Jacob's Well

VIEW:34 DATA:01-04-2020

JACOB?S WELL.?See Sychar.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


On a low slope of Mount Gerizim, at the opening of the valley of Shechem, from which it is one mile and a half distant eastward, with the grainfields of the plain of El Mukna in front. Hence, appears the appropriateness of the allusions "our fathers worshipped in this mountain," namely, Gerizim, whereon the Samaritan temple stood (Joh_4:20); "lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest" (Joh_4:25). The distance from Shechem (Sychar) is no objection; for even if the Samaritan woman's coming to the well was not the result of a providential accident, the sacredness of Jacob's well and the excellence of its deep drawn water would account for her coming so far. It was not the public city well, otherwise it would have been furnished with some means of drawing the water (Joh_4:11). The sinking of so deep a well would only be undertaken by some one who had not access to the neighbouring streams and fountains.
The patriarchs had never want of pasture in Canaan, but often difficulties as to water (Gen_21:25-30; Gen_26:13-15; Gen_26:18-22). Jacob therefore naturally provided himself with a well in his field just purchased (Gen_33:17-19). With characteristic prudence he secured on his own property, by great labour, a perennial supply at a time when the surrounding watersprings, which abound on the surface, were in the hands of unfriendly neighbours. Formerly there was a a square hole opening into a vaulted chamber 15 feet square, in the floor of which was the well's mouth. The vault has fallen, so that stones have fallen in and much reduced its original depth, in Maundrell's time it was 105 feet deep; now it is often dry, at other times it has a few feet of water.
Caspari (Chronicles and Geog. Introd. to Life of Christ) says Sychar originally extended further to the S., and consequently a large part of it lay nearer to Jacob's well than to the fountain Ain el Askar at the N. side of the opening of the valley of Nablus toward the E. Those at the S. of Sychar would repair to Jacob's well rather than to Ain el Askar, which is ten minutes' walk from Jacob's well. The true mouth of the well is but four feet long, and opens into the well itself, which is seven and a half feet in diameter, and now owing to rubbish only 75 ft. deep. The vaulted chamber was possibly the crypt of the church built over the well in the 4th century. Dr. Rogers and Miss Peache have contributed 150 British pounds for clearing the well and protecting it with stonework (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, April 1877).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


Ja'cob's Well. A deep spring in the vicinity of Shechem (called Sychar, in Christ's time and Nablus, at the present day). It was probably dug by Jacob, whose name it bears. On the curb of the well, Jesus sat and discoursed with the Samaritan woman. Joh_4:5-26. It is situated about half a mile southeast of Nablus, at the foot of Mount Gerizim. It is about nine feet in diameter and 75 feet deep. At some seasons, it is dry; at others, it contains a few feet of water.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


or fountain, a well near Shechem, at which our Saviour conversed with the woman of Samaria, Joh_4:12. Jacob dwelt near this place, before his sons slew the inhabitants of Shechem. If any thing, says Dr. E. D. Clarke, connected with the remembrance of past ages be calculated to awaken local enthusiasm, the land around this city is preeminently entitled to consideration. The sacred story of events transacted in the fields of Sichem, Genesis 37, from our earliest years, is remembered with delight; but with the territory before our eyes, where those events took place, and in the view of objects existing as they were described above three thousand years ago, the grateful impression kindles into ecstacy. Along the valley may still be seen, as in the days of Reuben and Judah, “a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh,” who would gladly purchase another Joseph of his brethren, and convey him as a slave to some Potiphar in Egypt. Upon the hills around, flocks and herds are seen feeding as of old; nor in the simple garb of the shepherds of Samaria, at this day, is there any thing repugnant to the notions we may entertain of the appearance formerly presented by the sons of Jacob. In the time of Alexander the Great, Sichem, or Napolose, as it is now called, was considered as the capital of Samaria. Its inhabitants were called Samaritans, not merely as people of Samaria, but as a sect at variance with the Jews; and they have continued to maintain their peculiar tenets to this day. The inhabitants, according to Procopius, were much favoured by the Emperor Justinian, who restored their sanctuaries, and added largely to the edifices of the city. The principal object of veneration among them is Jacob's well, over which a church was formerly erected. This is situated at a small distance from the town in the road to Jerusalem, and has been visited by pilgrims of all ages, but particularly since the Christian era, as the place where Christ revealed himself to the woman of Samaria. The spot is so distinctly marked by the evangelist, John iv, and so little liable to uncertainty from the circumstance of the well itself, and the features of the country, that, if no tradition existed to identify it, the site of it could scarcely be mistaken. Perhaps no Christian scholar ever read the fourth chapter of St. John's Gospel attentively, without being struck with the numerous internal evidences of truth which crowd upon the mind in its perusal. Within so small a compass, it is impossible to find in other writings so many sources of reflection and of interest. Independently of its importance as a theological document, it concentrates so much information, that a volume might be filled with the illustration it reflects upon the history of the Jews, and upon the geography of their country. All that can be gathered from Josephus on these subjects seems to be as a comment to illustrate this chapter. The journey of our Lord from Judea into Galilee; the cause of it; his passage through the territory of Samaria; his approach to the metropolis of that country; its name; his arrival at the Amorite field, which terminates the narrow valley of Sichem; the ancient custom of halting at a well; the female employment of drawing water; the disciples sent into the city for food, by which its situation out of the town is so obviously implied; the question of the woman referring to existing prejudices which separated the Jews from the Samaritans; the depth of the well; the oriental allusion contained in the expression, “living water;” the history of the well, and the customs illustrated by it; the worship upon Mount Gerizim:—all these occur within the space of twenty verses; and if to these be added that remarkable circumstance mentioned in the fifty-first verse of the chapter, where it is stated that as he was now going down, his servants met him,” his whole route from Cana being a continual descent toward Capernaum, we may consider it as a record, signally confirmed in its veracity by circumstances, which remain in indelible character, to give them evidence, to this day.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.





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