for taking Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evil he had done, laid hold on him, put him in chains, and cast him into prison; for John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful that you should have your brother's wife." Therefore Herodias was enraged against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: for Herod stood in awe of John, knowing that he was a just and holy man. He heard him gladly, doing many things at his suggestion; yet, for Herodias's sake, he would have put him to death, had he not feared the people, who regarded John as a prophet.*

Then, Jesus, hearing that John was cast into prison, left Judea and went again to Galilee; and his way lay through Samaria. And he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave

The wife of Antipas, discovering the project, fled to Machero, a strong fortress on the east of the Jordan, and in her father's dominions. A war between Aretas and Antipas followed, and Machero fell into the hands of the latter. There John was imprisoned, and subsequently beheaded. This incestuous marriage greatly scandalized the Jews, and in denouncing it, John only echoed the public opinion.

His way lay through Samaria. — The way through Samaria was the direct and usual route; but many travellers followed the more circuitous one to the east of the Jordan.

Samaria. — This country lay between Jerusalem and Galilee, and included the region bounded on the north by the range of hills which begins on the west at Mount Carmel, and runs east to the valley of the Jordan, and on the south, by the northern possessions of the tribe of Benjamin; and thus comprised the territory formerly occupied by the tribe Luke iii. 19-20.

*Matt. iv. 12. xiv. 3-5. Mark vi. 17-20.

iv. 14.

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to his son Joseph; and Jacob's well was there, and

When the ten

of Ephraim, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. tribes were carried away captive to Babylon, the Assyrian King sent other nations to inhabit their country, and so Gentiles were placed "in the cities of Samaria, instead of the children of Israel." (2 Kings, xvii. 6, 23.) These people at first, worshipped idols; but being troubled with lions - because, as they supposed, they had not honored the God of the country they asked the King of Assyria to send them one of the captive priests to teach them "how they should fear the Lord." The priest was sent, and henceforth they "feared the Lord, and served their graven images," their religion becoming a mixture of idolatry and Judaism. When the Jews returned from Babylon, and began the rebuilding of the temple, the Samaritans offered their assistance; but the Jews rejected it on the ground of their idolatry and Assyrian descent. Then a bitter feeling arose between the two peoples, which was increased by certain renegade Jews who, from time to time, took refuge with the Samaritans. One of these renegades Manasseh, a man of priestly lineage, who had been expelled from Jerusalem by Nehemiah for an unlawful marriage — about 409 B. C. obtained leave from the Persian King to build a temple on Mount Gerizim. The building of this temple increased the feud between the Jews and Samaritans, and many Jewish criminals and refugees from Justice being afterwards received and protected by the Samaritans, an irreconcilable hatred sprang up between the two nations. This continued till the time of Christ, when the Jews regarded the Samaritans as the worst of the human race, and had no dealings with them. Notwithstanding their Assyrian origin, the Samaritans claimed to be descended from Jacob (John 4. 12), and to have possession of the only authentic copy of the Pentateuch. They rejected the other Old Testament writings, and held that Gerizim had been designated by Moses as the place where men should worship." The present people of Samaria are rude, insolent, and dangerous to strangers; and the former inhabitants, according to the prophets, were of quite as bad a character.

Being weary with his journey, Jesus sat down by the well: and it was about the hour of noon.

Sychar. The true name of this place was Shechem, but Sychar a Syriac word signifying a drunkard and a liar was an opprobrious term applied to it by the Jews. It was forty miles north of Jerusalem, and fifty-two northwest from Jericho, and one of the oldest and most populous cities. of Palestine. It received the name of Neapolis from Vespasian, and on coins still extant is called Flavia Neapolis. Its present name, Naplous, is an Arabic corruption of Neapolis. It is situated in a narrow valley between Mount Gerizim on the south, and Ebal on the north, and its environs are described as being surpassingly beautiful. Gerizim rises eight hundred feet above the town, and a lofty range of mountains bounds its horizon on all sides. Streams, issuing from numerous springs, flow down the mountain slopes, spreading verdure and fertility in every direction. Dr. Robinson says, "the whole valley is filled with gardens of vegetables, and orchards of all kinds of fruits, watered by fountains. It burst upon us like a scene of fairy enchantment. We saw nothing to compare with it in all Palestine." The streets of the city are narrow, and vaulted over, and mulberry, orange, and pomegranate-trees grow in among the houses, and load the air with perfume. The gardens are the homes of numerous nightingales, and other birds, and from them, the valley takes the name of "the musical vale of Palestine." The city has now a population of about two thousand, only two hundred of whom are Samaritans.

Facob's well —is located about a mile and a half east from Naplous, at the foot of Mount Gerizim, and near a wretched hamlet, called Balâta. It is excavated in the solid limestone rock, is perfectly round, with sides hewn smooth and regular, and is nine feet in diameter by about eighty in depth. Formerly the opening was vaulted over in a small chamber under the surface of the ground, and surrounded by a terrace of rude masonry · on which, probably, Jesus sat- but this is now fallen in, and nothing can be seen below, but a

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you

Then a woman of Samaria coming to the well to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Give me to drink; for his disciples had gone away to the city to buy food. The woman said to him, "How is it that who are a Jew, ask drink of me, who am a woman of Samaria? (for the Jews have no dealing with the Samaritans.") Jesus answered her, "Had you known the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, 'Give me to drink;' you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket to draw with, and the

shallow pit nearly filled with stones and rubbish. There is no mention of this well in the Old Testament, and it may have received its name only from the fact of being near the field which Jacob gave to his son Joseph. In this field, a quarter of a mile to the north of the well, is "the tomb of Joseph." This is a small square enclosure, with whitewashed walls, surmounted by a dome. A rough pillar, black with fire, is at its head, and another at its foot, and on the walls are two slabs with Hebrew inscriptions. There is no doubt that this is the resting-place of the bones of the Patriarch.

Being weary. How far Jesus had journeyed that day, we do not know, but the fact that he was too weary to go on, while his disciples could walk three miles, a mile and a half and back, — before taking rest or food, shows that he must have had a more than ordinarily delicate physical constitution. This is also shown by his inability to bear his cross, and by his surviving the torture of crucifixion only a few hours when ordinary natures often endured it for two or three days.

A woman. It was the custom of the country for women to work in the fields, and this woman was probably thus employed in the neighborhood of the well.

No bucket. - The original word seems to require this rendering. Wells in the east are not furnished with drawing

well is deep: whence then have you the living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank of it himself, and his children, and his cattle?" Jesus answered her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again: but whoever drinks of the water I will give him, will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will be in him a well of water springing up into eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst nor come here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come hither." The woman answered, "I have no husband.” Jesus said, "You say well, I have no husband; for though you have had five husbands, he whom you now have is not your husband: in that you speak truly." The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain; but you Jews say, that the place where men ought to worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, " Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, will men worship the Father. You worship, you know not what: we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeks such worship. God is a Spirit: and those that worship him must worship in

apparatus, and travellers provide themselves with small leathern buckets, which they carry on their journeys.

On this mountain. - Mount Gerizim on which was the temple. The original edifice was destroyed by John Hyrcanus, 131, B. C. but it had probably been rebuilt, though with less magnificence.