Hymn 22 of St. Ephrem's *Hymns on Virginity* gives his exegesis of Jesus's conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4 . McVey & Meyendorff *ibid.* p. 354 show that St. Ephrem argues that: >It is not the case that this woman has been divorced and remarried five times and is therefore reproached by Jesus for immorality. Instead she is the victim of a plight like that of Sarah before her marriage to Tobias (str. 4–5). Because the deaths of five successive husbands made all fearful of marrying her and yet to be unmarried subjected her to reproach, she had devised a false marriage for the sake of appearances. Far from being virtually a harlot, as others assume, Ephrem argues that her secret revealed by Jesus is that she is living chastely in her marriage (str. 12–13). This is evident on three grounds: 1) the confidence of her manner of argument (str. 5–9); 2) Jesus’ willingness to speak along with her (str. 5, 10–11); and 3) several typological precedents for her behavior for example, others, notably Elizabeth and Hannah were chagrined by their lack of husbands or children (str. 14–15); just as the unmasking of a deception by Abraham and Sarah about Sarah’s marital status led to the respect of a Gentile king for God, the unveiling of this woman’s deception led to the belief of a city of Gentiles (str. 16–18); just as Tamar disguised her marital status for the sake of continuing the messianic line so the deception of the Samaritan woman led to the revelation of the Messiah to her people (str 19–20). What other Church Fathers, besides St. Ephrem, thought that the Samaritan woman in John 4:17-18 was in a lawful (or virginal?) marriage with her husband?