Jacob's Well

[Guest ninhao]

Joh 4:6-10 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. (7) There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (8) (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) (9) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. (10) Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Reading this splendid portion of scripture again I come to wonder about Jacob’s well. Firstly I wonder how a Samaritan was permitted to use a well which belonged to Jacob (et al Joseph etc). Then I wonder about the implication of the physical liquid which comes from the well as analogy for the life giving Spiritual Water which comes from our Lord God Jesus the Christ.

1. How is it that a Samaritan could access this well?
   
2. What is living water?
   

[Guest]

Since the well was in Samaria, I am not sure why you would be surprised that a Samaritan women would draw water there. More surprizing, is that Jews would draw water there. As to the rest of you post, no comment.

[Mcgyver]

Joh 4:6-10 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. (7) There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (8) (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) (9) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. (10) Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Reading this splendid portion of scripture again I come to wonder about Jacob’s well. Firstly I wonder how a Samaritan was permitted to use a well which belonged to Jacob (et al Joseph etc). Then I wonder about the implication of the physical liquid which comes from the well as analogy for the life giving Spiritual Water which comes from our Lord God Jesus the Christ.

1. How is it that a Samaritan could access this well?
   
2. What is living water?
   

Living water is a 1st Century cultural idiom for "running water" such as is found in a river or a creek.

It also carried with it the idea of pure water that did not end. A pond or a well might dry up, they might get too salty or too mineral laden to drink, they might turn poisonous, might be too deep to easily draw water from; however the river Jordan (for example) always had (drinkable) water...and as such running water was viewed as a "life giving" water. One could drink it, water one's animals with it, irrigate one's crops, or simply cool down in it.

The attached meaning (as Jesus uses the term) is obvious from the context...eternal life that never ends.

Hope that helps a bit.

[*Zion*]

In many religions/cultures, water is considered sacred; we all know its importance - how much more at that time, without assisted distillation and faucets handy... But the living waters that Jesus gives us are in fact actually alive! They are the Holy Spirit. When we feel weak and spiritually parched, He brings refreshing and a flow of His love, truth and power into our lives. We can't live in eternity without this water. We need a fresh in-flowing every day! All we have to do is ask, He's more than willing to fill us with Himself.

Be blessed, stay filled

[Guest ninhao]

Since the well was in Samaria, I am not sure why you would be surprised that a Samaritan women would draw water there. More surprizing, is that Jews would draw water there.

Could you explain further why it would be good for a Samaritan to draw from Jacob's well and not a Jew. Maybe some history of the location and it's context to Josephs fruitful bough maybe if you know.

Living water is a 1st Century cultural idiom for "running water" such as is found in a river or a creek.

It also carried with it the idea of pure water that did not end. A pond or a well might dry up, they might get too salty or too mineral laden to drink, they might turn poisonous, might be too deep to easily draw water from; however the river Jordan (for example) always had (drinkable) water...and as such running water was viewed as a "life giving" water. One could drink it, water one's animals with it, irrigate one's crops, or simply cool down in it.

The attached meaning (as Jesus uses the term) is obvious from the context...eternal life that never ends.

Hope that helps a bit.

Very good thank you

A very fine explanation for me to compare the analogy using water.

In many religions/cultures, water is considered sacred; we all know its importance - how much more at that time, without assisted distillation and faucets handy... But the living waters that Jesus gives us are in fact actually alive! They are the Holy Spirit. When we feel weak and spiritually parched, He brings refreshing and a flow of His love, truth and power into our lives. We can't live in eternity without this water. We need a fresh in-flowing every day! All we have to do is ask, He's more than willing to fill us with Himself.

Be blessed, stay filled

Excellent thank- you !

[Mcgyver]

Could you explain further why it would be good for a Samaritan to draw from Jacob's well and not a Jew. Maybe some history of the location and it's context to Josephs fruitful bough maybe if you know.

Well, although this is a very simple or rough illustration...it should serve to give you an idea as to the regional divisions in Jesus' time.

The easiest thing to do is to take a look at a map of Israel. In Jesus' time, Judea (and Jerusalem) was to the south and the region of Galilee was to the north.

In between them was Samaria.

Imagine a bell laid on it's side with the large open end resting on the coast, and the closed (top) end of the bell resting against the river Jordan. This will give you an idea of the regional layout...to the south Judea, in the middle Samaria, and to the north Galilee.

Mt Gerizim (which the Samaritans believed was their "holy mountain") was located right next to Sychar (near Shechem)...the location of "Jacob's Well".

Now there was such enmity between the Jews and the Samaritans that the vast majority of Jews traveling either north or south would cross east across the Jordan river; and then recross the river once they were clear of Samaria (a more difficult route) in order to avoid setting foot on Samaritan soil. That a Jewish Rabbi (Jesus) would even step into Samaria was unheard of....so obviously Jews were not going to normally be anywhere near Jacob's Well.

As I said...this is just a rough approximation of the layout to give you a picture...

[Mcgyver]

Also, since you mentioned Joseph's fruitful bough I though that I'd paste this article as an overview:

Hatred between Jews and Samaritans was fierce and long-standing. In some ways, it dated all the way back to the days of the patriarchs. Jacob (or Israel) had twelve sons, whose descendants became twelve tribes. Joseph, his favorite, was despised by the other brothers (Gen. 37:3-4), and they attempted to do away with him.

But God intervened and not only preserved Joseph’s life, but used him to preserve the lives of the entire clan. Before his death, Jacob gave Joseph a blessing in which he called him a “fruitful bough by a well” (Gen. 49:22). The blessing was fulfilled, as the territory allotted to the tribes of Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim (“doubly fruitful”) and Manasseh, was the fertile land that eventually became Samaria.

Later, Israel divided into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom, called Israel, established its capital first at Shechem, a revered site in Jewish history, and later at the hilltop city of Samaria.

In 722 B.C. Assyria conquered Israel and took most of its people into captivity. The invaders then brought in Gentile colonists “from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim” (2 Kin. 17:24) to resettle the land. The foreigners brought with them their pagan idols, which the remaining Jews began to worship alongside the God of Israel (2 Kin. 17:29-41). Intermarriages also took place (Ezra 9:1-10:44; Neh. 13:23-28).

Meanwhile, the southern kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon in 600 B.C. Its people, too, were carried off into captivity. But 70 years later, a remnant of 43,000 was permitted to return and rebuild Jerusalem. The people who now inhabited the former northern kingdom—the Samaritans—vigorously opposed the repatriation and tried to undermine the attempt to reestablish the nation. For their part, the full-blooded, monotheistic Jews detested the mixed marriages and worship of their northern cousins. So walls of bitterness were erected on both sides and did nothing but harden for the next 550 years.

There are countless modern parallels to the Jewish-Samaritan enmity—indeed, wherever peoples are divided by racial and ethnic barriers. Perhaps that’s why the Gospels and Acts provide so many instances of Samaritans coming into contact with the message of Jesus. It is not the person from the radically different culture on the other side of the world that is hardest to love, but the nearby neighbor whose skin color, language, rituals, values, ancestry, history, and customs are different from one’s own.

Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. With whom do you have no dealings'

The Word in Life Study Bible, New Testament Edition, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville; 1993), pp. 340-341

[Guest ninhao]

Thank-you Mr Mcgyver for a fine expose.

[Guest]

and thanks Mcgyver for saving me the trouble!

[gdemoss]

Another good question to ask yourself is why did a Samaritan call Jacob her father if the whole northern kingdom of Israel was taken out of Israel and the land given to people who were not Jacob's children (see 2 Kings 17). Many will try to answer using human reasoning and supposed historical claims but none has ever been able to answer using scripture alone and therefore miss the mark on understanding why.

Peace.