Literature. — A most suggestive analysis of the character of Jacob, and a full discussion of the problems of the Genesis, including th ' '
' La Signification Historique des Noms des Patriarches H^breux ' in Mimolres de la Societti Linguistiquc, vi. 150.
G. Gordon Stott.
JACOB'S WELL On the arrest of John the
Baptist by Herod Antipas, Jesus left Juda;a and returned with His loosely-attached followers to Galilee (Mk 1"). He travelled by ' the great north road ' through Samaria. Tliis ruad, 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 Nablus. 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 Jacob's Well (Bir YdkAb), where Jesus, being wearied with His journey, — it was about the hour of noon, — sat down and rested (Jn 4").
The well is described (Jn 4=) as in the neighbour- hood of ' a city of Samaria called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.' This parcel of ground (xiiplov) is evidently the plot referred to in Gn 33'^- '** as lying ' before ' (or ' to the east of ') Shechem, which Jacob purchased from the native Shechemites for 100 kcsUahs. Some- where within its borders the bones of Joseph were afterwards buried (Jos 24^-, cf. Ac 7'") : 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 tradi- tional sites of Jacob's Well and Joseph's 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. Sychak.
In v.*_ the well is called ir7;77) ('fountain') toO 'laKii^ : in v.'^ the woman refers to it as t6 ippiap (' the cistern or pit ') which Jacob (fave. The latter is the inore exact description, inasmuch as it ' is not an 'ain, a well of living water, but a ber, a cistern to hold water ' (PEFSt, 1897, p. 197). Rain- water 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 Jacob's Well contained ' lighter ' (or softer) water, 'cool, palatable, and refreshing' (G. A. Smith, HGHL p. 676). The woman's presence at the well at noon may have been due to the fact that she was seeking water for workmen on the ad- jacent cornlands, rather than for domestic use (PEFSt, 1897, p. 149). The sacred associations of the spot, together with the ' real excellence ' of the water, probably drew visitors regularly both from "Askar (J mile away) and from Nablus (Ij miles distant), in spite of nearer and more copious sup- plies.
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 refened 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 cylindri- cal tank or well itself, which is about 7i ft. in diameter and over 100 feet deep (G. A. Smith, I.e. p. 373). The interior appears to have been lined throughout with masonry, and thick layers of debris cover the bottom.*
If the uniform tradition as to the well's origin be coiTect, probably the incomer Jacob sank this ' deep ' pit to avoid collision with the natives among whom he settled. A well of his own, on his own gi'ound, would make him secure and independent.
LiTERATHEE.— Hastings' DS ii. o35 f. ; Emyc. BiU. iv. 4829 ; Robinson, BRP^ ii. 283 f. ; Thomson, LB ii. 140 f. ; Baedeker- Socin, Pal. 216 f.; Stanley, SP 241; G. A. Smith, HGHL 367 f., 676 ; Sanday, Sacred Sites, 31 «., 91 ; PEFMem. ii. 172 f. ; PEFSt, 1897, pp. 96, 149, 190 ; Expos. Times, v. [1893J 97f.
A. W. Cooke. JAIRUS — 1. The name ideipos occurs in Mk 5" and in the Lukan parallel (S*'), but not in Mt. (9'*). Such variants as '16,-qpo^, 'Idipo^, 'WCpoi (as Cod. N) are also to be met with in the MSS. It cannot be positively identified with the Heb. name TNMas in Jg 10^ = prob. ' Jahweh enlightens'), the LXX equivalent of which is variously 'ladp, 'la-Z/p, 'latp, by simple transcription. In favour of regard- ing 'Ideipo! as the Grecized form of the Heb. name is the fact that this form occurs in LXX in Est 2* for tk;, the father of Mordecai (Cod. A, by a curious slip, has larpdi), as also in the Apocrypha (Est 11"), where the EV has 'Jairus' as the name of the same person. In any case, however, analogy permits the adoption of 'Jair' as the English equivalent of 'Jieipos ; and were the name in familiar vogue, like such names as ' Paul,' this would naturally be its form. The AV 'Jairus' follows the Vulg. (Wyclif, 'Jayrus'). Note the R V ' Jairus,' fixing it as a trisyllable ; and cf. other modes of transcription, as e.ff. 'Jaeirus' (Tiventieth Cent. NT, ed. 1904).