Researching for Sunday's sermon, I read the following in a commentary on John 4:

"Jesus came to the fountain as a hunter... He threw a grain before one pigeon that he might catch the whole flock... At the beginning of the conversation he did not make himself known to her, but she first caught sight of a thristy man, then a Jew, then a Rabbi, afterwards a prophet, last of all the Messiah.  She tried to get the better of the thirsty man, she showed dislike of the Jew, she heckled the Rabbi, she was swept off her feet by the prophet, and she adored the Christ."

Ephraem the Syrian cited by J A Findley in The Fourth Gospel and Expository Commentary, London, Epworth, 1956, in turn cited by George R Beasley Murray, Word Commentary John, Waco, Texas, Word Books p66

I think I like it!