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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And God openeth her eyes, and she seeth a well of water, and she goeth and filleth the bottle with water, and causeth the youth to drink;
And Abraham reasoned with Abimelech concerning the matter of a well of water which Abimelech's servants have taken violently away,
And he saith, 'For -- the seven lambs thou dost accept from my hand, so that it becometh a witness for me that I have digged this well;' therefore hath he called that place 'Beer-Sheba,' for there have both of them sworn.
and he causeth the camels to kneel at the outside of the city, at the well of water, at even-time, at the time of the coming out of the women who draw water.
and all the wells which his father's servants digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines have stopped them, and fill them with dust.
and Isaac turneth back, and diggeth the wells of water which they digged in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines do stop after the death of Abraham, and he calleth to them names according to the names which his father called them. And Isaac's servants dig in the valley, and find there a well of living water, read more. and shepherds of Gerar strive with shepherds of Isaac, saying, 'The water is ours;' and he calleth the name of the well 'Strife,' because they have striven habitually with him; and they dig another well, and they strive also for it, and he calleth its name 'Hatred.' And he removeth from thence, and diggeth another well, and they have not striven for it, and he calleth its name Enlargements, and saith, 'For -- now hath Jehovah given enlargement to us, and we have been fruitful in the land.' And he goeth up from thence to Beer-Sheba, and Jehovah appeareth unto him during that night, and saith, 'I am the God of Abraham thy father, fear not, for I am with thee, and have blessed thee, and have multiplied thy seed, because of Abraham My servant;' and he buildeth there an altar, and preacheth in the name of Jehovah, and stretcheth out there his tent, and there Isaac's servants dig a well.
And it cometh to pass during that day that Isaac's servants come and declare to him concerning the circumstances of the well which they have digged, and say to him, '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 hath one called the well, 'The well of the Living One, my beholder;' lo, between Kadesh and Bered.
And God openeth her eyes, and she seeth a well of water, and she goeth and filleth the bottle with water, and causeth the youth to drink;
And he saith, 'For -- the seven lambs thou dost accept from my hand, so that it becometh a witness for me that I have digged this well;' therefore hath he called that place 'Beer-Sheba,' for there have both of them sworn.
and the young person is of very good appearance, a virgin, and a man hath not known her; and she goeth down to the fountain, and filleth her pitcher, and cometh up.
and all the wells which his father's servants digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines have stopped them, and fill them with dust. And Abimelech saith unto Isaac, 'Go from us; for thou hast become much mightier than we;' read more. and Isaac goeth from thence, and encampeth in the valley of Gerar, and dwelleth there; and Isaac turneth back, and diggeth the wells of water which they digged in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines do stop after the death of Abraham, and he calleth to them names according to the names which his father called them. And Isaac's servants dig in the valley, and find there a well of living water, and shepherds of Gerar strive with shepherds of Isaac, saying, 'The water is ours;' and he calleth the name of the well 'Strife,' because they have striven habitually with him; and they dig another well, and they strive also for it, and he calleth its name 'Hatred.' And he removeth from thence, and diggeth another well, and they have not striven for it, and he calleth its name Enlargements, and saith, 'For -- now hath Jehovah given enlargement to us, and we have been fruitful in the land.'
And he removeth from thence, and diggeth another well, and they have not striven for it, and he calleth its name Enlargements, and saith, 'For -- now hath Jehovah given enlargement to us, and we have been fruitful in the land.' And he goeth up from thence to Beer-Sheba, read more. and Jehovah appeareth unto him during that night, and saith, 'I am the God of Abraham thy father, fear not, for I am with thee, and have blessed thee, and have multiplied thy seed, because of Abraham My servant;' and he buildeth there an altar, and preacheth in the name of Jehovah, and stretcheth out there his tent, and there Isaac's servants dig a well. And Abimelech hath gone unto him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol head of his host; and Isaac saith unto them, 'Wherefore have ye come unto me, and ye have hated me, and ye send me away from you?' And they say, 'We have certainly seen that Jehovah hath been with thee, and we say, 'Let there be, we pray thee, an oath between us, between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; do not evil with us, as we have not touched thee, and as we have only done good with thee, and send thee away in peace; thou art now blessed of Jehovah.' And he maketh for them a banquet, and they eat and drink, and rise early in the morning, and swear one to another, and Isaac sendeth them away, and they go from him in peace. And it cometh to pass during that day that Isaac's servants come and declare to him concerning the circumstances of the well which they have digged, and say to him, 'We have found water;' and he calleth it Shebah, oath, therefore the name of the city is Beer-Sheba, well of the oath, unto this day.
And to a priest of Midian are seven daughters, and they come and draw, and fill the troughs, to water the flock of their father, and the shepherds come and drive them away, and Moses ariseth, and saveth them, and watereth their flock.
And when a man doth open a pit, or when a man doth dig a pit, and doth not cover it, and an ox or ass hath fallen thither, --
Let us pass over, we pray thee, through thy land; we pass not over through a field, or through a vineyard, nor do we drink waters of a well; the way of the king we go, we turn not aside -- right or left -- till that we pass over thy border.'
And the sons of Israel say unto him, 'In the highway we go, and if of thy waters we drink -- I and my cattle -- then I have given their price; only (it is nothing) on my feet I pass over.'
And the sons of Israel journey, and encamp in Oboth. And they journey from Oboth, and encamp in Ije-Abarim, in the wilderness that is on the front of Moab, at the rising of the sun.
And from thence they journeyed to Beer; it is the well concerning which Jehovah said to Moses, 'Gather the people, and I give to them -- water.' Then singeth Israel this song, concerning the well -- they have answered to it: read more. A well -- digged it have princes, Prepared it have nobles of the people, With the lawgiver, with their staves.' And from the wilderness they journeyed to Mattanah,
'Let me pass through thy land, we do not turn aside into a field, or into a vineyard, we do not drink waters of a well; in the king's way we go, till that we pass over thy border.'
He maketh water flow from his buckets, And his seed is in many waters; And higher than Agag is his king, And exalted is his kingdom.
and houses full of all good things which thou hast not filled, and wells digged which thou hast not digged, vineyards and olive-yards which thou hast not planted, and thou hast eaten, and been satisfied;
By the voice of shouters Between the places of drawing water, There they give out righteous acts of Jehovah, Righteous acts of His villages in Israel, Then ruled in the gates have the people of Jehovah.
and the woman taketh and spreadeth the covering over the face of the well, and spreadeth on it the ground corn, and the thing hath not been known.
'Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, for thus said the king of Asshur, Make with me a blessing, and come out unto me, and eat ye each of his vine, and each of his fig-tree, and drink ye each the waters of his own well,
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.
A garden shut up is my sister-spouse, A spring shut up -- a fountain sealed.
and there was there a well of Jacob. Jesus therefore having been weary from the journeying, was sitting thus on the well; it was as it were the sixth hour;
The woman saith to him, 'Sir, thou hast not even a vessel to draw with, and the well is deep; whence, then, hast thou the 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 it hath been, the young person unto whom I say, Incline, I pray thee, thy pitcher, and I drink, and she hath said, Drink, and I water also thy camels) -- her Thou hast decided for Thy servant, for Isaac; and by it I know that Thou hast done kindness with my lord.' And it cometh to pass, before he hath finished speaking, that lo, Rebekah (who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, wife of Nahor, brother of Abraham) is coming out, and her pitcher on her shoulder, read more. and the young person is of very good appearance, a virgin, and a man hath not known her; and she goeth down to the fountain, and filleth her pitcher, and cometh up.
and the young person is of very good appearance, a virgin, and a man hath not known her; and she goeth down to the fountain, and filleth her pitcher, and cometh up. And the servant runneth to meet her, and saith, 'Let me swallow, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher;' read more. and she saith, 'Drink, my lord;' and she hasteth, and letteth down her pitcher upon her hand, and giveth him drink. And she finisheth giving him drink, and saith, 'Also for thy camels I draw till they have finished drinking;' and she hasteth, and emptieth her pitcher into the drinking-trough, and runneth again unto the well to draw, and draweth for all his camels.
and the woman taketh and spreadeth the covering over the face of the well, and spreadeth on it the ground corn, and the thing hath not been known.
and there was there a well of Jacob. Jesus therefore having been weary from the journeying, was sitting thus on the well; it was as it were the sixth hour;
The woman saith to him, 'Sir, thou hast not even a vessel to draw with, and the well is deep; whence, then, hast thou the living water?