John 4:5

ἔρχ. οὖν. He cometh therefore; because that was the route.

πόλιν. Town; the word does not imply anything very large. Capernaum, which Josephus calls a κώμη, the Evangelists call a πόλις. Samaria here is the insignificant province into which the old kingdom of Jeroboam had dwindled.

λεγομένην Συχάρ. Λεγομ. may be another indication that this Gospel was written outside Palestine, or it may mean that Sychar was a nickname (‘liar’ or ‘drunkard’). In the one case Sychar is different from Sychem or Shechem, and is the mediaeval Ischar and modern ’Askar; in the other it is another name for Sychem, the Neapolis of S. John’s day, a name which survives in Naplûs, the home of the Samaritans at the present day. The former is very preferable. Would not S. John have written Νεαπόλις if he had meant Sychem? He writes Tiberias (John 6:1; John 6:23; John 21:1): but Tiberias was probably a new town with a new name, whereas Neapolis was a new name for an old town; so the analogy is not perfect. Eusebius and Jerome distinguish Sychar from Sychem: and Naplûs has many wells close at hand.

τ. χωρίου. The portion of ground; Shechem means ‘portion.’ Abraham bought it, Jacob gave it to Joseph, and Joseph was buried there (Genesis 33:19; Genesis 48:22; Joshua 24:32).