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Jacob's well

Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia

(John 4:6) - its traditional name is reflected in the Samaritan woman's question: 'Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?' (v. 12). Its location was regarded as almost certain. The well is cut into rock, about seventy-five English feet deep and perhaps nine feet in diameter, beneath a low stone vault with a narrow opening. In some seasons it dries completely; in others it fills abundantly. The source says, probably through an error in transmission, that it stood thirty-five minutes' journey from Jerusalem. The surrounding fields were identified with the parcel of ground Jacob gave his son Joseph.

Scripture cited

John 4:6

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