In Vietnamese: Ga 4,3-26. Địa danh: Sa-ma-ri, Gơ-ri-dim, giếng Gia-cóp, Xy-kha.
Email: josleminhthong@gmail.com
September 9, 2012
Contents
I. Introduction
II. Samaria region and Samaria city
1. Judea – Samaria – Galilee
2. Samaria city – Sebaste city
III. Places of
encounter in Samaria
1. Sychar – Askar – Shechem
2. Jacob’s well
3. Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal
IV. Conclusion
Bibliography
I. Introduction
Jesus’ encounters with the Samaritans in Jn 4:1-43 took
place in many locations. The narrator cites three regions: Judea, Samaria and
Galilee in 4:3-4: “3 He [Jesus] left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 He
had to pass through Samaria.” Where are these places? After the general
description of Jesus’ journey, the narrator focuses on precise locations: “So
he [Jesus] came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob
gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there” (4:5-6a). The Samaritan woman in
her later dialogue with Jesus, said to him: “Our fathers worshiped on this
mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to
worship” (4:20). Jacob’s well is near Mount Gerizim; on its summit, there had
been a Samaritan Temple. Therefore, in the mind of the Samaritan woman, “this
mountain” (4:20) means Mount Gerizim, it is right before her eyes.
This article investigates these places in Jn 4:1-43. Some
maps of the Holy Land show the regions of Judea, Samaria and Galilee. After
that, we will talk about the ancient Samaria city, and present day city of Sebaste which
is in the same location. The heart of the story consists in Jesus’ encounter with
the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, near the town of Sychar. We will also present the
findings of excavations in the Nablus region: Shechem – Sychar – Askar. Many archaeologists
identify Sychar in Jesus’ time with the modern village of Askar. Some photos of
Jacob’s well and Mount Gerizim today are also included with a summary history
of these places.
Describing these places can help readers savor the imagery
of the story. But more important, the narrator invites readers to transcend these
places and apply the significant message of the story in their daily encounter
with others.
II. Samaria region and Samaria city
1. Judea – Samaria – Galilee
Map of Israel in the
Time of Jesus:
From Bible History Online
In Jesus’ time, the territory of Palestine was divided into three
regions: Judea in the south, Samaria in the middle and Galilee in the north
(see the map above). On this map, the territories of Judea and Samaria were only a
province of the Roman Empire, while the territories of Galilee and Peraea were
under King Herod Antipas. The Gaulanitis was under Herod Philip II. The Decapolis
region, which in Greek means ten (deca) cities (polis), comprises a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of
the Roman Empire, in the region of Judea and Syria. Their political status was that of autonomous cities.
2. Samaria city – Sebaste city
In Jn 4:3-4, the narrator states: “He [Jesus] left Judea
and departed again to Galilee. He had to pass through Samaria” (4:3-4). The name “Samaria” here is not only Samaria
city but the whole Samaria region. Samaria city used to be capital
of the northern kingdom of Israel from the time of king Omri (circa 885-874 BCE)
until the city was taken over by
Sargon II in 721 BCE (Before the Common
Era, Before the Current Era or Before
the Christian Era). Then it
was conquered by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, and was destroyed by John
Hyrcan in circa 108 BCE (cf. Josephus
Ant. 13:275-281). Pompey rebuilt Samaria city in the year 63 BCE. In 27 BCE, Augustus Caesar
gave this city to Herod the Great, then Herod expanded and renovated the city
and named it in Greek “Sebaste”,
meaning “Augustus”, in the Emperor’s honor. Therefore, on the map above, Sebaste
city takes the place of Samaria city in the other map below. The Samaria-Sebaste
city is home to a number of important archaeological sites. Excavations of these
sites in Samaria-Sebaste have revealed six cultures of six successive periods: Canaanite,
Israelite, Hellenistic, Herodian, Roman and Byzantine.
Jesus had to pass
through Samaria (4:4), but where exactly is the spot where Jesus encountered
the Samaritan woman? And where is the place Jesus stayed with the Samaritans for
two days? We will study these places: “Sychar – Askar – Shechem” (4:5a); “the
field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph” (4:5b), “Jacob’s well” (4:6a) and “this mountain” in 4:20a, which refers to Mount
Gerizim.
III.
Places of encounter in Samaria
Map of Samaria region
in Ancient Israel
From Bible History Online
In the middle of
Samaria, we can see the following places: Askar, Shechem, Nablus, Mount
Ebal and Mount Gerizim, but where exactly are Sychar town and Jacob’s well?
1. Sychar – Askar – Shechem
The town of
Sychar is described in the Gospel of John like this: “He [Jesus] came to
a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son
Joseph. Jacob’s well was there” (4:5-6a). Jerome identifies Sychar with
Shechem. In fact, in Syriac manuscripts the word “Shechem” is used for “Sychar”,
but this identification was probably corrected
by a later copyist. The description of Jn 4:5-6 invokes the text of Gen 33:18-20:
“18 And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of
Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram; and he camped before the city. 19 And from
the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money
the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. 20 There he erected an
altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.” Nevertheless the town’s name in Jn 4:5 is
Sychar, it is not Shechem. Besides, in the Bible, the name “Sychar” is mentioned
only one time in Jn 4:5. Some scholars want to identify Sychar town with the
ancient Shechem, but many others tend to identify Sychar town with Askar
village of today.
In fact, the criteria for
identifying Sychar town are (1) near “the field that Jacob gave to his
son Joseph” (4:5b) and (2) “Jacob’s
well was there” (4:6a). Some scholars identify
Sychar with Shechem because the excavations show that “the field that Jacob gave to his son
Joseph” (4:5b) lies before the ruins
of Shechem which is much closer to the modern Balata (see SCHEIN, Following
the Way, 1980, p. 205).
Many other scholars identify Sychar town with the village of
Askar (see the map above). Rudolf Schnackenburg wrote: “The place
called Sychar by the evangelist (Vg. Sichar) is mostly identified with the
present village of Askar, a little more than half a mile north-east of the well
of Jacob” (SCHNACKENBURG, The
Gospel, vol. I, p. 423). Jn 4:5
describes Sychar by the words “polis” which means “city” or “large town”. Excavations
at Balata have revealed the ruins of the ancient Shechem, but it is uncertain
when the village came into existence. In fact, the ancient Shechem was
destroyed in 107 BCE by John Hyrcan. The settlement of Flavia Neapolis (about a mile and a half from ancient Shechem) was not yet in
existence at the time of Jesus. Indeed, Flavia Neapolis was founded
by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 72 CE (Common Era, Current Era or Christian
Era). Today, the city’s name is Nablus.
From http://bibleatlas.org/sychar.htm
The village of Askar today is on the lower slope of Mount Ebal.
This is the district east of ancient Shechem usually identified with “the field
that Jacob gave to his son Joseph”. Though
the settlement of Askar came into existence only from the Arab times, it may
well be on the site of ancient Sychar.
Now, as the
result of recent excavations, the
site at Sychar can be identified with Askar, a small Samaritan town on
the base of Mount Ebal, north-east of Jacob's well. Possibly there were some Christians
at Sychar town at the time of the composition of the Fourth Gospel.
2. Jacob’s well
“The well of Jacob, which is still to be seen today in the
same place where it was shown to earlier pilgrims, is undoubtedly genuine,
though it is not mentioned in the Old Testament” (SCHNACKENBURG, The Gospel, vol. I, p. 424). This is a photo of the Jacob’s well in 1894:
From http://hitch.south.cx
Bishop John H. Vincent commented about this photo in his
writing “Earthly Footsteps of the Man
of Galilee”, after he visited the well in 1894: “Jacob’s Well now
belongs to a Greek Church (…). The well is now seventy-five feet deep and seven
feet six inches in breadth. The diameter of the opening is seventeen and a half
feet. A ruined vault stands above the well twenty feet long, ten feet broad and
six feet high. The pieces of broken marble you see in the front belong to some
ancient church” (http://hitch.south.cx/biblesidenotes-e20%20Jacobs%20Well.htm).
The Greek Orthodox purchased the ruins of churches that was
the site of Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well (Jn 4). The
construction of the new church began before the First World War, but after only
portions of the exterior walls were constructed, the construction was halted by
the war. This photo shows the construction in 1999.
Photo in Nov 1999, from http://welcometohosanna.com
After lying dormant for over 80 years, the church was
completed in 2007. This is the Orthodox Church of Saint Photina nowadays:
From http://welcometohosanna.com
Photo by ssiatravani
The interior of the Greek Orthodox Church:
Photo by Ferrell Jenkins 2009
Jacob’s well is in
the crypt of this Orthodox church:
Photo by ssiatravani
This is Jacob’s well from
wellhead:
Photo by ssiatravani
Wells are unmovable, so we can be fairly confident that this
well marks the precise spot where Jesus sat down and talked to the Samaritan
woman (Jn 4). As she rightly said, ‘the well is deep’ (4:11). Indeed, it goes
down over 70 feet (21 metres) and it still provides chill, clear water for
drinking (WALKER, In the Steps of Jesus, 2006, p. 87-88). In
Jesus’ time the well may have been deeper. Jewish, Samaritan, Christian and
Muslim traditions all associate the well with Jacob.
3. Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal
Photo from BiblePlaces.com
Mount Gerizim on
the left, Mount Ebal on the right.
Mount Gerizim is in Samaria, about 2,849 feet (868 meters)
above the level of the Mediterranean Sea, and 800 feet (244 meters) above the
valley at its foot. Mount Ebal is 3,076 feet (938 meters) above sea level, and
1,200 feet (366 meters) above the valley at its foot. (See more details in http://bibleatlas.org
and http://classic.net.bible.org). Between
these two mountains is the ancient Shechem. Sychar (Askar) was located at the
base of Mount Ebal and Jacob’s well was south of the town in the direction of Mount
Gerizim.
According to Josephus, Sanballat built a temple for the
Samaritans on this mountain, and instituted their own priests, as rivals to
those of the Jews at Jerusalem (cf. Josephus
Ant. 11:8,2-4). The religious tension between the Jews and the Samaritans
led to the destruction of the temple on Gerizim by John Hyrcan in the 2nd
century BCE, after it had stood there for two hundred years. When Christianity
became the state religion of the Roman Empire, a Christian octagonal church was
built on the summit of Gerizim in 475 CE. Then the church was destroyed by the
Muslims in the eighth century. (See
WALKER, In the Steps of Jesus, 2006,
p. 89). Here following image shows the ruins of the
Byzantine octagonal Church on Mount Gerizim:
Photo by Ron Peled
Photo From Illustrated
Dictionary
In the days of
Joshua, Mounts Gerizim and Ebal were sites for the recitation of blessings and curses (Jos 8:30-35). In the days of Jesus, Mount Gerizim was near Jacob’s well, the
location where Jesus met the Samaritan woman. Mount Gerizim was
certainly “this mountain” pointed to by the Samaritan woman in her conversation
with Jesus in Jn 4:20.
IV.
Conclusion
The historical
context of Jn 4:1-43 includes some places in the Holy Land. In this pericope, the
narrator mentions these locations:
Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Sychar, Jacob’s well and “this mountain” (Mount
Gerizim). The story of Jn 4:1-43 focuses on Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan
woman and the other Samaritans of the Sychar town. Additional information about
these places, from the Old Testament, New Testament and other available
sources today will help readers to understand the message: “Where” and “how” Jesus accomplished
his mission and revealed himself.
The Samaria region
is outside the Jewish territory, and the Samaritans are considered by the Jews
as pagans. Facing the barriers of different beliefs (Jews – Samaritans),
different genders (man – woman), different places of worship (Jerusalem –
Gerizim), Jesus enables the Samaritans to break these barriers through his
encounter and his revelation. Jesus reveals himself to the Samaritan woman, and
through her, to everyone in 4:21,23a: “21 Believe me, the hour is coming
when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father
(22…). 23a But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth.”
The worship at any
particular place is limited in space and often causes conflict. The true worship
of Jesus’ disciples is not limited to a place but can be done in Spirit
and truth. In other words, wherever Jesus’ disciples are present, their place
of worship can also be there. This means the disciples of Jesus can worship the
Father in Spirit and truth, anywhere at any time.
Jesus’ encounters with the Samaritans took place in concrete
locations in Samaria, at Jacob’s well and Sychar town. Nevertheless, the
story invites readers to go beyond these places. Jesus’ disciples today can
transform their daily encounters with others by imitating Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman
at Jacob’s well. Through the story the narrator encourages his community to realize their mission in this world. That is to say, if the daily encounters of
each of Jesus’ disciples today can help others break down the barriers (i.e. beliefs, gender,
places of worship), and lead others to discover that Jesus is “the Savior of
the world” (4:42), then it can be said that the message in Jn 4:1-43 has been realized./.
Bibliography
KEENER, Craig S., The
Gospel of John. A Commentary, vol. I and II, Peabody (MA), Hendrickson Publishers, 2003, 1636 p.
Revised Standard
Version - Second Catholic Edition, 2006 (RSV-SCE).
SCHEIN, Bruce E., Following the Way, the setting of John’s Gospel, Minneapolis (MN),
Augsburg Publishing House, 1980.
schnaCkenburg, Rudolf, The
Gospel According to St. John, vol. I: Introduction and Commentary on Chapter 1–4, New York,
The Crossroad Publishing Company, (1965), 1987, 638 p. (Orig. Das Johannesevangelium,
1965).
WALKER, Peter, In the Steps of Jesus, an Illustrated Guide to the Places of the Holy
Land, Oxford, Lion Hudson, 2006.
WIGODER, Geoffrey, (Ed.), The Illustrated Dictionary
& Concordance of the Bible, New York (NY), Sterling Publishing, 2005.
Select Internet Sources:
Bible
Encyclopedia: http://christiananswers.net/dictionary/
Bible History: http://www.bible-history.com/maps/
Bible Places: http://bibleplaces.com/
Bible Study Tools:
http://www.biblestudytools.com/
Biblos: http://biblos.com/
Catholic Encyclopedia: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/
Christian Answers: http://christiananswers.net/
Holy Land Photos: http://www.holylandphotos.org/
Life in the Holy
Land: http://www.lifeintheholyland.com/
NET BIBLE: http://classic.net.bible.org/home.php
September 9, 2012
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