Jacob’s Well
(Hebrew: Bir Yakub; Bir Samariyeh)
Well on the highroad from Jerusalem , one mile and a half from Nablus, and almost one mile from the village of Askar or Sichar (John 4). Here Christ met the Samaritan woman. It is called Jacob’s Well because the patriarch who “drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle” gave it to the tribe of Joseph. The opening of the well lies now in a crypt of a Crusader’s chapel, over which the Greeks have built a church. The well itself is 7.5 feet in diameter, lined with masonry, and is still 75 deep. It seems to be fed by an underground rivulet, which occasionally runs dry in summer.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Jacobs Well
( ), on the curb of which Christ sat down during his interview with the Samaritan woman of Sychar (Joh 4:6). It was a deep spring (Joh 4:11) in the vicinity of Shechem, near the road from Jerusalem, probably so called from having been dug by the patriarch Jacob (Joh 4:8; Joh 4:28) when dwelling in this neighborhood (Gen 33:18). It is still known by the same title, about half a mile south-east of Nabls (Robinson’s Researches, 3, 112), at the foot of Mount Gerizim (Arvieux, 2, 66; Schubert, 3:136). It is bored through the solid rock, and kept covered with a stone by the Arabs (see Hackett’s Illustrations p. 199 sq.). It is thus described by Porter in Murray’s Handbook for Syria, 2, 340: Formerly there was a square hole opening into a carefully built vaulted chamber, about ten feet square, in the floor of which was the true mouth of the well. Now a portion of the vault has fallen and completely covered up the mouth, so that nothing can be seen but a shallow pit, half filled with stones and rubbish. Dr. Wilson (Lands of the Bible, 2, 57) carefully measured the well, and found it nine feet in diameter, and seventy-five feet deep. It was probably much deeper in ancient times, as there are signs of considerable accumulation of stones and rubbish below its present bottom; and Maundrell (March 24) says that in his time it was thirty-five yards, or one hundred and five feet deep. It contains at times a few feet of water, but at others it is quite dry. Over the well, there formerly stood a large church, built in the 4th century, but probably destroyed before the time of the Crusades, as Siewulf (p. 45) and Phocas do not mention it. Its remains are just above the well, towards the southwest, merely a shapeless mass of ruins among which are seen fragments of gray granite columns still retaining their ancient polish (Robinson’s Biblical Researches. 3, 132). (For older descriptions, see Hamesveld, 2, 396 sq.) SEE SHECHEM.
2. JACOB () was the name of the father of Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary (Mat 1:15; Mat 1:13). B.C. ante 40. SEE MARY.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Jacobs Well (2)
The following is the latest description of this spot (Bir Yakub), taken from Lieut. Conder’s Tent Work in Palestine, 1:71. A full account is given in the Memoirs accompanying the Ordnance Survey, 2:172 sq. “The tradition of Jacob’s Well is one in which Jews, Samaritans, Moslems, and Christians alike agree. There are also other reasons which lead to the belief that the tradition is trustworthy; the proximity of Joseph’s Tomb and of Sychar, and finally the fact of a well existing at all in a place abounding with streams, one of which is within one hundred yards’ distance. No other important well is found near, and the utility of such a work can only be explained on the assumption that it was necessary for the patriarch to have water within his own land, surrounded as he was by strangers, who may naturally be supposed to have guarded jealously their rights to the springs. By digging the well Jacob avoided those quarrels from which his father had suffered in the Philistine country, pursuing a policy of peace which appears generally to have distinguished his actions.
“The well then, as being one of the few undoubted sites made sacred by the feet of Christ, is a spot of greater interest that any near Shechem. Its neighborhood is not marked by any very prominent monument, and, indeed, it would be quite possible to pass by it without knowing of its existence. Just east of the gardens of Balata, a dusty mound by the road half covers the stumps of three granite columns. After a few moments’ search a hole is found south-west of them, and by this the visitor descends through the roof of a little vault, apparently modern. The vault stretches twenty feet east and west, and is ten feet broad, the hole in the pointed arch of the roof being in the north-east corner. The floor is covered with fallen stones, which block the mouth of the well; through these we let down the tape and found the depth to be seventy-five feet. The diameter is seven feet six inches, the whole depth cut through alluvial soil and soft rock, receiving water by infiltration through the sides. There appears to be occasionally as much as two fathoms of water, but in summer the well is dry. The little vault is built on to a second, running at right angles northwards from the west end, but the communication is now walled up. In this second vault there are said to be remains of a tessellated pavement, and the bases of the three columns above mentioned rest on this floor, the shafts sticking. out through the roof a sufficient proof that the vault is modern.”
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Jacob’s Well
(John 4:5, 6). This is one of the few sites in Palestine about which there is no dispute. It was dug by Jacob, and hence its name, in the “parcel of ground” which he purchased from the sons of Hamor (Gen. 33:19). It still exists, but although after copious rains it contains a little water, it is now usually quite dry. It is at the entrance to the valley between Ebal and Gerizim, about 2 miles south-east of Shechem. It is about 9 feet in diameter and about 75 feet in depth, though in ancient times it was no doubt much deeper, probably twice as deep. The digging of such a well must have been a very laborious and costly undertaking.
“Unfortunately, the well of Jacob has not escaped that misplaced religious veneration which cannot be satisfied with leaving the object of it as it is, but must build over it a shrine to protect and make it sacred. A series of buildings of various styles, and of different ages, have cumbered the ground, choked up the well, and disfigured the natural beauty and simplicity of the spot. At present the rubbish in the well has been cleared out; but there is still a domed structure over it, and you gaze down the shaft cut in the living rock and See at a depth of 70 feet the surface of the water glimmering with a pale blue light in the darkness, while you notice how the limestone blocks that form its curb have been worn smooth, or else furrowed by the ropes of centuries” (Hugh Macmillan).
At the entrance of the enclosure round the well is planted in the ground one of the wooden poles that hold the telegraph wires between Jerusalem and Haifa.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Jacob’s Well
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).
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Jacob’s Well
JACOBS WELL.On the arrest of John the Baptist by Herod Antipas, Jesus left Judaea and returned with His loosely-attached followers to Galilee (Mar 1:14). He travelled by the great north road through Samaria. This road, after skirting the W. edge of the plain of Mukhneh, and passing under the slopes of Gerizim, enters the wide bay forming the approach to the Vale of Nblus. Here it divides, one branch striking west, the other going north across the bay, past the ruins and spring of Askar. In the fork of these roads is Jacobs Well (Bir Ykb), where Jesus, being wearied with His journey,it was about the hour of noon,sat down and rested (Joh 4:6).
The well is described (Joh 4:5) as in the neighbourhood of a city of Samaria called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. This parcel of ground () is evidently the plot referred to in Gen 33:18-19 as lying before (or to the east of) Shechem, which Jacob purchased from the native Shechemites for 100 kestahs. Somewhere within its borders the bones of Joseph were afterwards buried (Jos 24:32, cf. Act 7:16): and the plot came to have for the N. Kingdom the kind of sanctity that Machpelah had for the Kingdom of Judah. It is nowhere recorded that Jacob dug a well here; but the fact had become a matter of common and well-established belief by the time of Jesus, and no serious doubt has since been raised as to the origin or locality of the well. The traditional sites of Jacobs Well and Josephs Tomb (a little to the N.) are acknowledged by Jews, Samaritans, Christians, and Moslems alike. The tradition for the well goes back to Eusebius (OS, s.v. Sychar). See also art. Sychar.
In Joh 4:6 the well is called (fountain) : in Joh 4:11 the woman refers to it as (the cistern or pit) which Jacob gave. The latter is the more exact description, inasmuch as it is not an ain, a well of living water, but a ber, a cistern to hold water (PEFSt [Note: EFSt Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1897, p. 197). Rainwater probably formed the greater part of its supply, though another smaller portion may have been due to infiltration from the surrounding strata. This would partly account for the great local reputation of the water for purity and flavour among the natives of El Askar and Nablus. The neighbouring springs were heavy (or hard), being strongly impregnated with lime, while Jacobs Well contained lighter (or softer) water, cool, palatable, and refreshing (G. A. Smith, HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] p. 676). The womans presence at the well at noon may have been due to the fact that she was seeking water for workmen on the adjacent cornlands, rather than for domestic use (PEFSt [Note: EFSt Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1897, p. 149). The sacred associations of the spot, together with the real excellence of the water, probably drew visitors regularly both from Askar ( mile away) and from Nblus (1 miles distant), in spite of nearer and more copious supplies.
The true mouth of the well is several feet below the surface, and beneath a ruined vault, which once formed part of the ancient cruciform church mentioned by Arculph (a.d. 700), and referred to by Jerome (OS, s.v. Sychar). This narrow opening, 4 ft. long and just wide enough to admit the body of a man, broadens out into the cylindrical tank or well itself, which is about 7 ft. in diameter and over 100 feet deep (G. A. Smith, l.c. p. 373). The interior appears to have been lined throughout with masonry, and thick layers of dbris cover the bottom.* [Note: Robinson (in 1838) gives the depth as 105 feet; Anderson (in 1866) and Conder (in 1875) measured 75 feet. Evidently debris from the surface accumulated rather quickly.]
If the uniform tradition as to the wells origin be correct, probably the incomer Jacob sank this deep pit to avoid collision with the natives among whom be settled. A well of his own, on his own ground, would make him secure and independent.
Literature.Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible ii. 535 f.; Encyc. Bibl. iv. 4829; Robinson, BRP [Note: RP Biblical Researches in Palestine.] 2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] ii. 283 f.; Thomson, LB [Note: The Land and the Book.] ii. 146 f.; Baedeker-Socin, Pal. [Note: Palestine, Palestinian.] 215 f.; Stanley, SP [Note: P Sinai and Palestine.] 241; G. A. Smith, HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] 367 f., 676; Sanday, Sacred Sites, 31ff., 91; PEFMem. ii. 172 f.; PEFSt [Note: EFSt Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1897, pp. 96, 149, 196; Expos. Times, v. [1893] 97 f.
A. W. Cooke.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Jacob’s Well
JACOBS WELL.See Sychar.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Jacob’s Well
( , pege tou Iakob):
1. Position of Well
In Joh 4:3 we read that our Lord left Judea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs pass through Samaria. So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph: and Jacob’s well was there. When Jacob came to Shechem on his return from Paddanaram he encamped before, i.e. East of the city, and bought the land on which he had spread his tent (Gen 33:18 f). This is doubtless the portion (Hebrew shekhem) spoken of in Gen 48:22; although there it is said to have been taken with sword and bow from the Amorites. Where the pass of Shechem opens to the East, near the northern edge of the valley, lies the traditional tomb of Joseph. On the other side of the vale, close to the base of Gerizim, is the well universally known as Br Yakub, the well of Jacob. The position meets perfectly the requirements of the narrative. The main road from the South splits a little to the East, one arm leading westward through the pass, the other going more directly to the North. It is probable that these paths follow pretty closely the ancient tracks; and both would be frequented in Jesus’ day. Which of them He took we cannot tell; but, in any case, this well lay in the fork between them, and could be approached with equal ease from either. See SYCHAR.
2. Why Dug
In the chapter quoted, it is said that Jacob dug the well (Gen 48:12). The Old Testament says nothing of this. With the copious springs at Ain Askar and Balata, one might ask why a well should have been dug here at all. We must remember that in the East, very strict laws have always governed the use of water, especially when there were large herds to be considered. The purchase of land here may not have secured for Jacob such supplies as he required. There was danger of strife between rival herdsmen. The patriarch, therefore, may have dug the well in the interests of peace, and also to preserve his own independence.
3. Consensus of Tradition
Jew, Samaritan, Moslem and Christian agree in associating this well with the patriarch Jacob. This creates a strong presumption in favor of the tradition: and there is no good reason to doubt its truth. Standing at the brink of the well, over-shadowed by the giant bulk of Gerizim, one feels how naturally it would be spoken of as this mountain.
4. Description
For long the well was unprotected, opening among the ruins of a vaulted chamber some feet below the surface of the ground. Major Anderson describes it (Recovery of Jerusalem, 465) as having a narrow opening, just wide enough to allow the body of a man to pass through with arms uplifted, and this narrow neck, which is about 4 ft. long, opens into the well itself, which is cylindrically shaped, and about 7 ft. 6 inches in diameter. The mouth and upper part of the well are built of masonry, and the well appears to have been sunk through a mixture of alluvial soil and limestone fragments, till a compact bed of mountain limestone was reached, having horizontal strata which could be easily worked; and the interior of the well presents the appearance of having been lined throughout with rough masonry. The depth was doubtless much greater in ancient times; but much rubbish has fallen into it, and now it is not more than 75 ft. deep. It is fed by no spring, nor is the water conducted to it along the surface, as to a cistern. Its supplies depend entirely upon rainfall and percolation. Possibly, therefore, the water may never have approached the brim. The woman says the well is deep. Pege, spring, does not, therefore, strictly apply to it, but rather tank or reservoir, phrear, the word actually used in Gen 48:11 f. The modern inhabitants of Nablus highly esteem the light water of the well as compared with the heavy or hard water of the neighboring springs. It usually lasts till about the end of May; then the well is dry till the return of the rain. Its contents, therefore, differ from the living water of the perennial spring.
From the narratives of the pilgrims we learn that at different times churches have been built over the well. The Moslems probably demolished the last of them after the overthrow of the Crusaders in 1187. A description of the ruins with drawings, as they were 30 years ago, is given in PEF, II, 174, etc. A stone found in 1881 may have been the original cover of the well. It measures 3 ft. 9 inches X 2 ft. 7 inches X 1 ft. 6 in. The aperture in the center is 13 in. in diameter; and in its sides are grooves worn by the ropes used in drawing up the water (PEFS, 1881, 212ff).
5. Present Condition
Some years ago the plot of ground containing the well was purchased by the authorities of the Greek church, and it has been surrounded by a wall. A chapel has been built over the well, and a large church building has also been erected beside it.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Jacob’s Well
In the valley of Shechem, near to a city called Sychar, was the well where the Lord rested, and conversed with the woman of Samaria. Joh 4:5-12. It is identified with Bir Yakub, at the base of Gerizim, 32 12′ N, 35 16′ E, and is one of the few spots in Palestine the identification of which has not been disputed.
The well is cut out of the solid limestone, 7ft. 6in. in diameter, and is 115 feet deep. The well’s mouth is below the surface of the ground and is covered with a stone with a hole in the centre. A traveller, John of Wurzburg (A.D. 1160-1170), says that when he visited the well a church was then being erected over it; but that has long since been destroyed and a Russian Orthodox Church built over it, though unfinished due to the Communist Revolution of 1917. See SYCHAR.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Jacob’s Well
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.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Jacob’s Well
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.