The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 299

whioh J'aoob gave to his son J'oaeph. In unto weariness," from ,crl..-os, exhausling toil) Gen. xx.xiii. 19; uxiv. 25; xlviii. 22 with his journey. A long, exhausting maroh (LXX.); Josh. xxiv. 32, we see tha.t Jacob'e told upon him, 1md he felt the weBlmees of treaty with the sons of Hamor, and the our hum&nity. 'l'homa. suggests that, becu.uso summary violence of his sons in punishment the woman that Jacob found e.t the well of Dinah'e dishonour, were treated by him was Rachel, the mother of Joseph, tho as giving him special possession in Sbechem Samaritans' special patriaroil, and beoause (the LXX., in Gen. xlviii. 22, have trans- Leah wo.s the mother of Levi and J udail, lated the word for "portion," o:i:i as ~l,.,µ.,., and her name mcRns "wearied," so J esns is erroneously supposing that the' word WI\S a represented M weary with hie journey unto propor name, instead of an allusive play on the home of H:irhel ! It is for more impor- the word " Shcchcm "), and he solemnly tunt to notice that tho author of this Gospel, bequeathed it tu Joseph. In Josh. xxiv. 32 whose main idea was thnt Jesus is "the we find th~ bones of Joseph were deposited only begotten Sou of the }t'o,Lher," "the there. (Knobel translates Gen. xlviii. 22 Word made flesh," yet impresses upon us o.s the portion which he, Ja.ooh, (by his continually his realization of the full h 11- sons) would ·win (not had won) with sword manity, the definite, eoncrete huma.n exist- and bow.) Geiger, • Ur,chrift.,' p. SO (re- ence of Jesus. Hie life was no phantnsm ferred to by Edersheim, l.e., i. 40!), shows of the imagination, no mere doeetio mani- tliat St. John's interpretation of Genesis is festation, as the Tiibingen school cittribpte perfectly in harmony with ro.bbinic tro.di- to the Johannine Christ, but veritable man. tion. Thie Gospel a.lone records his pre~ence aud Yer. 6.-Now Jacoh's well was there; miracle at Cana, his travel-worn sympathy more literally, now there was a spring there, with our weakness, his making clu.y with Jarob's. The word genera.Uy translate.d spittle, his weeping over the grave of a "well•· is tppiap, the representa.tive of-;,91 friend, hie thirat upon the cross, the blood pule1LS ; but '"1,-,j, the word here used, cor- that issued from his wounded side, and responds with p;, /om. In vers. 11, 12 the the obvious physical reality of his risen body, and thus furnishes the Church with word tpp•a.p is used of the same place. To the grounds on which the apostle main- the present dsy this indubitable site goes tained his Divine humanity, Jesus was by both names. This district abounds in seate.d thus-or, sat thU8; i.e. wearied, springs (Dent. viii. 7), and tile digging of exhausted-on the well; or on the low tllis deep well was a work of supererogation, parapet of the well, which protected its such as might be pe:cformed by a stranger mouth. He sat there comparatively, if in the land. The well is indeed fed Ly not quite, alone. The position of the word fountains of water in the neighbourhood. " thu~" after " eat " would, in clu.ssie It has been known as Jacob'e well by a Greek, make the o~T""s mean "simply, continuous tradition, a.nd is sitnn!.ed in tLe without other preoceupa.tion;" but there plain of Mn.khhe.n, under the rough sides of is no logicu.l reason to deprive the o~T""s oC Gerizim, just beyond the spot where the its full meaning (Hengstenberg). The plain is entered almost at right angles by Lord, taking his seat by this memorable the eastern end of the vale of Shechem, spot, rich in varied associations, becomes at The w.tter vale is constituted by the two once e. type of the richer and diviner supply mountain ridges of Gerizim on the south of life which he is able o.nd reo.dy to dis- and Ebal on the north. Nabloue, or She- pense to mankind. The wearines~ and wait- chem, is not visible from the well of ing of the Lord at the well was a sublime Sychar, being hidden by the spur of Geri- hint of the exhaustlese supply of grace which zim from ,,iew, and higher up the valley of was ever flowing from tile broken heart oC Shechem arc tLe present ruins of Sebastieh the Son of God. It was about the sixth or Sa.maria proper. Dean St.a.nley said it was hour. The author is remarkable . for his one of the most beautiful spots in Palestine. repeated mention of the hours at which some Sychar lies half a mile to the north of the of the most memorable e1·ises of his life traditional welL The well, two hundred took place, and thns gives a vivid impres- years ago, was declared by Maundrell to he sion of reality and of the p1·cecnco of the a hundred aud five feet deep, and built eye-witness. He must himself have. waited of solid masonry. In 1866 Lieutenant An- by the side of the Lord, and overheard the derson found it seventy-five fet-t deep, aud conversation which followed, just o.s ho did quite dry. It is nine or ten feet in diameter; the convcrsaLion with Nicodemus, Great u.nd it is one of the most indubitable spots difference of opinion prevails as to his where we may feel catain that the feet of the method of computing time; i.e. whether he blesaed Lord have trod. Efforts are now being adopted the Jewish computation, from sun- uiade by the Pe.lestine Exploration Society rise to suuset int.o twelve vo.riable hours, or r.o protect and restore the wdl. J'e111111 there- the Roman method of computation, froqa fare, being wearied (,c,,,,,,c/.,., ill "to labour on. 1v. 1-64.J 'l'I-IE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN". Jfj3