John 4:30

They went out of the city, and were coming to him.

Such a development as this would require some little time. There was some little distance between the well and the city, a distance traveled twice by this woman before any person in Sychar could hear the message. Then, some considerable time passed during the interview itself, and there would have had to be some further time before the word could be generally circulated among the people. Finally, the movement of an entire multitude of villagers toward the well would also have required still further time. All of these things taken together suggest that the hour was noon, not 6:00 o'clock in the evening. It should be remembered that they were not on daylight saving time.

The movement of the multitude toward Jesus across the plain that separated between the well and the city deeply touched the Saviour's heart. The prevailing color of all clothing in those days was white, dyes being so expensive that only the rich used them; and the Lord's reference to the "white" harvest fields a little later had reference to that field of people dressed in the white garments of the poor moving toward the Lord under the glare of the sun at noon.