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Bible Dictionaries
Sychar
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or SYCHAR (Συχάρ) is mentioned in connexion with the journey of Jesus from Judaea to Galilee recorded in John 4:4 f. We learn from John 4:5 f. that He came ‘to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph: and Jacob’s well (πηγή) was there’; John 4:11 adds the information that ‘the well (φρέαρ)’ was ‘deep.’ Jacob’s fountain, referred to here, is one of the undisputed sites of the Gospels. It lies in the mouth of the valley running up between Mts. Ebal and Gerizim to Shechem, 1 1/2 miles E [Note: Elohist.] . of the city and about 1100 yds. from the traditional site of Joseph’s Tomb (Joshua 24:32). The source of its water is still uncertain. Probably rainfall and percolation contributed most to the supply. According to Sanday (Sacred Sites of the Gospels, 32), ‘it is possible that the special sacredness and real excellence of the water (on a hot day it is beautifully soft and refreshing) had something to do with’ the presence of the woman from Sychar, though it has been suggested that she was fetching water for workmen employed on the adjacent cornlands and not for her own household. Now Sychar lay ‘near’ Jacob’s ground and well, and the problem is whether it should be (1) identified with Shechem, or (2) located at the little hamlet of ‘Askar, near the foot of Ebal, about a mile N. of the well and 1 3/4 miles E [Note: Elohist.] . N. E [Note: Elohist.] . of Nâblus. The balance of expert opinion seems to be in favour of the latter identification.
In support of (1), several considerations have been adduced. (a) Shechem could certainly be roughly described as ‘near’ Jacob’s ground, and the disciples who went to ‘the city’ to buy bread were away during the whole of the conversation, that is, for some considerable time. Cheyne (Encyc. Bibl. iv. 4831) considers it unlikely that ‘the city’ which fills such a prominent place in the narrative of John 4 should be any other than Shechem. Then (b) Jerome (Ep. 86 and Quaest. Heb. in Gen. [Note: Geneva NT 1557, Bible 1560.] 48, 22) states that Sichem and Sichar are one and the same place, and that Συχάρ is a copyist’s error for Συχέμ Cheyne defends Jerome’s hypothesis, holding that modern criticism has not disproved its possibility. It has also been urged (c) that the Jews called Shechem Shikor (= ‘drunken’) and Sheker (= ‘false’)—hence the transition from Shechem to Sychar. It can be added (d) that, for centuries after Jerome’s time, his view was adopted by ‘pilgrim’ writers, among whom may be mentioned Arculf (a.d. 700), Saewulf (c. [Note: circa, about.] 1102), Theoderich (1172), Maundeville (1322), and Tuchem of Nurn berg (1480).
But strong objection has been taken to most of these contentions, in favour of (2). (a) Over against Cheyne’s expression of opinion as to the likelihood of identification with Shechem may be set the view of G. A. Smith (HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] 368), that the Evangelist, who had such a good acquaintance with the OT, could not, in face of Genesis 33:19 and Joshua 24:32, have substituted (in error) Sychar for Sychem, and that if he possessed only such knowledge of the locality as the OT gave him, he would have used the name Συχέμ (like Stephen in Acts 7:16). Then (b) Jerome offers no evidence for his identification, and Συχάρ has now been generally adopted as the correct reading. Also Jerome translates Eusebius’ note, which separates Sychar from Neapolis (or Shechem), without comment or correction (in Onom. s.v. ‘Sychar’). (c) There is no proof whatever that the nicknames ‘Shikor’ and ‘Sheker’ were ever given to Shechem (HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] 369, and Encyc. Bibl. iv. 4830). And (d) in spite of the pilgrims’ belief in Jerome, there is clear evidence for Sychar as a separate town, from the 4th cent, onwards.
The evidence just referred to is briefly as follows. Eusebius (Onom. s.v. Συχάρ) writes to the effect that Sychar lay ‘before Neapolis, near the piece of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph, where Christ, according to John, held discourse with the Samaritan woman, by the fountain: it is shown to this day.’ Jerome simply translates this, adding in place of the last sentence, ‘ubi nunc ecclesia fabricata est.’ [But see Eusebius’ Onom. s.v. Συχέμ and Βάλανος Σικιμών, where Shechem is distinguished from Neapolis]. The Bordeaux Pilgrim (c. [Note: circa, about.] 330 a.d.) mentions a Sychar distinct from Shechem, and about a Roman mile away—to which testimony must be added that of the Itinerary of Jerusalem (a.d. 333), and later on of the Abbot Daniel (a.d. 1106), of Fetellus (1130), and of John of Würzburg (c. [Note: circa, about.] 1165). In the Samaritan Chronicle (not later than the 14th cent.) a town spelt’ Ischar (with initial Aleph) is referred to, ‘apparently near Shechem’ and the same as Sychar. Finally, the traveller Berggren found the name ‘Askar or ‘Asgar (with Ayin) given both to a spring and to the whole plain. This name still attaches to the modern village at the foot of Ebal. G. A. Smith (HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] 371) and Cheyne (Encyc. Bibl. iv. 4831) agree that ’Askar may well have grown out of Suchar—the intermediary form being ’Ischar. There is a parallel in the case of’ Ashkelon, mod. ‘Askalan. To this evidence for separating Shechem and Sychar must be added references in the Talmud (noted by Lightfoot) to a place called Suchar or Sichar, a ‘fountain of Suchar’ and ‘a plain of en-Suchar.’ The spring and the plain just mentioned can hardly be other than those referred to by Berggren (Reise, ii. 267).
These references and opinions seem to justify the conclusion that St. John’s Sychar is the modern ‘Askar, with its ruins and fine spring.
Literature.—Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible iv. 635; Encyc. Bibl. iv. 4828 f.; Robinson, BRP [Note: RP Biblical Researches in Palestine.] iii. 133; Stanley, SP [Note: P Sinai and Palestine.] 240 f., 223 (note); Thomson, Land and Book, ch. 31; Buhl, GAP [Note: AP Geographic des alten Palästina.] 203; Sanday, Sacred Sites, 31–33, 91; Baedeker-Socin, Pal. [Note: Palestine, Palestinian.] pp. 328, 337; G. A. Smith, HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] 367 f.; Ewald, Gesch. iv. 284; Neubauer, Géog. du Talm. [Note: Talmud.] 169; Raumer, Pal. [Note: Palestine, Palestinian.] p. 163.
A. W. Cooke.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Sychar'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/s/sychar.html. 1906-1918.
