John 4:18

For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: this hast thou said truly.

This was an astounding revelation to the woman that the stranger at the well knew all about her sinful and unhappy life; and yet this had not prevented his earnest conversation with her, nor his asking a drink at her hands. The marvel is that she did not fall upon her knees. Note that this woman had had five husbands, meaning five persons to whom she had been married, and that she was living with a sixth man without benefit of a marriage ceremony. Some deductions made from this passage fail to take these facts into consideration. It is easy to allege sin where it does not exist; and the sin uncovered here was primarily an immoral relationship with a sixth man, and not necessarily the fact of her having been so often married. The Lord left out of our sight the reasons for the break-up or termination of those marriages, some of which could have been due to the death of the husband, rather than to the wanton adultery of this woman whose heart hungered after eternal things. Let them who would charge her in such a manner sustain their charges if they can, it is the preference here to leave the matter of the multiple marriages covered. The present sin of this daughter of Samaria was fully exposed by the Lord's statement.