a denomination of eastern Christians, who first made their
appearance in the fifth century, and were called Monophysites. Jacob
Albardai, or Baradæus, who flourished about A. D. 530, restored the
sect, then almost expiring, to its former vigour, and modelled it anew;
and hence from him they obtained the name of Jacobites. See HYPOSTATICAL
UNION.
JACOB’s WELL, or fountain, a well near Shechem, at which our Saviour
conversed with the woman of Samaria, John iv, 12. Jacob dwelt near this
place, before his sons slew the inhabitants of Shechem. If any thing,
says Dr. E. D. Clarke, connected with the remembrance of past ages be
calculated to awaken local enthusiasm, the land around this city is
preëminently entitled to consideration. The sacred story of events
transacted in the fields of Sichem, Gen. xxxvii, from our earliest
years, is remembered with delight; but with the territory before our
eyes, where those events took place, and in the view of objects existing
as they were described above three thousand years ago, the grateful
impression kindles into ecstacy. Along the valley may still be seen, as
in the days of Reuben and Judah, “a company of Ishmaelites coming from
Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh,” who
would gladly purchase another Joseph of his brethren, and convey him as
a slave to some Potiphar in Egypt. Upon the hills around, flocks and
herds are seen feeding as of old; nor in the simple garb of the
shepherds of Samaria, at this day, is there any thing repugnant to the
notions we may entertain of the appearance formerly presented by the
sons of Jacob. In the time of Alexander the Great, Sichem, or Napolose,
as it is now called, was considered as the capital of Samaria. Its
inhabitants were called Samaritans, not merely as people of Samaria, but
as a sect at variance with the Jews; and they have continued to maintain
their peculiar tenets to this day. The inhabitants, according to
Procopius, were much favoured by the Emperor Justinian, who restored
their sanctuaries, and added largely to the edifices of the city. The
principal object of veneration among them is Jacob’s well, over which a
church was formerly erected. This is situated at a small distance from
the town in the road to Jerusalem, and has been visited by pilgrims of
all ages, but particularly since the Christian era, as the place where
Christ revealed himself to the woman of Samaria. The spot is so
distinctly marked by the evangelist, John iv, and so little liable to
uncertainty from the circumstance of the well itself, and the features
of the country, that, if no tradition existed to identify it, the site
of it could scarcely be mistaken. Perhaps no Christian scholar ever read
the fourth chapter of St. John’s Gospel attentively, without being
struck with the numerous internal evidences of truth which crowd upon
the mind in its perusal. Within so small a compass, it is impossible to
find in other writings so many sources of reflection and of interest.
Independently of its importance as a theological document, it
concentrates so much information, that a volume might be filled with the
illustration it reflects upon the history of the Jews, and upon the
geography of their country. All that can be gathered from Josephus on
these subjects seems to be as a comment to illustrate this chapter. The
journey of our Lord from Judea into Galilee; the cause of it; his
passage through the territory of Samaria; his approach to the metropolis
of that country; its name; his arrival at the Amorite field, which
terminates the narrow valley of Sichem; the ancient custom of halting at
a well; the female employment of drawing water; the disciples sent into
the city for food, by which its situation out of the town is so
obviously implied; the question of the woman referring to existing
prejudices which separated the Jews from the Samaritans; the depth of
the well; the oriental allusion contained in the expression, “living
water;” the history of the well, and the customs illustrated by it; the
worship upon Mount Gerizim:--all these occur within the space of twenty
verses; and if to these be added that remarkable circumstance mentioned
in the fifty-first verse of the chapter, where it is stated that “as he
was now going _down_, his servants met him,” his whole route from Cana
being a continual _descent_ toward Capernaum, we may consider it as a
record, signally confirmed in its veracity by circumstances which remain
in indelible character, to give them evidence, to this day.
appearance in the fifth century, and were called Monophysites. Jacob
Albardai, or Baradæus, who flourished about A. D. 530, restored the
sect, then almost expiring, to its former vigour, and modelled it anew;
and hence from him they obtained the name of Jacobites. See HYPOSTATICAL
UNION.
JACOB’s WELL, or fountain, a well near Shechem, at which our Saviour
conversed with the woman of Samaria, John iv, 12. Jacob dwelt near this
place, before his sons slew the inhabitants of Shechem. If any thing,
says Dr. E. D. Clarke, connected with the remembrance of past ages be
calculated to awaken local enthusiasm, the land around this city is
preëminently entitled to consideration. The sacred story of events
transacted in the fields of Sichem, Gen. xxxvii, from our earliest
years, is remembered with delight; but with the territory before our
eyes, where those events took place, and in the view of objects existing
as they were described above three thousand years ago, the grateful
impression kindles into ecstacy. Along the valley may still be seen, as
in the days of Reuben and Judah, “a company of Ishmaelites coming from
Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh,” who
would gladly purchase another Joseph of his brethren, and convey him as
a slave to some Potiphar in Egypt. Upon the hills around, flocks and
herds are seen feeding as of old; nor in the simple garb of the
shepherds of Samaria, at this day, is there any thing repugnant to the
notions we may entertain of the appearance formerly presented by the
sons of Jacob. In the time of Alexander the Great, Sichem, or Napolose,
as it is now called, was considered as the capital of Samaria. Its
inhabitants were called Samaritans, not merely as people of Samaria, but
as a sect at variance with the Jews; and they have continued to maintain
their peculiar tenets to this day. The inhabitants, according to
Procopius, were much favoured by the Emperor Justinian, who restored
their sanctuaries, and added largely to the edifices of the city. The
principal object of veneration among them is Jacob’s well, over which a
church was formerly erected. This is situated at a small distance from
the town in the road to Jerusalem, and has been visited by pilgrims of
all ages, but particularly since the Christian era, as the place where
Christ revealed himself to the woman of Samaria. The spot is so
distinctly marked by the evangelist, John iv, and so little liable to
uncertainty from the circumstance of the well itself, and the features
of the country, that, if no tradition existed to identify it, the site
of it could scarcely be mistaken. Perhaps no Christian scholar ever read
the fourth chapter of St. John’s Gospel attentively, without being
struck with the numerous internal evidences of truth which crowd upon
the mind in its perusal. Within so small a compass, it is impossible to
find in other writings so many sources of reflection and of interest.
Independently of its importance as a theological document, it
concentrates so much information, that a volume might be filled with the
illustration it reflects upon the history of the Jews, and upon the
geography of their country. All that can be gathered from Josephus on
these subjects seems to be as a comment to illustrate this chapter. The
journey of our Lord from Judea into Galilee; the cause of it; his
passage through the territory of Samaria; his approach to the metropolis
of that country; its name; his arrival at the Amorite field, which
terminates the narrow valley of Sichem; the ancient custom of halting at
a well; the female employment of drawing water; the disciples sent into
the city for food, by which its situation out of the town is so
obviously implied; the question of the woman referring to existing
prejudices which separated the Jews from the Samaritans; the depth of
the well; the oriental allusion contained in the expression, “living
water;” the history of the well, and the customs illustrated by it; the
worship upon Mount Gerizim:--all these occur within the space of twenty
verses; and if to these be added that remarkable circumstance mentioned
in the fifty-first verse of the chapter, where it is stated that “as he
was now going _down_, his servants met him,” his whole route from Cana
being a continual _descent_ toward Capernaum, we may consider it as a
record, signally confirmed in its veracity by circumstances which remain
in indelible character, to give them evidence, to this day.