homevideosguided toursarticleslocation profilespicturesiPIX

		Sychar Photos Scriptures ref.

Sychar - location profile

Location and Setting

• Situated on the slope of Mount Ebal, Sychar overlooked the road that led from the Jordan up through the Wadis Fari’a and Beidan into the valley that separated Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. The road south from Sychar became the Ridge Road, the "Patriarch’s Highway," that led to Hebron and Beersheba.
• Scholars have identified Sychar with both Shechem and the hamlet now called ‘Askar on the southeastern slope of Mount Ebal. The sites of Shechem, the village of ‘Askar, and the well form a triangle with each side measuring about a half mile.
• Following Jerome, who identified Shechem with Nablus (founded by the Romans as Neapolis in 2 B.C.), some have viewed Sychar as an alternate form of Shechem. However, this connection cannot be sustained linguistically. In addition, Stephen, in his defense before being martyred, referred to Shechem, which he would not have done if the town was known at that time as Sychar (Acts 7:16).
• The possibility of identifying Sychar with ancient Shechem has also been eliminated by the positive identification of Tell Balatah as the site of Shechem that was destroyed, probably by Hyrcanus, in 107 B.C. No Roman remains have been found there, an indication that it was not occupied when Jesus and His disciples visited Samaria.
• On the other hand, Eusebius (A.D. 265-340) considered Sychar to be distinct from Shechem and both places to have been located at some distance from Neapolis.
• Various witnesses through the ages, beginning in the early centuries of the first millennium, have identified ‘Askar as Sychar. No objections to its location have been validated and Roman tombs in the area suggest that it was occupied during the first century.
• ‘Askar also meets the requirements of the Scriptural location, "a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph" (John 4:5. Cf. also vv 6,8,28, and 30).

Historical and Biblical Significance

• The village of Sychar, nestled against the southeastern slope of Mount Ebal, overlooked the stage of an historic drama (John 4:3-42). Below, in the noonday sun, lay the ruins of Shechem, a crossroads, a little plain, and the well the patriarch Jacob had dug nearly two millennia before. Across the valley to the south lay Mount Gerizim, where the citizens of Sychar worshiped God.
• The location of Jacob’s well is not in doubt. It is one of the best-attested sites in Palestine. It lies in the Plain of ‘Askar between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, within the walls of an unfinished church. As Laney reminds us, "Wells simply do not change their locations to fit the convenience of pilgrims."
• When Jesus and His disciples arrived at Jacob’s well in the midst of the little plain just east of the two mountains, they had probably followed the main road from Jerusalem, thirty-five miles to the south. The historian Josephus remarked, "It was absolutely necessary for those who would go quickly to pass through [Samaria], for by road you may go in three days from Jerusalem to Galilee" (Quoted in Rousseau and Arav).
• If they were coming from the south, they would first have arrived at the well. Apparently, they left Jesus there (and perhaps also John, if he recorded the meeting as an eyewitness) and walked on up the road to Sychar, a half mile to the north.
• Jesus may have sent His men on to Sychar, not only to buy food, but also to free Him for His planned interview with the woman who would soon arrive at the well.
• As the woman left Sychar about mid-day, she would have met this group of Jewish men heading for her village. Perhaps she left the road to avoid them, or would they have given her the "right of way?" How would she have been reacting to this involuntary encounter with these Jewish men? At that moment, she could not have known that she was about to meet another Jew where she could not avoid Him, at her well.
• At the climax of her conversation with the Rabbi at her well, these same men appeared again. She would immediately realize that they were companions of that other Jew with whom she had been talking.
• But the words of the Rabbi were ringing in her ears, "I that speak unto you am He." For her, the whole scene was overwhelming — a man who knew all about her past and all about worship, and now this crowd of Jewish men! She must get away. She must run to her village with the news that she had found Taheb, the Messiah for whom her people had waited for fourteen centuries. The disciples watched her run down the road. Then their eyes turned back to contemplate the water jug she had left, and wonder. . .
• The disciples then tried to share their purchases with Jesus, but He reminded them that He had "food that you do not know about." He explained that His food was "to do the will of the Father who sent Me." While they were discussing what all this might mean, and wondering why Jesus had been talking with this Samaritan woman, He pointed toward Mount Ebal and to the road from Sychar. "Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest," He told them (John 4:32-35).
• Down the road, men were coming, apparently all the men of Sychar. They were walking quickly and purposefully, obviously headed to the well. What did they expect to find? What would Taheb look like? What would He tell them? It was only a short walk from Sychar. In fifteen minutes they would be at the well!
• Eventually they all walked back up the road to Sychar, the disciples, with Jesus in their midst, and the villagers. An interesting group, Samaritans and Jews, talking cordially! We can only imagine the subjects of their conversations.
• Later, the woman would return to her well for her water jug. Perhaps she would have to fill it several more times for the visitors. And now the wives of those men would join her!
• The Jews from Galilee would stay the next three nights in the little town on the slope of Mount Ebal, where they had bought their fruit. And as they slept, perhaps for the first time in a Samaritan village, would they dream of their forefather Abraham who had met God between these mountains, and his grandson Jacob who had bought land here and had dug that well?

For further study, see also: Mount Gerizim, Mount Ebal, Shechem

Bibliography

1. Bimson, John J., ed. Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Places. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1995.
2. Laney, J. Carl. "Geographical Aspects of the Life of Christ." Doctoral Dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1980.
3. Rousseau, John J. and Rami Arav. Jesus and His World: An Archaeological and Cultural Dictionary. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995.