. On Nazareth hill. emonstrated. Up that cleftlies old Shunem (modern Nablous), whose turbulentinhabitants proved no match for the wiles of Jacob,but who later gave Jotham a close call and furnishedAbimelech with the sons of Belial necessary to hisambition. More vital than these unedifying episodes of theOld Testament is the story of Jesus at the well. Allthe elements of that narrative are here. The squarespot on Ebals base is Sychar. Within the walled en-closure is the well itself. This is certainly the well onwhose curb Jesus sat while on his way home fromJerusalem, and these are the fields
. On Nazareth hill. emonstrated. Up that cleftlies old Shunem (modern Nablous), whose turbulentinhabitants proved no match for the wiles of Jacob,but who later gave Jotham a close call and furnishedAbimelech with the sons of Belial necessary to hisambition. More vital than these unedifying episodes of theOld Testament is the story of Jesus at the well. Allthe elements of that narrative are here. The squarespot on Ebals base is Sychar. Within the walled en-closure is the well itself. This is certainly the well onwhose curb Jesus sat while on his way home fromJerusalem, and these are the fields that caught his eyewhen he said, The fields are white already with theharvest. It is inspiring to the tradition-ridden tra-veler to come at last upon a spot where he may say,Jesus was assuredly here! Nazareth lies directly through the mountain, thirtymiles away. Since Ebal is the highest point on thehorizon as one looks south from Nazareth, the locationof Jacobs well is easily determined even from thatdistance. [80]. Photo by S. U. Mitman, JACOBS WELL AND MOUNT EBAL Y< RUINS AT JACOBS WELL OU are standing within the walled enclosure lookingnearly north-east. Over the hill the high land of Sama-ria sinks rapidly and roughly to the Jordan valley. The ruins belong to a beautiful church built by thecrusaders and destroyed by Saladin in 1187 Itwas preceded by a series of churches built by the piousof earlier centuries, and is now being replaced by anotherbuilt exactly on the lines of the crusading edifice. Inthe construction are being used some beautiful mono-lithic columns of Egyptian red granite which undoubtedyhave survived from the earliest Christian basilica. In a crypt of solid masonry is the well, now curbedwith a block of stone that is sawed deeply by the ropesof the generations. This may have been and probablyis the very stone on which Jesus sat when he talked withthe woman of Samaria. As we stand here and lookdown into the shaft, we seem to hear, Sir, thou has
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherbosto, bookyear1915
