John 4:16-18
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
In John 4:16–18, Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman and says, “Go, call your husband and come back.” She responds, “I have no husband.” Jesus then reveals to her that she has had five husbands, and the man she is currently with is not her husband. This exchange isn’t just a personal matter; Jesus is using this interaction to make a profound spiritual statement about Samaritan history and their relationship with God.
The Five Husbands and Samaria’s Spiritual History
1 Kings 17:24
24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities.
In 2 Kings 17:24, we learn that after the Assyrian king conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, he brought in people from five different nations to mix with the Israelites. This led to the creation of the Samaritans — a mixed people, both ethnically and spiritually. These five nations represent the five husbands the Samaritan woman had. Each of these nations (like a series of failed marriages) symbolizes the false worship and idolatry that the Israelites, now Samaritans, had been involved in. They were spiritually unfaithful, much like the woman’s personal history with multiple husbands. This symbolizes a broken covenant and the spiritual unfaithfulness of Samaria.
Hosea’s Prophetic Promise of Reconciliation
In Hosea 1 and 2, God’s relationship with Israel is depicted as a marriage, with Israel (specifically Ephraim, representing the northern kingdom) being unfaithful. God promises, however, that despite Israel’s spiritual unfaithfulness, He would reconcile with them.
Hosea 2:16-20
16 “And it shall be, in that day,”
Says the Lord,
“That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’
And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’
17 For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,
And they shall be remembered by their name no more.
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
With the birds of the air,
And with the creeping things of the ground.
Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth,
To make them lie down safely.19 “I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindness and mercy;
20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And you shall know the Lord.
Hosea 2:16–20 declares that God will marry Israel again after a period of separation and judgment. The promise in Hosea 2:19–20 is, “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.”
This promise is key to understanding Jesus’ words in John 4. By speaking to the Samaritan woman and revealing her five husbands, Jesus is echoing this prophetic promise. He is the fulfilment of the prophecy — coming to reconcile with Samaria (the northern kingdom of Israel, which had been scattered and lost) and bring them back into a faithful relationship with God.
Jesus as the Bridegroom: The Fulfilment of God’s Promise
Jesus is not merely speaking of the woman’s personal relationships; in His wisdom, He is interacting with her and using her real physical relationships to point to a greater spiritual reality, referring to the spiritual history of the Samaritans — the “five husbands” representing the nations that had influenced them. When He says, “the one you now have is not your husband,”, the text is deliberately ambiguous because it has a double referent: the man she is with and/or Jesus who is also with her at that moment. He is referring to the fact that the Samaritans (and the Samaritan woman) have not yet been married to Jesus, he man she has now. They have been in a long spiritual separation, like an unfaithful wife waiting to be remarried to her husband. He is the promised Husband who has come to reconcile with His bride, the Samaritans, and restore them to a faithful relationship with God. Jesus is the Bridegroom of the Samaritans, just as He is of all believers (Matthew 9:15; John 3:29).
Christ’s Offer to the Samaritans: A New Covenant
In the conversation that follows, Jesus reveals that He is offering living water (John 4:10–14), which symbolizes the Holy Spirit and the new life that He brings. This is an invitation to the Samaritans to enter into the new covenant of reconciliation, where they can drink from the water of life and be restored to the true Husband — Christ Himself.
When Jesus tells the woman, “I am He” (John 4:26), He is declaring that He is the promised Messiah who has come to marry His people back to Himself, fulfilling the prophecies and promises made in the Old Testament.