Quick post whilst having lunch (trying to not mix the two too much). I thought I'd share some interesting stuff I looked at at university today. We were talking about a certain scholar's interpretation of John 4 (woman at the well). Amongst other things, this scholar suggested that the motif of a man meeting a woman at a well was an Old Testament motif which could only conjure up the following thought: engagement and marriage. In other words, the Jewish reader of John 4 would see Jesus meet a woman at a well and think "aha! I think I know where this is heading!" only to be surprised when Jesus doesn't actually marry the woman.
I'm not sure I follow this scholar's interpretation all the way, but it was fascinating to discuss whether it was legitimate to speak so confidently of the 1st century reader's natural reaction to this scenario. With such heavily-loaded imagery (think of Isaac finding a wife at a well and Moses as well...), was it possible for a Jewish reader to not think "aha, I know what's going on here". I then suggested a modern parallel to the class (with amusing side-effects - see below). If you have two friends (one guy, one girl) and they both go and have a coffee together, it may be completely platonic, but everyone will be thinking "mmmm, is something going on there?". Would the idea of a man meeting a woman at a well have had the same effect on 1st century Jews?
Could it be that John has used this encounter of Jesus with a woman at a well to conjure up all kinds of presuppositions, only to overturn those presuppositions? Is John essentially saying: "you thought this was going to happen, but I tricked you"? I don't know, but it was an interesting point. Anyway half way through the class, the lecturer suggested that in light of these comments, we should be careful who we went with to buy coffee with during the break. Haha!
Who says academics aren't a laugh?
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