the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Dictionaries
Wells
Morrish Bible Dictionary
or There are several Hebrew words for the wells that were in Palestine. Some may have been dug in connection with springs of water and others have been principally supplied by water from the surrounding land. The word ayin differs from either of the above: it signifies literally 'an eye,' and was like an eye in the ground from which the waters sprang up, and is not said to be dug, and yet is called 'a well' in the A.V. It occurs in Genesis 24:13-45; Genesis 49:22; Exodus 15:27; Nehemiah 2:13 , and the same word is often translated 'fountain.' From the same is mayan. Psalm 84 : 6; Isaiah 12:3; etc. The words beer, bor refer to any well, cistern, or pit. Genesis 16:14; Genesis 24:11,20; Deuteronomy 6:11; etc.
There is the same difference in the N.T., and the two words πηγή, 'spring' or 'fountain,' and φρέαρ, 'well,' are both used respecting Jacob's well; so that apparently it was a fountain (John 4:6 ) within the well. John 4:11,12 .
In John 4:14 (πηγή) is used symbolically: it is 'a fountain' which Christ gives that springs up into eternal life. It is the Holy Spirit, the power of life that springs up in the soul towards its heavenly source.
In 2 Peter 2:17 an apostate is a spring or fountain 'without water:' he has left the only source of life.
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Morrish, George. Entry for 'Wells'. Morrish Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/mbd/w/wells.html. 1897.
