Religious Significance
Jewish, Samaritan, Christian, and Muslim traditions all associate the well with Jacob. The well is not specifically mentioned in the Old Testament; the Book of Genesis (33:18f) states that when Jacob returned to Shechem from Paddan-aram, he camped "before" the city and bought the land on which he pitched his tent. Biblical scholars contend that plot of land is the same one upon which Jacob's Well was constructed.
Jacob's Well does appear by name in the New Testament's Book of John (4:5f), where it is recorded that Jesus "came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field which Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there." The Book of John goes on to describe a conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman (called Photini in Orthodox tradition), that took place while Jesus was resting at the well.
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