Woman at the well 2

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I have a question about the woman at the well who was a Samaritan. I was told at a Catholic women’s bible study that the meaning of her 5 husbands could also be interpreted 5 gods. What were the 5 gods of the Samaritans?
 
Hi!

That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.

Sadly many people (including scholars/theologians, etc.) read into Scriptures things that they envision… as Jesus witting down the names/sins of those accusing the woman caught in adultery, Saul falling to the ground from a horse, St. John being the first to Believe, Jesus interpolating that though He chances the name of Simon to Cephas, He really meant that He would Build His Church on Himself (others have it on a huge boulder that was around that place where they physically happened to be gathered), that Jesus Delegated His Authority to every man and every woman not just the Church… and much more…

Here’s what I found:
Religious beliefs[edit]
•There is one God, YHWH, the same God recognized by the Hebrew prophets.
•The Torah was given by God to Moses.
•Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, is the one true sanctuary chosen by Israel’s God.
•Many Samaritans believe that at the end of days, the dead will be resurrected by the Taheb, a restorer (possibly a prophet, some say Moses).
•Resurrection and Paradise (heaven). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritans#Religious_beliefs)
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Maran atha!

Angel
 
The statement came in the DVD series that accompanied the Catholic Scripture Study International The Book of Isaiah by Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ. He is not the Fr. who does the commentary in the DVD set. I can’t remember who that was.
 
There is no ambiguity about Jesus’ experience as related in John 4: 18

Jesus said to her, “… you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. …”
 
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doesn’t fr mitch have a call-in show on ewtn radio on wednesday. call in and ask.
 
Catholic-Mormon said:
I have a question about the woman at the well who was a Samaritan. I was told at a Catholic women’s bible study that the meaning of her 5 husbands could also be interpreted 5 gods. What were the 5 gods of the Samaritans?
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The answer can be found in 2 Kings 17:29-33.

D
 
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Fr. Donald Calloway mentions that there were 5 baals that the Samaritans worshiped. He mentions also that as the Lord said “the one you have now is not your husband” - He may very well have been referring to himself.
 
Yes that is the same thing I heard. That he was in someways saying the true God that you are with now has not become your God yet. You have not joined my church and become my bride or wife.
 
Thanks this is what I needed. Thanks for leading me to the answer rather than telling me it. I love to find deeper truth through the journey.
 
Soccoth-benoth - The tent of daughters .

As a catholic Mormon this is interesting to me because of the polygamy history of the Mormon church and some of the misconstrued concepts of gathering women in tents or to gather them to use them for the individuals personal sexual desires. This is a false way to look at the true God. The one True God gathers the daughters, virgins, bridesmaids and brides because he values the fidelity, chastity, and virtue and desires to preserve it.

Nergal- represents a very particular aspect of death, one that is often and rightly interpreted as inflicted death, for Nergal is also the god of plague and pestilence as well as being closely associated with warfare.

This is a a false way of looking at the true God . You can not use God to either remove or create evil. God will do what is right because he is God not because we think we wield him as a tool of distraction. God is a creator and a re-creator not a destroyer. Or at least that is not the end object of an destruction we may think we see.

Asima - was a West Semitic goddess of fate. Once again this false belief that anything we do will in someway cause God to change fate. Or that we have any power to use him as a wishing stone or magic lamp to grant desires.

Nibhaz - form of a dog known for barking or making a loud annoying sound that can not be understood by man.
This is not correct God speaks clearly and without demands to him who has ears to hear.

Tarak - someone who thrusts their demands by force.
Once again God does not force obedience

Adram-melech, Adam-melech - has to do with fire in someway.
This may be a false understanding of the consuming fire of the spirit to mean destruction rather than purification or refinement

Just some interesting insight I found I thought I would share. I think it is interesting these are false gods not just because they were not the One True God but because they are also false representations of who God is.
 
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Hi!

Fr. Mitch Pacwa is a favorite of mine (threshold of hope, particularly); he is well versed and quite knowledgeable.

Now, did Fr. Pacwa explained how he came to that understanding?

Maran atha!

Angel
 
Hi, Dave!

Excellent:
17:29 Each national group made idols representing its own gods and put them in the temples of the high places made by the Samaritans; each national group did this in the towns allocated to it. 17:30 The men of Babylon had made a Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuthah a Nergal, the men of Hamath an Ashima, 17:31 the Avvites a Nibhaz and a Tartak; while the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire in honour of Adrammelech and of Anammelech, gods of Sepharvaim. 17:32 They worshipped Yahweh as well, and they appointed priests out of their own number for the high places who officiated for them in the temples of the high places. 17:33 They worshipped Yahweh and served their own gods at the same time, with the rites of the countries from which they had been deported. (2 Kings)
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It is interesting to see this since it does seem as a type for what is transpiring with the Samaritan woman–the sixth man in her life is the type for Yahweh, as He is claimed by the Samaritans while they refuse to Worship according to His Decrees.

Maran atha!

Angel
 
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2 Kings 17 not 29

Chapter 17 verses 29 through 33.

Maran atha!

Angel
 
What is also interesting is that God’s Attributes have been held as deities all to themselves… rejecting the One True God for the understanding man has of His Attributes–this of course violates the very first Commandment: Love Yahweh God Above all else!

Maran atha!

Angel
 
It was not in his text but in the accompanying DVD. It was said by fr patrick Winslow
 
…sorry for the misunderstanding… still, we can surmise from the cited Scriptures in 2 Kings that this could well be the point of reference; still, it can see seen as an adaptation of the passage and not necessarily its intended meaning–too many times we come to conclusions based on personal interpretations… I once heard that Yahweh God acceptance of Abel’s sacrifice was because it was a blood offering and Cain’s was rejected because it was not a blood offering… they missed the whole point of the exercise!

Maran atha!

Angel
 
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I don’t know I think it is a profound statement for God to say to someone " you have had many gods as your protector and provider how have they been doing. But the God who sits before you can provide you living water where you will never thirst again because I will be your husband and the true ( full complete whole everything you need all rolled up in one) God
 
What I also find profound is that Christ uses the woman’s life-experience to bridge her desire to know God to Knowing God’s Truth… instead of breaking her down, Jesus, tenderly, guides her to the Truth: ‘the time is here when you must worship God in Spirit and Truth’ and the slight-of-hands, ‘if you Knew Who was in your presence, you would ask Him, and He would Give you the Water of Life!’

This is the intimacy to which God wants us to reach with Him:
26:12 I will live in your midst; I will be your God and you shall be my people. (Leviticus)
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Maran atha!

Angel
 
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