At about one third of an hour from Naplosa, we came to Jacob's Well, famous not only upon account of its author, but much more for that memorable conference which our blessed Saviour here had with the woman of Samaria[563]. If it should be questioned whether this be the very well that it is pretended for, or no, seeing it may be suspected to stand too remote from Sychar for women to come so far to draw water, it is answered, that probably the city extended farther this way in former times than it does now, as may be conjectured from some pieces of a very thick wall, still to be seen not far from hence. Over the well there stood formerly a large church, erected by that great and devout patroness of the Holy Land, the empress Helena. But of this the voracity of time, assisted by the hands of the Turks, has left nothing but a few foundations remaining. The well is covered at present with an old stone vault, into which you are let down through a very straight hole: and, then, removing a broad flat stone, you discover the mouth of the well itself. It is dug in a firm rock, and contains about three yards in diameter, and thirty-five in depth, five of which we found full of water. This confutes a story commonly told to travellers who do not take the pains to examine the well, viz., that it is dry all the year round, except on the anniversary of that day on which our blessed Saviour sat upon it, but then bubbles up with abundance of water.
At this well the narrow valley of Sychem ends, opening itself into a wide field, which is probably part of that parcel of ground given by Jacob to his son Joseph. It is watered with a fresh stream rising between it and Sychem, which makes it so exceeding verdant and fruitful, that it may well be looked upon as a standing token of the tender affection of that good patriarch to the best of sons[564].
From Jacob's well our road went southward, along a very spacious and fertile valley. Having passed by two villages on the right hand, one called Howar, the other Sawee, we arrived in four hours at Khan Leban, and lodged there. Our whole stage to-day was about eight hours; our course variable between east and south.
Khan Leban stands on the east side of a delicious vale, having a village of the same name standing opposite to it on the other side of the vale. One of these places, either the khan or the village, is supposed to have been the Lebonah mentioned in Judges, xi. 19, to which both the name and situation seem to agree.
March 25.—From Khan Leban our road lay through a more mountainous and rocky country, of which we had a specimen as soon as we were mounted the next morning, our first task being to climb a very craggy and difficult mountain. In three quarters of an hour we left, at some distance on the right hand, a village called Cinga, and in one hour more, we entered into a very narrow valley, between two high rocky hills, at the farther end of which we found the ruins of a village and of a monastery. In this very place, or hereabouts, Jacob's Bethel is supposed to have been, where he had his stony couch made easy by that beatifying vision of God, and of the angels ascending and descending, on a ladder reaching from earth to heaven[565]. Near this place are the limits separating between Ephraim and Benjamin[566].
From hence we passed through large olive-yards, and having left first Geeb and then Selwid (two Arab villages) on the right hand, we came in an hour and a half to an old way cut with great labour over a rocky precipice, and in one hour more we arrived at Beer. This is the place to which Jonathan fled from the revenge of his brother Abimelech[567]. It is supposed also to be the same with Michmas[568].
Beer enjoys a very pleasant situation, on an easy declivity fronting southward. At the bottom of the hill it has a plentiful fountain of excellent water, from which it has its name. At its upper side are the remains of an old church built by the empress Helena in memory of the Blessed Virgin, who, when she was in search of the child Jesus, as it is related[569], came (as tradition adds) to this city, and not finding him whom her soul loved in the company, she sat down weary and pensive at so sad a disappointment, in the very place where the church now stands; but afterwards returning to Jerusalem, she had her maternal fears turned into joy, when "she found him sitting in the Temple amongst the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions."
All along this day's travel from Khan Leban to Beer, and also as far as we could see around, the country discovered a quite different face from what it had before, presenting nothing to the view, in most places, but naked rocks, mountains, and precipices; at sight of which pilgrims are apt to be much astonished and baulked in their expectations, finding that country in such an inhospitable condition, concerning whose pleasantness and plenty they had before formed in their minds such high ideas from the description given of it in the Word of God, insomuch that it almost startles their faith, when they reflect how it could be possible for a land like this to supply food for so prodigious a number of inhabitants as are said to have been polled in the twelve tribes at one time, the number given in by Joab[570] amounting to no less than thirteen hundred thousand fighting men, besides women and children. But it is certain that any man who is not a little biassed to infidelity before, may see, as he passes along, arguments enough to support his faith against such scruples. For it is obvious for any one to observe, that these rocks and hills must have been anciently covered with earth and cultivated, and made to contribute to the maintenance of the inhabitants, no less than if the country had been all plain; nay, perhaps much more, forasmuch as such a mountainous and uneven surface affords a larger space of ground for cultivation than this country would amount to if it were all reduced to a perfect level.
For the husbanding of these mountains, their manner was to gather up the stones, and place them in several lines along the sides of the hills in form of a wall. By such borders they supported the mould from tumbling, or being washed down, and formed many beds of excellent soil rising gradually one above another, from the bottom to the top of the mountains.