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Sychar

Illustration of Sychar

Sychar was a town in Samaria located near the well traditionally associated with the patriarch Jacob. In the Gospel of John, Jesus paused there en route from Judea to Galilee and spoke with a Samaritan woman at the well, revealing himself as the source of living water that leads to eternal life while disclosing her personal circumstances and identity as the Messiah. The conversation prompted the woman to share her experience with the townspeople, resulting in many Samaritans believing in Jesus after he stayed with them for two days. This account holds significance in Scripture for demonstrating Jesus' outreach beyond Jewish boundaries, confronting ethnic prejudices, and modeling the spread of the gospel through personal testimony.

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Details

Region
Canaan
Modern Location
Near Nablus, Palestinian Territories (West Bank)
Strongest connections in Scripture

Journey Paths

Key Passages

Woman at the Well

John 4:5-26

Jesus breaks every social convention to offer living water to a Samaritan woman - crossing barriers of gender, ethnicity, and morality to reveal Himself as Messiah.

T5hen cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

6 Now Jacobโ€™s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. 19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.