the Septuagint, a pre-Christian translation of the Old Testament (including the Pentateuch) into Greek. The Qumran caves were the dwelling place of the Dead Sea Scroll people. Ben-Dov writes:

First, discoveries in the Qumran caves revealed a number of ancient manuscripts which reflect what we know today as the text of the SP. These manuscripts do not reflect a Samaritan environment, but rather attest to a type of text that circulated among all sorts of Jews in the Second Temple period.

Second, it became apparent that the Old Greek text of Deuteronomy—i.e., not the LXX, the traditional Greek text used by Christians and some Jews, but rather a more pristine one—read Gerizim in Deut 27:4, just as the Samaritan text does.

…Considering the question again with the eyes of biblical historians we may ask: How likely is it that the old Deuteronomy would require an altar be built on Mt. Ebal of all places? After all, this mountain was mentioned twice in Deuteronomy as the place where a curse is to be placed.

On one hand, if the original site mentioned in Deuteronomy 27 was Mount Ebal, it corresponds to the ancient altar discovered by Zertal that existed on the site. If this were the case, it seems reasonable that a Samaritan scribe would have adjusted it to Gerizim to fit with his tradition.

On the other hand, an equally plausible scenario suggests that the original Deuteronomy mentioned Gerizim, the mountain of blessing, as the place of the altar. This original reading was preserved in both the Old Greek Text and the Samaritan Torah…⁵

Jesus settled the matter: Jerusalem (Mt. Zion) is the place for the temple, because the Jewish people have the entire Tanakh which clearly states this. Yeshua does not address where the original altar was built—that is not an issue. Even more notably, temple location was a passing issue. From His time onward, the real issue was not a matter of location, but rather worshiping God in spirit and in truth—wherever. The altar that matters is within the human heart.