只是問一下 (1)：為何有五個丈夫

我只是問一下。

聖經記載耶穌對那來打井水的婦人說，祂知道她已經有過五個丈夫。（約四章）

我只是問一下。
一個女人怎麼可能有五個丈夫，卻同時逃過被石頭砸死的命運？還要有五次那麼多？

好吧，那她應該不是一個淫婦。

我還要繼續問下去。
有可能她是因一些小事而被休五次嗎？
無疑男人很容易休妻，只需一紙休書就行。

我還要繼續問下去。
五個都是這樣？

那個重重複複又無可辯駁的休妻理由會是甚麼？

曾經聽過、但沒有聖經支持的理由是：不育。
在那個時代、那種文化環境，這個很可能是一個有力的休妻理由。

若情況是這樣，詮釋者對這女人的看法會有所不同嗎？
這女人會怎樣看待自己？
社群又會怎樣看待這女人？

我只是問一下。

Nicolas-Pierre Loir (1624-1679) (attributed to): Christ and the woman of Samaria – 337 – Fitzwilliam Museum (from Wikimedia Commons)

Just asking (1): Why five husbands?

I’m just asking.

It was recorded that Jesus told the woman at the well that he knew she had had five husbands. (John 4)

I’m just asking.
How could a woman then managed to have five husbands and yet survived the stoning, five times?

Ok.
Then she wasn’t an adulteress after all.

I still am asking.
Could she have been divorced five times for trivial matters?
Surely men could easily divorce, with a piece of paper.

I still am asking.
All five?

What could be the perennial and irrefutable justification for divorcing a wife?

Once heard it suggested, no biblical text to back up, that it might be barrenness. That could be perhaps the robust reason for divorcing a man’s wife then in that culture.

If that’s the case, how would it affect any interpreter’s view of the woman?
And how would the woman view herself, or be viewed in the community?

I am just asking.