Lexical Summary antléma: Drawing (of water), bucketful Original Word: ἀντλῆμα Strong's Exhaustive Concordance bucket, baling vesselFrom antleo; a baling-vessel -- thing to draw with. see GREEK antleo NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom antleó Definition a container to draw with NASB Translation draw (1). Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 502: ἄντλημαἄντλημα, ἀντλητος, τό; a. properly, what is drawn, (Dioscor. 4, 64). b. the act of drawing water (Plutarch, mor. (de solert. an. 21, 1), p. 974 e. (but this example belongs rather under c.)). c. a thing to draw with (cf. Winers Grammar, 93 (89)), bucket and rope let down into a well: John 4:11. Ἄντλημα denotes the vessel used for drawing water from a deep source. Though it appears only once, its concrete picture opens a window into a larger biblical motif: humanity’s need to draw life-sustaining water and God’s gracious provision of living water. Historical and Cultural Background In first-century Palestine, wells were communal centers. Travelers carried a leather bucket or relied on the host village to supply one; a stranger without a bucket faced genuine hardship. The absence of such a tool signaled dependency upon local hospitality. At Sychar’s well, Jacob’s ancient gift (Genesis 33:19) still served daily life, and its depth—over one hundred feet in some traditions—made a bucket indispensable. Literary Setting in John 4 John frames the Samaritan woman’s remark, “Sir, You have nothing with which to draw water, and the well is deep” (John 4:11), to heighten the contrast between earthly means and divine sufficiency. Her focus on the missing ἄντλημα underscores physical limitation; Jesus answers by offering Himself as the inexhaustible source: “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst” (John 4:14). The lone occurrence of the term therefore becomes a narrative hinge—moving the dialogue from literal water to spiritual life. Biblical Theology of Drawing Water 1. Covenant Provision 2. Worship and Joy 3. Wisdom and Instruction 4. Eschatological Abundance Christological Significance The missing bucket dramatizes the insufficiency of human effort. Jesus, greater than Jacob (John 4:12), bypasses conventional implements, revealing that the mediator of the new covenant personally dispenses life. The scene anticipates John 7:37-39, where living water becomes the Holy Spirit poured out, not drawn up. Ministry and Discipleship Implications • Dependence: Believers confront tasks for which they possess “nothing with which to draw.” Awareness of inadequacy drives reliance on Christ. Connections with Old Testament Types Jacob’s well invites comparison with earlier well encounters—Eliezer and Rebekah (Genesis 24), Jacob and Rachel (Genesis 29), Moses and Zipporah (Exodus 2). Each meeting at water leads to covenant expansion. In John 4 the pattern culminates as the Bridegroom meets a Samaritan woman, signaling the gathering of all peoples into one flock. Eschatological Perspective The temporary utility of a bucket foreshadows its obsolescence when “the river of the water of life, clear as crystal” flows from God’s throne (Revelation 22:1). Until that day, the Church serves as the vessel through which living water is drawn for a thirsty world. Summary Ἄντλημα, though a humble object and a hapax legomenon, magnifies the gospel’s message: human tools cannot reach the depths of spiritual need, yet in Christ the wellspring of eternal life is freely given. |
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