Sychar in Samaria
Jesus passed through Sychar on his way to various towns in Galilee.
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SYCHAR
Town in Samaria, mentioned in the Bible only in John 4:5. The name has been taken as a variant form of the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Shechem. Many scholars favor an identification with the present-day village of Askar, which is located at the southeast foot of Mt Ebal, about one-half mile (.8 kilometer) north of Jacob’s well. Excavations appear to favor the Shechem identification, which was proposed by Jerome. The Babylonian Talmud refers to a place called Sichar or Suchar, but its location is not known.
Sychar is said to be near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph (Jn 4:5). The record of the giving of this parcel of land is recorded in Genesis 48:22. When Jacob had concluded the blessing of Joseph’s two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, he told Joseph that he had given to him rather than to his brothers “one mountain slope which I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow” (Gn 48:22, rsv). The Hebrew word translated “slope” is the word for shoulder and the name of the city of Shechem. It was on this piece of property that Joseph was buried (Jos 24:32). This passage also states that Jacob bought the ground from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver (cf. Gn 33:19; Acts 7:16).
Sychar in Samaria
Jesus passed through Sychar on his way to various towns in Galilee.
The account of Jesus’ visit to Sychar in John 4 is important. Jesus came to Sychar because of a spiritual, not geographical, imperative (Jn 4:4). One of the objectives of this mission was to break down barriers: the hostility between the racially pure Jew and the mixed-race Samaritan (v 9); the social restrictions between men and women (v 27); the societal separation between the ritually clean and the morally impure (this woman was ostracized; she came to the well alone and at an unusual time, v 6). The conversation between Jesus and the woman is instructive as to personal witness. The spiritual discernment and compassion of Jesus are evident. When the woman received the testimony of his identity as the Messiah, she too became an effective witness (vv 28-30). The new believers among the Samaritans asked Jesus to stay with them, so he remained for two days and many more believed in him (vv 39-41).