Reference: Well
Easton
(Heb beer), to be distinguished from a fountain (Heb 'ain). A "beer" was a deep shaft, bored far under the rocky surface by the art of man, which contained water which percolated through the strata in its sides. Such wells were those of Jacob and Beersheba, etc. (see Ge 21:19,25,30-31; 24:11; 26:15,18-25,32, etc.). In the Pentateuch this word beer, so rendered, occurs twenty-five times.
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Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the [empty] bottle with water and caused the youth to drink.
When Abraham complained to and reasoned with Abimelech about a well of water [Abimelech's] servants had violently seized,
He said, You are to accept these seven ewe lambs from me as a witness for me that I dug this well. Therefore that place was called Beersheba [well of the oath], because there both parties swore an oath.
And he made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening when women go out to draw water.
Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had closed and filled with earth.
And Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names by which his father had called them. Now Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living [spring] water. read more. And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours. And he named the well Esek [contention] because they quarreled with him. Then [his servants] dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he named it Sitnah [enmity]. And he moved away from there and dug another well, and for that one they did not quarrel. He named it Rehoboth [room], saying, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. Now he went up from there to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will favor you with blessings and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham. And [Isaac] built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants were digging a well.
That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, We have found water!
Fausets
(See FOUNTAIN.) As ''Ayin, "fount," literally, "eye", refers to the water springing up to us, so beer, "well," from a root "to bore," refers to our finding our way down to it. The Bir- and the En- are always distinct. The rarity of wells in the Sinaitic region explains the national rejoicings over Beer or the well, afterward Beer-Elim, "well of heroes" (Nu 21:16-18,22). God commanded Moses to cause the well to be dug; princes, nobles, and people, all heartily, believingly, and joyfully cooperated in the work. Naming a well marked right of property in it. To destroy it denoted conquest or denial of right of property (Ge 21:30-31; 26:15-33; 2Ki 3:19; De 6:11; Nu 20:17,19; Pr 5:15). "Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well," i.e. enjoy the love of thine own wife alone.
Wells and cisterns are the two sources of oriental supply, each house had its own cistern (2Ki 18:31); to thirst for filthy waters is suicidal. Song 4:12; in Palestine wells are excavated in the limestone, with steps descending to them (Ge 24:16). A low stone wall for protection (Ex 21:33) surrounds the brim; on it sat our Lord in conversing with the Samaritan woman (Joh 4:6,11). A stone cover was above; this the woman placed on the well at Bahurim (2Sa 17:19), translated "the woman spread the covering over the well's mouth." A rope and bucket or water skin raised the water; the marks of the rope are still visible in the furrows worn in the low wall. See Nu 24:7, "he shall stream with water out of his two buckets," namely, suspended from the two ends of a pole, the usual way of fetching water from the Euphrates in Balaam's neighbourhood.
Wells are often contended for and are places of Bedouin attacks on those drawing water (Ex 2:16-17; Jg 5:11; 2Sa 23:15-16). Oboth (Nu 21:10-11) means holes dug in the ground for water. Beerlahairoi is the first well mentioned (Ge 16:14). Beersheba, Rehoboth, and Jacob's well are leading instances of wells (Ge 21:19; 26:22). They are sunk much deeper than ours, to prevent drying up. Jacob's well is 75 ft. deep, seven feet six inches in diameter, and lined with rough masonry; a pitcher unbroken at the bottom evidenced that there was water at some seasons, otherwise the fall would have broken the pitcher.
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Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi [A well to the Living One Who sees me]; it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the [empty] bottle with water and caused the youth to drink.
He said, You are to accept these seven ewe lambs from me as a witness for me that I dug this well. Therefore that place was called Beersheba [well of the oath], because there both parties swore an oath.
And the girl was very beautiful and attractive, chaste and modest, and unmarried. And she went down to the well, filled her water jar, and came up.
Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had closed and filled with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we are. read more. So Isaac went away from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names by which his father had called them. Now Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living [spring] water. And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours. And he named the well Esek [contention] because they quarreled with him. Then [his servants] dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he named it Sitnah [enmity]. And he moved away from there and dug another well, and for that one they did not quarrel. He named it Rehoboth [room], saying, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
And he moved away from there and dug another well, and for that one they did not quarrel. He named it Rehoboth [room], saying, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. Now he went up from there to Beersheba. read more. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will favor you with blessings and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham. And [Isaac] built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants were digging a well. Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzah, one of his friends, and Phicol, his army's commander. And Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you? They said, We saw that the Lord was certainly with you; so we said, Let there be now an oath between us [carrying a curse with it to befall the one who breaks it], even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you That you will do us no harm, inasmuch as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed or favored of the Lord! And he made them a [formal] dinner, and they ate and drank. And they rose up early in the morning and took oaths [with a curse] with one another; and Isaac sent them on their way and they departed from him in peace. That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, We have found water! And he named [the well] Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba [well of the oath] to this day.
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.
If a man leaves a pit open or digs a pit and does not cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
Let us pass, I pray you, through your country. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink of the water of the wells. We will go along the king's highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed your borders.
And the Israelites said to him, We will go by the highway, and if I and my livestock drink of your water, I will pay for it. Only let me pass through on foot, nothing else.
And the Israelites journeyed on and encamped at Oboth. They journeyed from Oboth and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness opposite Moab, toward the sunrise.
From there the Israelites went on to Beer [a well], the well of which the Lord had said to Moses, Assemble the people together and I will give them water. Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well! Let all sing to it, read more. The fountain that the princes opened, that the nobles of the people hollowed out from their staves. And from the wilderness or desert [Israel journeyed] to Mattanah,
Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or vineyard; we will not drink the water of the wells. We will go by the king's highway until we have passed your border.
[Israel] shall pour water out of his own buckets [have his own sources of rich blessing and plenty], and his offspring shall dwell by many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
And houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out which you did not hew, and vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and when you eat and are full,
Far from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even the righteous acts toward His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates.
And the woman spread a covering over the well's mouth and spread ground corn on it; and the thing was not discovered.
Hearken not to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat every man from his own vine and fig tree and drink every man the waters of his own cistern,
Drink waters out of your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship], and fresh running waters out of your own well.
A garden enclosed and barred is my sister, my [promised] bride -- "a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
And Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, tired as He was from His journey, sat down [to rest] by the well. It was then about the sixth hour (about noon).
She said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with [no drawing bucket] and the well is deep; how then can You provide living water? [Where do You get Your living water?]
Hastings
Smith
Well.
Wells in Palestine are usually excavated from the solid limestone rock, sometimes with steps to descend into them.
The brims are furnished with a curb or low wall of stone, bearing marks of high antiquity in the furrows worn by the ropes used in drawing water. It was on a curb of this sort that our Lord sat when he conversed with the woman of Samaria,
Joh 4:6
and it was this, the usual stone cover, which the woman placed on the mouth of the well at Bahurim,
where the Authorized Version weakens the sense by omitting the article. The usual methods for raising water are the following:
1. The rope and bucket, or waterskin.
Ge 24:14-20; Joh 4:11
2. The sakiyeh, or Persian wheel. This consists of a vertical wheel furnished with a set of buckets or earthen jars attached to a cord passing over the wheel. which descend empty and return full as the wheel revolves.
3. A modification of the last method, by which a man, sitting opposite to a wheel furnished with buckets, turns it by drawing with his hands one set of spokes prolonged beyond its circumference, and pushing another set from him with his feet.
4. A method very common in both ancient and modern Egypt is the shadoof, a simple contrivance consisting of a lever moving on a pivot, which is loaded at one end with a lump of clay or some other weight, and has at the other a bowl or bucket. Wells are usually furnished with troughs of wood or stone into which the water is emptied for the use of persons or animals coming to the wells. Unless machinery is used, which is commonly worked by men, women are usually the water-carriers.
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And let it so be that the girl to whom I say, I pray you, let down your jar that I may drink, and she replies, Drink, and I will give your camels drink also -- "let her be the one whom You have selected and appointed and indicated for Your servant Isaac [to be a wife to him]; and by it I shall know that You have shown kindness and faithfulness to my master. Before he had finished speaking, behold, out came Rebekah, who was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Nahor the brother of Abraham, with her water jar on her shoulder. read more. And the girl was very beautiful and attractive, chaste and modest, and unmarried. And she went down to the well, filled her water jar, and came up.
And the girl was very beautiful and attractive, chaste and modest, and unmarried. And she went down to the well, filled her water jar, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, I pray you, let me drink a little water from your water jar. read more. And she said, Drink, my lord; and she quickly let down her jar onto her hand and gave him a drink. When she had given him a drink, she said, I will draw water for your camels also, until they finish drinking. So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well and drew water for all his camels.
And the woman spread a covering over the well's mouth and spread ground corn on it; and the thing was not discovered.
And Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, tired as He was from His journey, sat down [to rest] by the well. It was then about the sixth hour (about noon).
She said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with [no drawing bucket] and the well is deep; how then can You provide living water? [Where do You get Your living water?]