{"id":26140,"date":"2022-09-24T11:29:28","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T16:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-john-46\/"},"modified":"2022-09-24T11:29:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T16:29:28","slug":"exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-john-46","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-john-46\/","title":{"rendered":"Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 4:6"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with [his] journey, sat thus on the well: [and] it was about the sixth hour. <\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

6<\/strong>. Jacob’s well<\/em> ] Or, spring<\/strong> ( Joh 4:11<\/em><\/span>). It still exists, but without spring-water; one of the few sites about which there is no dispute, in the entrance to the valley between Ebal and Gerizim.<\/p>\n

sat thus on the well<\/em> ] Or, was sitting<\/strong> thus<\/em> (just as He was) by<\/strong> the<\/em> spring<\/strong>. All these details mark the report as of one who had full information.<\/p>\n

about the sixth hour<\/em> ] See on Joh 1:39<\/span>. This case again is not decisive as to S. John’s mode of reckoning the hours. On the one hand, noon was an unusual hour for drawing water. On the other, a woman whose life was under a cloud ( Joh 4:18<\/em><\/span>) might select an unusual hour; and at 6 p.m. numbers would probably have been coming to draw, and the conversation would have been disturbed. Again, after 6 p.m. there would be rather short time for all that follows. These two instances (Joh 1:39<\/span> and this) lend no strong support to the antecedently improbable theory that S. John’s method of counting the hours is different from the Synoptists.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Jacobs well – <\/B>This is not mentioned in the Old Testament. It was called Jacobs well, probably, either because it was handed down by tradition that he dug it, or because it was near to the land which he gave to Joseph. There is still a well a few miles to the east of Nablus, which is said by the people there to be the same. Eli Smith, missionary to Syria, stated to me that he had visited this well. It is about 100 feet deep. It is cut through solid rock of limestone. It is now dry, probably from having been partly filled with rubbish, or perhaps because the water has been diverted by earthquakes. The well is covered with a large stone, which has a hole in the center large enough to admit a man. It is at the foot of Mount Gerizim, and has a plain on the east.<\/P>

Sat thus – <\/B>Jesus was weary, and, being thus weary, sat down on the well. The word translated on here may denote also by – he sat down by the well, or near it.<\/P>

The sixth hour – <\/B>About twelve oclock noon. This was the common time of the Jewish meal, and this was the reason why his disciples were gone away to buy food.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Verse 6<\/span>. Jacob’s well was there.<\/B><\/I>] Of this well Mr. Maundrell gives the following account. “About one-third of an hour from Naplosa, the ancient Sychar and Sychem, stood Jacob’s well. If it be inquired, whether this be the very place, seeing it may be suspected to stand too remote from Sychar for the women to come and draw water, we may answer-that, in all probability, the city extended farther in former times than it does now, as may be conjectured from some pieces of a very thick wall, the remains perhaps of the ancient Sychem<\/I>, still to be seen not far from hence. Over it stood formerly a large church, erected by the Empress Irene<\/I>; but of this the voracity of time, assisted by the hands of the Turks<\/I>, has left nothing but a few foundations remaining. The well is covered at present with an old stone vault, into which you are let down by a very strait hole; and then, removing a broad flat stone, you discover the well itself. It is dug in a firm rock, is about three yards in diameter, and thirty-five in depth, five of which we found full of water. This confutes a story frequently told to travellers, ‘That it is dry all the year round, except on the anniversary of that day on which our blessed Saviour sat upon it; but then bubbles up with abundance of water.’ At this well the narrow valley of Sychem ends, opening itself into a wide field, which probably is part of the ground given by Jacob to his son Joseph. It is watered by a fresh stream, running between it and Sychem, which makes it exceedingly verdant and fruitful.” See Maundrell’s Travels, 5th edit. p. 62.<\/P>

<\/P>

Cutting pools<\/I>, or making wells<\/I> for public use<\/I>, renders a man famous<\/I> among the Hindoos<\/I>. So this well had the name of Jacob<\/I>, because he had digged it, and it was for public use.<\/P>

<\/P>

Sat thus<\/B><\/I>] Chrysostom inquires what the particle thus<\/I>, , means here? and answers, that it simply signifies, he sat not upon a throne, seat, or cushion; but (as the circumstances of the case required) upon the ground. This is a sense which is given to the word in the ancient Greek writers. See Raphelius, Wetstein<\/I>, and Pearce<\/I>. It is probably a mere expletive, and is often so used by Josephus. See several examples in Rosenmuller<\/I>.<\/P>

<\/P>

The sixth hour.<\/B><\/I>] About twelve o’clock: See Clarke on Joh 1:31<\/span>. The time<\/I> is noted here:<\/P>

1. To account for Christ’s fatigue<\/I>-he had already travelled several hours.<\/P>

2. To account for his thirst<\/I>-the sun had at this time waxed hot<\/I>.<\/P>

3. To account for the disciples going to buy food<\/I>, Joh 4:8<\/span>, because this was the ordinary time of dinner<\/I> among the Jews. See the note referred to above. Dr. Macknight thinks the sixth hour<\/I> to be the Roman six o’clock in the afternoon. See Clarke on Joh 1:29<\/span>.<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

It was called Jacobs, either because he digged it, (as we read of Abrahams digging a well), Gen 21:30<\/span>, and Isaac, (Gen 26:18<\/span>) or because he and his family used it, as Joh 4:12<\/span>. Our Lord used no horse or chariot ordinarily in his travels, but went on foot; we never read of him in a coach or chariot, but once upon the back of a beast (that was when he rode into Jerusalem upon an ass); he ordinarily travelled on foot; and the evangelist taketh notice of his weariness, to let us know that he was truly man, and subjected to weariness, and other human infirmities. And he rested himself upon the sides of the well, and it was about now time; for that was, according to their computation, <\/P>

the sixth hour.<\/B> Joh 4:8<\/span> tells us his disciples were gone to the city to buy meat, so as he was alone. <\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

6-8. wearied . . . sat thus<\/B>thatis, “as you might fancy a weary man would”; an instance ofthe graphic style of St. John [WEBSTERand WILKINSON]. In fact,this is perhaps the most human<\/I> of all the scenes of our Lord’searthly history. We seem to be beside Him, overhearing all that ishere recorded, nor could any painting of the scene on canvas, howeverperfect, do other than lower the conception which this exquisitenarrative conveys to the devout and intelligent reader. But with allthat is human,<\/I> how much also of the divine<\/I> have wehere, both blended in one glorious manifestation of the majesty,grace, pity, patience with which “the Lord” imparts lightand life to this unlikeliest of strangers, standing midway betweenJews and heathens. <\/P>

the sixth hour<\/B>noonday,<\/I>reckoning from six A.M.From So 1:7<\/span> we know, as fromother sources, that the very flocks “rested at noon.” ButJesus, whose maxim was, “I must work the works of Him that sentMe while it is day” (Joh 9:4<\/span>),seems to have denied Himself that repose, at least on this occasion,probably that He might reach this well when He knew the woman wouldbe there. Once there, however, He accepts . . . the grateful ease ofa seat on the patriarchal stone. But what music is that which I hearfrom His lips, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavyladen, and I will give you rest” (Mt11:28<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Now Jacob’s well was there<\/strong>,…. So called, either because it was dug by him; or because he and his family made use of it, when in those parts, as in Joh 4:12<\/span>, though no mention is made of it elsewhere, unless any reference is had to it in the blessing of Joseph, to whom this place belonged, Ge 49:22<\/span>, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, or in De 33:28<\/span>, as Grotius suggests: in the Talmud f there is mention made, of , “the fountain of Sochar”; and may not improperly be rendered, “the well of Sychar”: but whether the same with this, is not certain; that appears to be a great way from Jerusalem, as this also was, even forty miles:<\/p>\n

Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey<\/strong>; having travelled on foot, from Judea thither; and he having a body like to ours, subject to weariness, and which proves the truth and reality of it, was greatly fatigued; having very probably travelled all that morning, if not a day, or days before:<\/p>\n

sat thus on the well<\/strong>; or by it; by the side of it, upon the brink of it, as Nonnus paraphrases it, upon the bare ground. The Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions, leave out “thus”; and the Ethiopic version reads it, “there”; but it is rightly retained, and is emphatical; and signifies, that he sat like a weary person, glad to set himself down any where; and not caring how, or where, he sat to rest his weary limbs:<\/p>\n

and it was about the sixth hour<\/strong>; about twelve o’clock at noon. The Ethiopic version adds by way of explanation, and “it was then noon”; and all the Oriental versions omit , “about”; rendering it, “it was the sixth hour”: and now Christ had been travelling all the morning, and it was a time of day to take some refreshment, which as yet he had not, the disciples being gone to buy food; and a time of day also, when the sun if out, and has any strength, beats with its greatest vehemence; and all which considered, it is no wonder that he should be weary, faint, and thirsty.<\/p>\n

f T. Hieron. Shekalim, fol. 48. 4. T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 82. 2. & Menachot, fol. 64. 2. & Gloss. in Sanhedrin, fol. 11. 2.<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Jacob’s well <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). “A spring of Jacob” (here and verse 14<\/span>), but <\/SPAN><\/span> (well, pit, cistern) in verses John 4:11<\/span>; John 4:12<\/span>. It is really a cistern 100 feet deep dug by a stranger apparently in a land of abundant springs (Ge 26:19<\/span>).<\/P>

Wearied <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). Perfect active participle of <\/SPAN><\/span>, a state of weariness. The verb means to toil excessively (Lu 5:5<\/span>). John emphasizes the human emotions of Jesus (John 1:14<\/span>; John 11:3<\/span>; John 11:33<\/span>; John 11:35<\/span>; John 11:38<\/span>; John 11:41<\/span>; John 12:27<\/span>; John 13:21<\/span>; John 19:28<\/span>).<\/P>

With his journey <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). As a result (<\/SPAN><\/span>) of the journey. Old compound word from <\/SPAN><\/span> (wayfarer), in N.T. only here and 2Co 11:26<\/span>.<\/P>

Sat <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). Imperfect (descriptive) middle of <\/SPAN><\/span>, “was sitting.”<\/P>

Thus <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). Probably “thus wearied,” graphic picture.<\/P>

By the well <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Literally, “upon the curbstone of the well.”<\/P>

Sixth hour <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Roman time, about 6 P.M., the usual time for drawing water. <\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Well [] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Strictly, spring. The word for cistern or well is frear, which John uses at vv. 11, 12. Elsewhere in the New Testament always of a pit. See Luk 14:5<\/span>; Rev 9:1<\/span>, 2<\/span>. There is no mention of Jacob ‘s Well in the Old Testament. The traditional well still remains. “At the mouth of the valley of Schechem two slight breaks are visible in the midst of the vast plain of corn – one a white Mussulman chapel; the other a few fragments of stone. The first of these covers the alleged tomb of Joseph,… the second marks the undisputed site of the well, now neglected and choked up by the ruins which have fallen into it; but still with every claim to be considered the original well” (Stanley, “Sinai and Palestine “). Dr. Thomson says :” I could see nothing like a well – nothing but a low, modern wall, much broken down, and never, apparently, more than ten feet high. The area enclosed by it is fifty – six paces from east to west, and sixty – five from north to south. The surface is covered by a confused mass of shapeless rubbish, overgrown with weeds and nettles…. The well is near the southeastern corner of the area, and, to reach the mouth of it, one must let himself down, with some risk, about ten feet into a low vault “(” Land and Book “). Dr. Thosson also remarks upon the great discrepancy in the measurements of the well by different tourists, owing to the accumulations of stones and debris from the ruins of the buildings which formerly covered it.” All confirm the saying of the Samaritan woman that ‘the well is deep. ‘ ” Maundrell, in 1697, makes the depth one hundred and five feet, with fifteen feet of water. Mr. Calhoun, in 1838, found nearly the same depth of water. Dr. Wilson, in 1841, found the depth only seventy – five feet, which is confirmed by the later measurements of Captain Anderson in 1866, and of Lieutenant Conder in 1875. <\/P>

Wearied [] <\/SPAN><\/span>. See on Luk 5:5<\/span>. <\/P>

Thus. Just as He was; or, as some explain, being thus wearied. <\/P>

Sat. The imperfect tense; was sitting, when the woman came. <\/P>

Sixth Hour. According to the Jewish reckoning, mid – day. According to the Roman mode, between 5 and 6 P. M. See on 1 39. Evening was the usual time for drawing water.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) “Now Jacob’s well was there.”<\/strong> (en de ekei pege tou lakob) “Now there was out there a fountain (well) of Jacob,” one Jacob had dug centuries before; It is now curbed by stones and a tourist attraction for the Christian, Jewish, and Moslem world.<\/p>\n

2) ”Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey,”<\/strong> (ho oun lesous kekopiakos A tes hodoiporias) “Therefore Jesus having become weary or fatigued from the journey,” to Samaria, being tested, as a man “in all things,” as we are Heb 4:14-16<\/span>.<\/p>\n

3) “Sat thus on the well:-<\/strong> (ekathezeto houtos epi te pege) “Sat there wearied upon the fountain curb,” or curb of the well, while His disciples had apparently gone into the city to buy food and other needs of travel, Joh 4:27<\/span>; Joh 4:31-34<\/span>.<\/p>\n

4) “And it was about the sixth hour.”<\/strong> (hora en hos hekte) “It was about the sixth hour,” of the day, about noon, mid-day, a time for temporary rest and refreshment in a journey. It appears that the disciples had no intention at this time to stay or tarry a few days in and among the Samaritans, a thing they did, however, after the salvation of the special fallen woman, and many of the Samaritan men, Joh 4:39-43<\/span>. It appears that John remained with Jesus while the other disciples went into the city, since he is the only writer to recount the story, just as he did the story of Nicodemus at night, Joh 3:1-36<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

(6) Jacobs well<\/strong> is one of the few spots about the position of which all travellers are agreed. Jesus, passing from south to west would pass up the valley of Mochna<\/em> until the road turns sharp to the west, to enter the valley of Sichem between Ebal and Gerizim. Here is Jacobs field, and in the field is Jacobs well. It is dug in the rock, and is about 9 feet in diameter. The older travellers described it as more than 100 feet deep, and with several feet of water. Modern travellers have generally found it dry. Wilson describes it, in 1843, as only 75 feet deep.<\/p>\n

Sat thus on the well.<\/strong>Better, was sitting thus at the well.<\/em> The words are one of the instances of exact knowledge which meet us in this Gospel. The tense is the descriptive imperfect. He was thus sitting when the woman came. He thus recalls the picture as it was impressed and remained fixed in the writers mind. He saw Him, wearied by the noontide journey, sitting thus by the well, while they went on to the city to procure food. The reality of this fatigue, as one of the instances witnessing to the reality of His human nature, is important.<\/p>\n

About the sixth hour<\/strong>i.e.,<\/em> as elsewhere in St. John, following the ordinary mode of counting, about 12 oclock. (Comp. Note on Joh. 1:39<\/span>.) It is contended, on the other hand, that this was not the usual time for women to resort to the wells to draw water, but the narrative perhaps implies an unusual hour, as it speaks of only one woman there.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

6<\/strong>. <\/strong> Jacob’s well<\/em> Whether the well is Jacob’s <\/em> or not, a well which no one doubts to be the one here described, still exists in the plain of Mukhnah, [see cut,] about two miles from Shechem. Says Dr. Newman: “Measuring seventy-five feet deep and nine in diameter, this patriarchal well is excavated in the solid rock, <\/em> with regular and smoothly-hewn sides. Originally a vaulted chamber,” (like a curb sunk even with the ground,)<\/p>\n

“ten feet square and as many deep below the surface of the ground, formed the entrance to the well, the walls of which have fallen in, rendering access difficult. Leaping down into the ruined vault, I found two openings into the well through heaps of limestone blocks. Attaching a cord to a small tin bottle, I lowered it to the depth of sixty-five feet, but found no water. On lowering it, however, through the other aperture to the depth of seventy-five feet, I reached the water, which was from three to five feet deep.” Dr. Newman describes the water as clear and pleasant. “The week I spent at Nablous I never wearied in my journeyings to drink of these delicious waters.” Mr. Tristam at one visit found no water, but merely moist mud at the bottom. Mr. Wilson (1841) found the bottom so dry that by letting down combustibles and fire he lighted up a flame at the bottom completely illuminating its utmost depth. <\/p>\n

Sat thus<\/em> Thus <\/em> wearied, as he was. <\/p>\n

Sixth hour<\/em> Noon of an autumn day; an hour at which there would seldom be any person at the well.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

‘Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour.’<\/p>\n

The demands of Jesus’ ministry had caught up with Him, and on their journey through the heat of the sun Jesus grew weary. We are reminded here that He Who was the Word, the Creator of the world, was also truly human and suffered from the weakness of the body like the rest of us do. The true humanity of Jesus is stressed here. He was ‘very tired’.<\/p>\n

When they came across the welcome sight of Jacob’s Well (well = pege, a fount of running water, thus fed by a spring) He sat down to rest, while the disciples went into the nearby town for food. Whether all the disciples who were with Him went we are not told, and it may well be that one or two remained with Jesus.<\/p>\n

‘Sat thus –’. ‘Thus’ could refer back to His weariness. He sank down exhausted. It could alternatively mean ‘just where He happened to be’. Unless He had specifically commanded all to the disciples to go (there may only have been three or four) it must seem probable that at least one remained behind with him, possibly John. But if so he does not appear in the story.<\/p>\n

The writer remembers it was about the sixth hour. If this was by Jewish reckoning it would be around twelve noon (reckoning from sunrise), if by Roman reckoning around six-o-clock in the evening (reckoning from noon). In Joh 20:19<\/span> the writer clearly uses Roman reckoning which was from midnight to noon and then noon to midnight, and not Jewish reckoning which was from sunset to sunrise and then from sunrise to sunset, and that is probably so here. It is in fact more likely that a woman would come at in the evening rather than during the heat of the day.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Joh 4:6<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Now Jacob’s well was there.<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> Mr. Maundrell, in his Travels, gives the following account of Jacob’s well: “About one-third of an hour from Naplosa <\/em>(the ancient Sychar, <\/em>as it is termed in the New Testament) stood Jacob’s well, famous not only on account of its author, but much more for the memorable conference which our blessed Lord had there with the woman of Samaria. If it should be inquired whether this be the very place it is pretended to be, seeing it may be suspected to stand too remote from Sychar for the woman to come and draw water, we may answer, that in all probability the city extended farther in former times than it does now, as may be conjectured from some pieces of a very thick wall, the remains perhaps of the ancient Sichem, still to be seen not far from hence. Over it stood formerly a large church, erected by that great and devout patroness, of the Holy Land, the Empress Irene; <\/em>but of this the voracity of time, assisted by the hands of the Turks, has left nothing but a few foundations remaining. The well is covered at present with an old stone vault, into which you are let down by a very straight hole; and then removing a broad flat stone, you discover the well itself. It is dug in a firm rock, is about three yards in diameter, and thirty-five in depth, five of which we found full of water. This confutes a story commonlytold to travellers, who do not take the pains to examine the well; namely, ‘that it is dry all the year round, except on the anniversary of that day in which our blessed Saviour sat upon it, but then bubbles up with abundance of water.’ At this well the narrow valley of Sichem ends, opening itself into a wide field, which probably is part of the piece of ground given by Jacob to his son Joseph. It is watered by a fresh stream running between it and Sichem, which makes it so exceeding verdant and fruitful, that it may well be looked upon as a standing token of the kindness of that good patriarch to the best of sons.” See Gen 48:22<\/span>. <\/p>\n

Jesus thereforesat thus on the well<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> Sat down immediately by the well. <\/em>Doddridge. Whitby says “Sat down thus, <\/em>means, weary as he was.” And it was about the sixth hour, <\/em>says the evangelist, that is, about six in the evening, <\/em>and not, as commentators have generally thought, in the middle of the day, or at highnoon; for in those countries the women never draw water in the middle of the day, but always about sun-setting, as is evident from Gen 24:11<\/span>. Wherefore, as the woman came to draw water while Jesus was sitting by the well, it cannot be the Jewish but the Roman sixth hour, <\/em>of which the sacred historian speaks. See on Ch. Joh 1:39<\/span>. By this time, as the verse informs us, Jesus was fatigued with his journey; and therefore, before he proceeded, he sent his disciples to the nearest town for refreshment, as there was no place upon the road where he could meet with any accommodation. It may be objected, that the circumstances of the history oblige us to suppose, that this journey through Samaria was made so late in the year, that the transactions could not happen at six in the evening. But it may be proved, that when Jesus preached in the synagogue of Nazareth, after leaving Samaria, it was about the beginning of September; whence it will appear, that he travelled through Samaria in August: if so, all the particulars here related may have happened in the time allotted to them on this supposition: for when Jesus sat down by the well, it was about the sixth hour, <\/em>perhaps near half an hour before it; and from that time till it was dark, was sufficient for all the transactions mentioned in this history. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Joh 4:6<\/span> . ] a spring-well<\/em> (Joh 4:11<\/span> ), the making of which tradition ascribed to Jacob<\/em> . It is still in existence, and regarded with reverence, though there is no spring-water in it. See Robinson, III. p. 330; Ritter, XVI. 634. The ancient sacredness of the spot made it all the more worthy of being specially noted by John.<\/p>\n

] thus, without further ado, just as He was<\/em> , without any ceremony or preparation, “ut locus se obtulerat,” Grotius; , Chrysostom. See Ast, Lex. Plat<\/em> . II. p. 495; Ngelsbach, z. Ilias<\/em> , p. 63, Exo 3<\/span> . The rendering “ tired as He was<\/em> ” (Erasmus, Beza, Winer, Hengstenberg), so that the preceding participle is repeated in meaning (see Bornemann in Rosenmller’s Rep<\/em> . II. p. 246 ff., Ast, l.c.;<\/em> Stallbaum, ad Plat. Protag<\/em> . p. 314 C), would require the to be placed before<\/em> , as in Act 27:17<\/span> ; Act 20:11<\/span> .<\/p>\n

] at the well<\/em> , denoting immediate proximity to it, Joh 4:2<\/span> ; Mar 13:29<\/span> ; Exo 2:15<\/span> . See Bernhardy, p. 249; Reisig, ad Oed. Col<\/em> . 281; Ellendt, Lex. Soph<\/em> . I. 541.<\/p>\n

] noon, mid-day;<\/em> , Nonnus. Here again we have not the Roman reckoning (see on Joh 1:40<\/span> ), though the evening [184] was the more usual time for drawing water. Still we must not suppose that, because the time was unusual, it was intended thereby that Jesus might know, in connection therewith, “that the woman was given Him of the Father” (Luthardt, p. 80). Jesus knew that, independently of the hour. But John<\/em> could never forget<\/em> the hour, so important in its issues, of this first preaching to the Samaritan woman, and therefore<\/em> he names it. Comp. Joh 1:40<\/span> .<\/p>\n

[184] If it had been six o’clock in the evening (as even Isenberg in the Luther. Zeitschr<\/em> . 1868, p. 454 ff., maintains, for the sake of Joh 19:14<\/span> ), how much too short would the remainder of the day he for all that follows down to ver. 40! We must allow a much longer time, in particular, for vv. 28 30, and yet ver. 35 still presupposes bright daylight.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his<\/em> journey, sat thus on the well: and<\/em> it was about the sixth hour. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ver. 6. Jesus therefore, being wearied<\/strong> ] And in that he himself had suffered, he was the more able and apt to help this poor Samaritess. So the apostle bids us pity those in adversity, as being ourselves in the body, i.e.<\/em> in the body of flesh and frailty, subject to like misery. a<\/em> He that hath had the toothache, will pity those that have it. Non ignara mali, &c.<\/em> Do not ignore evil. We are orphans all (said Queen Elizabeth, in her speech to the children of Christ’s Hospital), let me enjoy your prayers, and ye shall be sure of mine assistance.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

a<\/em> ’ Proportionate ad miseriam condolere, Heb 5:2<\/span><\/em> ; Heb 13:3<\/span> . <\/p>\n

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

6.<\/strong> ] Robinson (iii. 112) can only solve the difficulty of the present well standing in a spot watered by so many natural fountains, by supposing that it may have been dug, according to the practice of the patriarchs, by Jacob, in connexion with the plot of ground which he brought, to have an independent supply of water.<\/p>\n

<\/strong> see reff. refers to <\/strong> . <\/strong> <\/strong> .<\/strong> , and may be rendered accordingly<\/strong> . There is no authority for the meaning , ‘just as he was,’ or ‘just as it happened,’ i.e. on the bare stone.<\/p>\n

<\/strong> <\/strong> <\/strong> , mid-day<\/strong> . Townson supposed the sixth hour, according to John, to mean six in the evening<\/em> , “after the way of reckoning in Asia Minor;” but, as Lcke observes (i. 580), this way of reckoning in Asia Minor is a pure invention of Townson’s. A decisive answer however to such a supposition here, or any where else in our Evangelist, is, that he would naturally have specified whether it was 6 A.M. or P.M. The unusualness<\/em> of a woman coming to draw water at mid-day is no argument against its possibility;<\/em> indeed the very fact of her being alone<\/em> seems to shew that it was not the common time. This purely arbitrary hypothesis of St. John’s way of reckoning the hours has been recently again upheld by Bp. Wordsworth: but it has only harmonistic grounds to rest on. The passage which he urges as supporting it, Martyr. Polycarp, c. 21, p. 1044, ed. Migne, does not in reality give it the least countenance. The there mentioned is much more probably according to the usual Roman computation.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Joh 4:6<\/span> . . Both and are used in this context; the former meaning the spring or well of water, the latter the dug and built pit or well. In Joh 4:11<\/span> is necessarily used. Whether in this Joh 4:6<\/span> is to be rendered “at,” keeping in its strict sense, or “on” as if for is doubted; but the former is certainly the more natural rendering; cf.<\/em> Aristoph., Frogs<\/em> , 191, where with accus. gives rise to misunderstanding of sitting “ on<\/em> ” an oar instead of “at” it. Jacob’s well lies ten minutes south of the present village ‘Askar, and a good spring exists in ‘Askar. This has given rise to the difficulty: Why should a woman have come so far, passing good sources of water supply? Most probably the reason is that this well was Jacob’s, and special virtue was supposed to attach to it; or because in the heat of summer other wells and streams were dry. The real difficulty is: Why was there a well there at all, in the neighbourhood of streams? Possibly Jacob may have dug it that he might have no quarrelling with his neighbours about water-rights. As a stranger with a precarious tenure he might find this necessary. Travellers agree in accepting as Jacob’s well here mentioned the Ain-Jakub, or Bir-et-Jakub, some twenty minutes east of Nabls. . It was “about,” (Theophylact calls attention to this as a mark of accuracy), the sixth hour, that is, midday (the Jews dined on Sabbath at the sixth hour, see Josephus, Vita<\/em> ) (see on c. i. 40); and they had probably been walking for several hours, and accordingly Jesus was tired, ( , excessive toil), fatigued (Wetstein quotes ), and was sitting thus, tired as He was ( , in the condition in which He was<\/em> , that is, tired as He was. Elsner thinks it only indicates consequence [nihil aliud quam consequentiam significat] and should be omitted in translating. So Kypke, who cites instructive instances, concludes: “solemne est Graecis, praecedente participio, voculam pleonastice<\/em> ponere”. But in all his instances precedes the verb), at the well ( cf.<\/em> Josephus, Ant.<\/em> , Joh 4:1<\/span> : ). As to the hour, two circumstances con firm the opinion that it was midday First, that apparently there was no intention of halting here for the night, as there would have been had it been evening. And, second, while it is truly urged that evening is the common time for drawing water, it is obvious that only one woman had come at this time, and accordingly the probability is it was not evening. See also Josephus, Ant.<\/em> , ii. 11, 1, where he describes Moses sitting at the well at midday<\/em> wearied with his journey, and the women coming to water their flocks.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

John<\/p>\n

THE WEARIED CHRIST<\/p>\n

Joh 4:6 <\/strong> , Joh 4:32 .<\/p>\n

Two pictures result from these two verses, each striking in itself, and gaining additional emphasis by the contrast. It was during a long hot day’s march that the tired band of pedestrians turned into the fertile valley. There, whilst the disciples went into the little hill-village to purchase, if they could, some food from the despised inhabitants, Jesus, apparently too exhausted to accompany them, ‘sat thus on the well.’ That little word thus seems to have a force difficult to reproduce in English. It is apparently intended to enhance the idea of utter weariness, either because the word ‘wearied’ is in thought to be supplied, ‘sat, being thus wearied, on the well’; or because it conveys the notion which might be expressed by our ‘just as He was’; as a tired man flings Himself down anywhere and anyhow, without any kind of preparation beforehand, and not much caring where it is that he rests.<\/p>\n

Thus, utterly worn out, Jesus Christ sits on the well, whilst the western sun lengthens out the shadows on the plain. The disciples come back, and what a change they find. Hunger gone, exhaustion ended, fresh vigour in their wearied Master. What had made the difference? The woman’s repentance and joy. And He unveils the secret of His reinvigoration when He says, ‘I have meat to eat that ye know not of’-the hidden manna. ‘My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.’<\/p>\n

Now, I think if we take just three points of view, we shall gain the lessons of this remarkable contrast. Note, then, the wearied Christ; the devoted Christ; the reinvigorated Christ.<\/p>\n

I. The wearied Christ.<\/p>\n

<\/strong> How precious it is to us that this Gospel, which has the loftiest things to say about the manifest divinity of our Lord, and the glory that dwelt in Him, is always careful to emphasise also the manifest limitations and weaknesses of the Manhood. John never forgets either term of his great sentence in which all the gospel is condensed, ‘the Word became flesh.’ Ever he shows us ‘the Word’; ever ‘the flesh.’ Thus it is he only who records the saying on the Cross, ‘I thirst.’ It is he who tells us how Jesus Christ, not merely for the sake of getting a convenient opening of a conversation, or to conciliate prejudices, but because He needed what He asked, said to the woman of Samaria, ‘Give Me to drink.’ So the weariness of the Master stands forth for us as pathetic proof that it was no shadowy investiture with an apparent Manhood to which He stooped, but a real participation in our limitations and weaknesses, so that work to Him was fatigue, even though in Him dwelt the manifest glory of that divine nature which ‘fainteth not, neither is weary.’<\/p>\n

Not only does this pathetic incident teach us for our firmer faith, and more sympathetic and closer apprehension, the reality of the Manhood of Jesus Christ, but it supplies likewise some imperfect measure of His love, and reveals to us one condition of His power. Ah! if He had not Himself known weariness He never could have said, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ It was because Himself ‘took our infirmities,’ and amongst these the weakness of tired muscles and exhausted frame, that ‘He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.’ The Creator must have no share in the infirmities of the creature. It must be His unwearied power that calls them all by their names; and because He is great in might ‘not one’ of the creatures of His hand can ‘fail.’ But the Redeemer must participate in that from which He redeems; and the condition of His strength being ‘made perfect in our weakness’ is that our weakness shall have cast a shadow upon the glory of His strength. The measure of His love is seen in that, long before Calvary, He entered into the humiliation and sufferings and sorrows of humanity; a condition of His power is seen in that, forasmuch as the ‘children were partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same,’ not only that ‘through death He might deliver’ from death, but that in life He might redeem from the ills and sorrows of life.<\/p>\n

Nor does that exhausted Figure, reclining on Jacob’s Well, preach to us only what He was. It proclaims to us likewise what we should be. For if His work was carried on to the edge of His capacity, and if He shrank not from service because it involved toil, what about the professing followers of Jesus Christ, who think that they are exempted from any form of service because they can plead that it will weary them? What about those who say that they tread in His footsteps, and have never known what it was to yield up one comfort, one moment of leisure, one thrill of enjoyment, or to encounter one sacrifice, one act of self-denial, one aching of weariness for the sake of the Lord who bore all for them? The wearied Christ proclaims His manhood, proclaims His divinity and His love, and rebukes us who consent to ‘walk in the way of His commandments’ only on condition that it can be done without dust or heat; and who are ready to run the race that is set before us, only if we can come to the goal without perspiration or turning a hair. ‘Jesus, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well.’<\/p>\n

II. Still further, notice here the devoted Christ.<\/p>\n

<\/strong> It is not often that He lets us have a glimpse into the innermost chambers of His heart, in so far as the impelling motives of His course are concerned. But here He lays them bare. ‘My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.’<\/p>\n

Now, it is no mere piece of grammatical pedantry when I ask you to notice that the language of the original is so constructed as to give prominence to the idea that the aim of Christ’s life was the doing of the Father’s will; and that it is the aim rather than the actual performance and realisation of the aim which is pointed at by our Lord. The words would be literally rendered ‘My meat is that I may do the will of Him that sent Me and finish His work’-that is to say, the very nourishment and refreshment of Christ was found in making the accomplishment of the Father’s commandment His ever-impelling motive, His ever-pursued goal. The expression carries us into the inmost heart of Jesus, dealing, as it does, with the one all-pervading motive rather than with the resulting actions, fair and holy as these were.<\/p>\n

Brethren, the secret of our lives, if they are at all to be worthy and noble, must be the same-the recognition, not only as they say now, that we have a mission, but that there is a Sender; which is a wholly different view of our position, and that He who sends is the loving Father, who has spoken to us in that dear Son, who Himself made it His aim thus to obey, in order that it might be possible for us to re-echo His voice, and to repeat His aim. The recognition of the Sender, the absolute submission of our wills to His, must run through all the life. You may do your daily work, whatever it be, with this for its motto, ‘the will of the Lord be done’; and they who thus can look at their trade, or profession, and see the trivialities and monotonies of their daily occupations, in the transfiguring light of that great thought, will never need to complain that life is small, ignoble, wearisome, insignificant. As with pebbles in some clear brook with the sunshine on it, the water in which they are sunk glorifies and magnifies them. If you lift them out, they are but bits of dull stone; lying beneath the sunlit ripples they are jewels. Plunge the prose of your life, and all its trivialities, into that great stream, and it will magnify and glorify the smallest and the homeliest. Absolute submission to the divine will, and the ever-present thrilling consciousness of doing it, were the secret of Christ’s life, and ought to be the secret of ours.<\/p>\n

Note the distinction between doing the will and perfecting the work. That implies that Jesus Christ, like us, reached forward, in each successive act of obedience to the successive manifestations of the Father’s will, to something still undone. The work will never be perfected or finished except on condition of continual fulfilment, moment by moment, of the separate behests of that divine will. For the Lord, as for His servants, this was the manner of obedience, that He ‘pressed towards the mark,’ and by individual acts of conformity secured that at last the whole ‘work’ should have been so completely accomplished that He might be able to say upon the Cross, ‘It is finished.’ If we have any right to call ourselves His, we too have thus to live.<\/p>\n

III. Lastly, notice the reinvigorated Christ.<\/p>\n

<\/strong> I have already pointed out the lovely contrast between the two pictures, the beginning and the end of this incident; so I need not dwell upon that. The disciples wondered when they found that Christ desired and needed none of the homely sustenance that they had brought to Him. And when He answered their sympathy rather than their curiosity-for they did not ask Him any questions, but they said to Him, ‘Master, eat’-with ‘I have meat to eat that ye know not of,’ they, in their blind, blundering fashion, could only imagine that some one had brought Him something. So they gave occasion for the great words upon which we have been touching.<\/p>\n

Notice, however, that Christ here sets forth the lofty aim at conformity to the divine will and fulfilment of the divine Work as being the meat of the soul. It is the true food for us all. The spirit which feeds upon such food will grow and be nourished. And the soul which feeds upon its own will and fancies, and not upon the plain brown bread of obedience, which is wholesome, though it be often bitter, will feed upon ashes, which will grate upon the teeth and hurt the palate. Such a soul will be like those wretched infants that are discovered sometimes at ‘baby-farms,’ starved and stunted, and not grown to half their right size. If you would have your spirits strong, robust, well nourished, live by obedience, and let the will of God be the food of your souls, and all will be well.<\/p>\n

Souls thus fed can do without a good deal that others need. Why, enthusiasm for anything lifts a man above physical necessities and lower desires, even in its poorest forms. A regiment of soldiers making a forced march, or an athlete trying to break the record, will tramp, tramp on, not needing food, or rest, or sleep, until they have achieved their purpose, poor and ignoble though it may be. In all regions of life, enthusiasm and lofty aims make the soul lord of the body and of the world.<\/p>\n

And in the Christian life we shall be thus lords, exactly in proportion to the depth and earnestness of our desires to do the will of God. They who thus are fed can afford ‘to scorn delights and live laborious days.’ They who thus are fed can afford to do with plain living, if there be high impulses as well as high thinking. And sure I am that nothing is more certain to stamp out the enthusiasm of obedience which ought to mark the Christian life than the luxurious fashion of living which is getting so common to-day amongst professing Christians.<\/p>\n

It is not in vain that we read the old story about the Jewish boys whose faces were radiant and whose flesh was firmer when they were fed on pulse and water than on all the wine and dainties of the Babylonish court. ‘Set a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite,’ and let us remember that the less we use, and the less we feel that we need, of outward goods, the nearer do we approach to the condition in which holy desires and lofty aims will visit our spirits.<\/p>\n

I commend to you, brethren, the story of our text, in its most literal application, as well as in the loftier spiritual lessons that may be drawn from it. To be near Christ, and to desire to live for Him, delivers us from dependence upon earthly things; and in those who thus do live the old word shall be fulfilled, ‘Better is a little that a righteous man hath, than the abundance of many wicked.’<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Jacob’s well. Compare Gen 49:22. <\/p>\n

well = spring. Greek. pege. Not the same word as in verses: Joh 4:11, Joh 4:12, but as in Joh 4:14. <\/p>\n

with = from. Greek. ek. App-104. <\/p>\n

sat = was sitting. <\/p>\n

on: or by. Greek. epi. App-104. Compare Joh 5:2. <\/p>\n

the sixth hour. Of the day, i.e. noon. See on Joh 1:39, and App-165. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

6.] Robinson (iii. 112) can only solve the difficulty of the present well standing in a spot watered by so many natural fountains, by supposing that it may have been dug, according to the practice of the patriarchs, by Jacob, in connexion with the plot of ground which he brought, to have an independent supply of water.<\/p>\n

-see reff.-refers to . ., and may be rendered accordingly. There is no authority for the meaning , just as he was, or just as it happened, i.e. on the bare stone.<\/p>\n

, mid-day. Townson supposed the sixth hour, according to John, to mean six in the evening, after the way of reckoning in Asia Minor;-but, as Lcke observes (i. 580), this way of reckoning in Asia Minor is a pure invention of Townsons. A decisive answer however to such a supposition here, or any where else in our Evangelist, is, that he would naturally have specified whether it was 6 A.M. or P.M. The unusualness of a woman coming to draw water at mid-day is no argument against its possibility; indeed the very fact of her being alone seems to shew that it was not the common time. This purely arbitrary hypothesis of St. Johns way of reckoning the hours has been recently again upheld by Bp. Wordsworth: but it has only harmonistic grounds to rest on. The passage which he urges as supporting it, Martyr. Polycarp, c. 21, p. 1044, ed. Migne, does not in reality give it the least countenance. The there mentioned is much more probably according to the usual Roman computation.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Joh 4:6. , owing to the journey) He had made a long journey on foot.-) So, as the convenience of the place, such as it was, admitted of, without pomp, alone, as one who was not ostensibly showing an expectation of the Samaritan woman, but was wishing, on account of mere weariness, to take rest. The popular character of Jesus life is worthy of all admiration, as also His fellowship [with humanity in all points]: the very feature in Him which the early Christians imitated. See Macar. Apophth., pp. 247, 248, concerning the simplicity [openness] of Macarius in his daily intercourse with others. It was also fitting that at that time, not more openly, but as it were by chance, Christ should present Himself to foreigners [i.e. those not Jews]; Mat 10:5, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; Joh 15:23, etc. [the woman of Canaan]. , so, to be explained by the word to which it is attached, as ch. Joh 8:59, Going through the midst of them, and so passed by [in the Rec. Text. But Vulg. [72][73][74][75][76] Orig. omit all these words. [77][78][79][80] have them]; Act 27:17, They strake sail, and so were driven; : 2Pe 3:4, All things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation; : Sir 32:1, sit so at the banquet, as to be engaged about nothing else. So in this passage, He sat so, as He sat. Chrysostom explains it, , simply as it comes to pass.-) upon (the well was enclosed with a wall or bank); or at least, near: as Mar 13:29, , [nigh, even] at the doors.- , about the sixth) Mid-day [This was] the cause why Jesus was wearied; and why the woman was seeking water, the disciples bread.<\/p>\n

[72] Cod. Basilianus (not the B. Vaticanus): Revelation: in the Vatican: edited by Tisch., who assigns it to the beginning of the eighth century.<\/p>\n

[73] Bez, or Cantabrig.: Univ. libr., Cambridge: fifth cent.: publ. by Kipling, 1793: Gospels, Acts, and some Epp. def.<\/p>\n

[74] Vercellensis of the old Itala, or Latin Version before Jeromes, probably made in Africa, in the second century: the Gospels.<\/p>\n

[75] Veronensis, do.<\/p>\n

[76] Colbertinus, do.<\/p>\n

[77] the Alexandrine MS.: in Brit. Museum: fifth century: publ. by Woide, 1786-1819: O. and N. Test. defective.<\/p>\n

[78] Ephrmi Rescriptus: Royal libr., Paris: fifth or sixth cent.: publ. by Tisch. 1843: O. and N. T. def.<\/p>\n

[79] Cod. Reg., Paris, of the Gospels: the text akin to that of B: edited by Tisch.<\/p>\n

[80] Cod. Monacensis, fragments of the Gospels.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Joh 4:6<\/p>\n

Joh 4:6<\/p>\n

and Jacobs well was there.-This well was noted and had the reputation of having been dug by Jacob or his servants. Lieutenant Anderson in 1866 descended to the bottom, found it seventy-five feet deep, walled with stones, and dry at the time. [McGarvey says: Jacobs well is still there, about one hundred yards from the foot of Mt. Gerizim, which rises high above it to the west. The well is a perfect cylinder, seven and a half feet in diameter, and it is walled with stones of good size, smoothly dressed, and nicely fitted together. It is an excellent piece of masonry. Its depth was stated by the earliest modern who visited it (Maundrel) at one hundred five feet, and it then contained fifteen feet of water. In 1839 it was found to be seventy-five feet deep with ten or twelve feet of water. All visitors of more recent date have found it dry and gradually filling up from the habit of throwing stones into it to hear the reverberation when they strike the bottom. (This accounts for its depth at different times). When the writer was there in 1879 his tapeline struck the bottom at sixty-five feet. The top of the well is arched over like a cistern and a circular opening is left about twenty inches in diameter. Another opening of irregular shape has been broken through the arch, and when you look into one of these the light admitted by the other enables you to examine the walls.]<\/p>\n

Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the well.-Jesus sat upon the stone at the well while his disciples went to the town of Sychar to buy food.<\/p>\n

It was about the sixth hour.-The sixth hour was most probably twelve oclock, though some place it at six in the evening.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Jacob’s well: Over Jacob’s well the empress Helena is said to have built a church, in the form of a cross, of which “nothing but a few foundations” remained in the time of Maundrell. He states that is situated about one-third of an hour, or, about a mile, east of Naplosa, the ancient Sychar; and Mr. Buckingham says it is called Beer Samareea, or the well of Samaria, and “stands at the commencement of the round vale which is thought to be the parcel of ground bought by Jacob, and which, like the narrow valley east of Nablous, is rich and fertile. The mouth of the well itself had an arched or vaulted building over it; and the only passage down to it at this moment is by a small hole in the roof.” “It is,” says Maundrell, “dug in the firm rock, and contains about three yards in diameter, and thirty-five in depth; five of which we found full of water.” <\/p>\n

being: Mat 4:2, Mat 8:24, Heb 2:17, Heb 4:15 <\/p>\n

sat: Luk 2:7, Luk 9:58, 2Co 8:9 <\/p>\n

the sixth: Joh 11:9, Mat 27:45 <\/p>\n

Reciprocal: Gen 29:2 – a well Exo 2:15 – sat down 1Ki 13:14 – sitting 1Ki 19:4 – sat down Mat 20:5 – sixth Mar 4:38 – in the Mar 8:2 – and have Mar 11:12 – he was Luk 4:2 – he afterward 2Ti 4:2 – in<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

6<\/p>\n

Wells were important improvements in ancient times, because it required much manual labor to produce one. Jacob either dug this well, or obtained it otherwise, and left it to his posterity. These wells had a curb extending above the ground for the protection of animals. It was on this curb that Jesus sat in his journey. Being wearied. This word is from KOPIAO, which Thayer defines, “to grow weary, tired, exhausted.” We should always think of the Saviour as possessing a body that was just like ours as far as the laws of the flesh are concerned. It is true that he was the Son of God and possessed miraculous power, but there is not a single instance recorded where he used his supernatural power to relieve his personal needs. In all the trials and necessities of life, he met the circumstances in the same way that other righteous people are expected to do. (See Heb 4:15.) When Jesus became tired from walking, he sat down to rest for the same reason that other men would do it. It was about noon, so we may expect to see some people coming to the well for water. And since it was this time of the day, the disciples had gone to the city to buy food.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. <\/p>\n

[Now Jacob’s well was there.] Of this well doth Jacob seem to speak in those last words of his about Joseph, Gen 49:22; “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well.” For Joseph’s offspring increased to a kingdom in Jeroboam, and that in Sychem, hard by Jacob’s well… <\/p>\n

[He sat thus.] He sat thus; as one wearied. The evangelist would let us know that Christ did not seemingly, or for fashion’s sake, beg water of the Samaritan woman, but in good earnest, being urged to it by thirst and weariness. So 1Ki 2:7; “Shew kindness to the sons of Barzillai,” for so; that is, in a great deal of kindness, they came to me. Act 7:8; “He gave him the covenant of circumcision,” and so [being circumcised] “he begat Isaac.” <\/p>\n

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Joh 4:6. Now there was a fountain there, Jacobs fountain. The distinction between the natural spring and the artificial well is usually maintained with great care in the language of Scripture. Now and then, however (as is very natural), a well, fed as it is by springs, is itself called a spring or fountain. Thus the angel of the Lord found Hagar by a fountain of water in the wilderness (Gen 16:7), and the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (Joh 4:14); and in the narrative of Genesis 24, where in the Authorised Version we find well three times (in Gen 24:11; Gen 24:13; Gen 24:16), the original has first well, then spring or fountain twice. The country round Shechem was a place of fountains and depths that spring out in valley and hill (Deu 8:7); but it is not of such natural springs that we must here think. What in this verse is called a fountain is a well in Joh 4:11-12. Yet it may be worth noticing that the litter name is used by the woman of Samaria: to the Evangelist the well is a fountain, and his name implies far deeper and richer thoughts than hers. An almost continuous tradition fixes beyond doubt the position of this well, which lies very near the road by which our Lord would be travelling from Judea to Galilee; and amongst the inhabitants of the adjoining towns it is still known as the well of Jacob or the fountain of Jacob. When visited by Maundrell two hundred years ago the well was more than 100 feet deep, but the accumulation of rubbish has diminished the depth to 75 feet: the bore Isaiah 9 or 10 feet wide. That Jacob (if indeed this patriarchs name was rightly given to the well, and there is no reason for questioning the tradition) should have sunk this well, excavated out of the solid rock, in the immediate neighbourhood of abundant springs, is a striking proof of the insecurity of his position in the land of promise, and of his precarious relations with the people of the country.<\/p>\n

Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the fountain. Shechem was one of the main halting-places on the route from Jerusalem to Galilee. Turning off a little from the road, Jesus reached the well, and (now alone, because His disciples had gone into Sychar to buy provisions) wearied with a long days travel He sat thussat, wearied as He wasby the fountain, or on the low wall built round the well.<\/p>\n

It was about the sixth hour. As in the other passages in which John mentions the hour, there has been great difference of opinion respecting the time intended. If the ordinary reckoning be adopted, as in the other Gospels, the sixth hour would fall in the morning, a little before noon. But for the reasons assigned in the note on chap. 39, it seems much more probable that a different computation is followed here, in which, as among ourselves, the hour is of fixed length (not a twelfth part of the variable interval between sunrise and sunset), and the time is reckoned from midnight and noon. By sixth hour, therefore, according to the usage of the ancients, we must understand either the hour between 5 and 6 A.M. or the hour between 5 and 6 P.M. On the whole, the latter seems more probable. If our Lords journey through Samaria took place in the middle of December (see the note on Joh 4:35), 5 P.M. would be about the time of sunset, and the evening twilight would last until about half-past 6. This hour was the ordinary time at which women came forth to draw water at the public wells. No difficulty need be felt on account of the lateness of the hour, for very little time is really required for all that is here related up to the 38th (Joh 4:38) verse (comp. Mar 1:32; Luk 4:40).<\/p>\n

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Ver. 6. Jacob’s well was there; Jesus therefore, wearied by his journey, sat thus by the well; it was about the sixth hour. <\/p>\n

This well still exists; for it is probably the same which is now called Bir-Jackoub (Renan, Vie deJesus, p. 243). It is situated thirty-five minutes eastward of Nablous, precisely at the place where the road which follows the principal valley, that of Mukhna, from south to north, turns suddenly to the west, to enter the narrow valley of Shechem, with Ebal on the northeast and Gerizim on the southwest. The well is hollowed out, not in the rock, as is commonly said, but rather, according to Lieutenant Anderson, who descended into it in 1866, in alluvial ground; the same person has ascertained that the sides are for this reason lined with rude masonry. It is nine feet in diameter. <\/p>\n

In March, 1694, Maundrell found the depth to be one hundred and five feet. In 1843, according to Wilson, it was only seventy-five feet, owing, doubtless, to the falling in of the earth. Maundrell found in it fifteen feet of water. So also Anderson, in May, 1866. Robinson and Bovet found it dry. Schubert, in the month of April, was able to drink of its water. Tristram, in December, found only the bottom wet, while, in February, he found it full of water. At the present day, it is blocked up with large stones, five or six feet below the aperture; but the real opening is found several feet lower. A few minutes further to the north, towards the hamlet of Askar, the tomb of Joseph is pointed out. Robinson asks with what object this gigantic work could have been undertaken in a country so abounding in springsas many as eighty are counted in Nablous and its environs. There is no other answer to give but that of Hengstenberg: This work is that of a man who, a stranger in the country, wished to live independently of the inhabitants to whom the springs belonged, and to leave a monument of his right of property in this soil and in this whole country. Thus the very nature of this work fully confirms the origin which is assigned to it by tradition.<\/p>\n

The caravan, leaving the great plain which stretches towards the north, directed its course to the left, in order to enter the valley of Shechem. There Jesus seated Himself near the well, leaving His disciples to continue their journey as far as Sychar, where they were to procure provisions. He was oppressed by fatigue, (wearied), says the evangelist; and the Tubingen school ascribes to John the opinion of the Docetae, according to which the body of Jesus was only an appearance! (thus), is almost untranslatable in our language; it is doubtless for some such reason that it is omitted in the Latin and Syriac versions. It signifies: without further preparation; taking things as He found them. According to the meaning given by Erasmus, Beza, etc., wearied as He was, the adverb would rather have been placed before the verb; comp. Act 20:11; Act 27:17 (Meyer). The imperfect (), is descriptive; it does not mean: He seated Himself, but: He was seated; (comp. Joh 11:20; Joh 20:12; Luk 2:46, etc.). The word refers not to what precedes, but to what follows. He was there seated when a woman came… The sixth hour must denote mid-day, according to the mode of reckoning generally received at that time in the East (see at Joh 1:40). This hour of the day suits the context better than six o’clock in the morning or evening. Jesus was oppressed at once by the journey and the heat. The first part of the conversation extends as far as Joh 4:15; it is immediately connected with the situation which is given.<\/p>\n

ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.<\/p>\n

3. The word of Joh 4:6 is to be understood, with Godet, Meyer, R. V., and others, as equivalent to as He was, without ceremony. <\/p>\n

4. The sixth hour almost certainly means noon here, the reckoning being from six in the morning, the beginning of the Jewish day. This method of reckoning is quite probably the uniform one in this Gospel, but it is not certainly so in every case. In the matter of counting the hours of the day, there is everywhere a tendency to vary, at different times, by reason of the fact that, whatever may be the starting-point of customary reckoning, the daylight hours are those which represent the period of activity and of events. It is to be remembered, also, that the author was living in another region from that in which the events recorded had taken place.<\/p>\n

5. The conversation here opens very naturally, and there would seem to be no difficulty in supposing that Jesus may have directly answered the remark of the woman with the words of Joh 4:10. The difference, in this regard, between this case and that of Nicodemus (Joh 3:2-3), is noticeable; in the latter, some intervening conversation must be supposed. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Verse 6 <\/p>\n

Jacob’s well. This well is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but its memory has been preserved from the time of our Savior to the present day. It in an object of great interest to travellers in Palestine. It is near the foot of Mount Gerizim, on the great road from Jerusalem to Galilee. The city of Sychar, called, in the Old Testament, Shechem, afterwards, by the Romans, Neapolis, and now Nabulus, lies about half an hour’s walk from the well, by a road passing westerly up a narrow valley between Gerizim and Ebal. At the foot of the mountain, east of the well, there extends, for miles, a very fertile plain, whose harvests may have suggested the image in John 4:35. The lower part of the well is excavated in the solid rock, the mouth being covered with a vaulted chamber solid masonry. Some hundred years after Christ, as if fearing that the place might be forgotten, the Christians built a monumental church over the spot, to perpetuate its memory. The church has long since crumbled away and disappeared; but the simple subterranean architecture, which it was intended to commemorate, remains apparently unchanged.–Thus; therefore, on that account.–The sixth hour; noon.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

4:6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with [his] journey, sat {a} thus on the well: [and] it was about the {b} sixth hour.<\/p>\n

(a) Even as he was weary, or because he was weary.<\/p>\n

(b) It was almost noon.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The Greek words that John used to describe this well were pege<\/span> (here), meaning a spring, and phrear<\/span> (Joh 4:11-12), meaning a cistern. Evidently Jacob’s well was both. It was a hole that someone had dug in the ground that a spring fed. The site is still a popular tourist attraction, and the deep spring still flows. Edersheim estimated (in 1886) that the well was originally about 150 feet deep. [Note: Ibid., 1:404.] <\/span><\/p>\n

The sixth hour when Jesus arrived would have been noon. Even though Jesus was the eternal Word, He became fully man and shared the fatigue and thirst that all travelers experience (cf. Heb 4:15-16).<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with [his] journey, sat thus on the well: [and] it was about the sixth hour. 6. Jacob’s well ] Or, spring ( Joh 4:11). It still exists, but without spring-water; one of the few sites about which there is no dispute, in the entrance to the … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 4:6”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26140\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}