Sychar
E9 on the Map.
Sychar in
Fausset's Bible Dictionary. John 4:5. Shechem or Nablus (Jerome Quaest. Genesis
48:22) corrupted into Sichem, Sychar. Some think it an intentional corruption,
as if from sheker "falsehood," or shikor "drunkard" (Isaiah 28:1; Isaiah 28:7),
due to Jewish bigotry against the Samaritans. It is objected that Jacob's well
at the entrance into the valley is a mile and a half from Shechem, and that it
is unlikely the woman, if belonging to Shechem, would go so far for water when
plenty was nearer at hand; but Robinson conjectures the town had extensive
suburbs anciently which reached to near Jacob's well. The woman probably went to
this well, irrespectively of distance, just because it was Jacob's; her looking
for "Messiah" is in consonance with this, besides the well was deep and the
water therefore especially good. However Sychar may have been close to the well;
and (Thomson, Land and Book, 31) the present village, Aschar, just above Jacob's
well, on the side of Ebal and on the road by which caravans pass from Jerusalem
to Damascus, and by which doubtless Jesus passed between Judaea and Galilee, may
answer to Sychar. So Jerome and Eusebius (Onomasticon) make S. "before," i.e. E.
of, Neapolis (Shechem) by the field of Joseph with Jacob's well. The Bordeaux
pilgrim (A.D. 333) puts Sechar or Sychar a Roman mile from Sychem, which he
makes a suburb of Neapolis. "A city of Samaria called Sychar" is language not
likely to be used of the metropolis Shechem; moreover the name Sychem occurs
Acts 7:16. On the other hand "called" suits the idea that Sychar is a Jewish
nickname for Shechem. Lt. Conder favors Aschar, which is the translation of the
Samaritan Iskar, not from the Hebrew "drunkard," but from a Hebrew Aramaic root
meaning "to be shut up." This derivation and the description in John 4:5-6
answer accurately to Aschar. Jacob's well is at the point where the narrow vale
of Shechem broadens into the great plain; it is 2,000 yards E. of Nablus (Shechem),
which is hidden from it. The tomb of Joseph is a third of a mile northeastward,
thence a path ascends to Aschar which is visible from Jacob's well.
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Sychar
Askar. Place containing Jacob's well, John 4:5. Sychar has been identified with
Shechem. It is now commonly located at the site of the village of 'Askar, on the
eastern slope of Ebal, almost two miles from Nablus (Neapolis), about a half
mile N of the traditional Jacob's well, and a short distance SE of Shechem.
Eusebius (4th Cent AD) mentions a Sychar distinct from Shechem, lying before
Neapolis, the present Nablus. In spite of ecclesiastical tradition, the name
Sychar should have remained the location of ancient Shechem. Because of the
uncertainty of the precise location Neapolis can also be identified with Shechem.
See Neapolis
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Sychar in Bible Cities
More about Ancient Sychar
Israel in the First Century
More About Ancient Sychar
Sychar Scriptures
John 4:5 - Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.