John 4:5

Then cometh he Better, He cometh therefore; because that was His route.

a city of Samaria City is used loosely, and must not be supposed to imply anything large. Capernaum, which Josephus calls a village, the Evangelists call a city. -Town" would be better as a translation. Samaria is the insignificant province of Samaria into which the old kingdom of Jeroboam had dwindled. Omit -which is" before -called."

called Sychar -Called" 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 a different place from Sychem or Shechem, though close to it, viz. the modern Askar: in the other it is another name for Sychem, the Neapolis of S. John's day, and the modern Naplûs. The former view is preferable, though certainty is impossible. Would S. John have written -Neapolis" if Sychem were meant? He writes Tiberias (John 6:1; John 6:23; John 21:1): but Tiberias was probably a new town as well as 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. Naplûs has many wells close at hand.

that Jacob gave to his son Joseph Genesis 33:19; Genesis 48:22; Joshua 24:32. Abraham bought the ground, Jacob gave it to Joseph, and Joseph was buried there.