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.
Read more about this topic: Jacob's Well
Famous quotes containing the words religious and/or significance:
“Adjoining a refreshment stand ... is a small frame ice house ... with a whitewashed advertisement on its brown front stating, simply, “Ice. Glory to Jesus.” The proprietor of the establishment is a religious man who has seized the opportunity to broadcast his business and his faith at the same time.”
—For the State of New Jersey, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The hysterical find too much significance in things. The depressed find too little.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)