These words of Jesus/Yeshua are unusual as more often than not, He was the one doing the giving; however, after walking on a very long journey during the heat of the day, He was thirsty.
Around noon, He came to a well in a town named Sychar and it was in that ancient place that Jacob’s well had been dug some 2000 years prior.
The town of Sychar, was probably on the site of the present-day town of Aschar, which is near the ancient ruins of Shechem.
Tired and hot, Jesus/Yeshua sat down by that well.
Soon, a woman came to that same well.
Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her,
Give me to drink.
Interesting correlation?
Jesus/Yeshua says to her, give Me a drink, because He was thirsty. This is the same and only request that He had when He was on the cross, I thirst. 19:28.
Asking for a drink, is a natural enough request from a tired and thirsty traveler, who was resting by a well in the deserts of Palestine during the hottest part of the day. This request was for a simple act of kindness, or at least that is what we see on the surface of this meeting. However as we are finding out, the stories recorded in the gospels are far deeper than the well at Sychar.
John 4:10-15; 10. Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. 11. The woman said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.
Again it seems a natural and very practical observation on the part of the woman! Then He replies with an astounding statement!
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again. But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. The water I give is like a flowing fountain that gives eternal life.” The woman replied, “Sir, please give me a drink of that water! Then I won’t get thirsty and have to come to this well again.”
In John 4:14 Jesus/Yeshua said, The water that I shall give [you] will become in [you] a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.
Another translation says:
But everyone who shall drink of the waters that I will give him shall not thirst for eternity, but those waters that I give him shall be springs of waters in him that shall spring up into eternal life.
While preparing previous posts there seems to be a sort of connection to the Hebrew words for WELL and the Hebrew word for EYES; which led to further thoughts shared here purely for pondering purposes.
When we read the scriptures, we read the work of translators and scholars. They have transformed an ancient document, by substituting English words for the original Hebrew words. The problem is, many times the words are translated correctly, but the original Hebrew thought is lost. The words are there, but the meaning is missing. With that in mind we will explore a little further.
According to Strongs and the Hebrew lexicon, the word for eye, ayin, can also mean spring, as in a source of ground water.
Hebrew Lexicon Strongs #:05869
Well . בְּאֵר
A well, pit; feminine noun.
Strongs # 875
בְּאֵר
beer
(be-ayr’)
from baar.
Also from the root word, baar, comes
בֹּאר
bor: a cistern, pit, well.
Phonetic Spelling: (bore)
Strongs # 877
עַיִן
AYIN meansEYE in Hebrew, and we still retain an almost identical word for eye in the English.
As it also means fountain or spring, it is possibly because eyes well up with water/tears when irritated or the person is crying from sadness. The ancient letter AYIN was a picture of an EYE.
This letter represents the ideas of seeing and watching as well as knowledge, as the eye is the window of knowledge.
The letter Ayin is the 16th letter of the Aleph-Bet, having the numeric value of 70.
Pronounced ah yeen and like the alef it has no sound of its own but rather has a vowel connected with it. (An a,e,i,o, or u)
The two words don’t have similar letters yet have a similar definition and meaning, which gives them a connection. The word eye in Hebrew also means: sight, look, appearance, aperture and hole.
In the case of eyes, these holes, apertures or wells, give a glimpse into the real person inside the physical body. It is the only eternal part of us that is visible; whether we call it soul, spirit or combination of both. Eye contact is one of the ways we communicate one to another without needing to speak words.
עיניים
Mem, Yod, Noon, Yod, Ayin (read R to L)
Eye is made plural in Hebrew by adding IM; as in, the eyes of the Lord.
Springs are usually associated with wells or places where water naturally springs up from the ground. In Biblical times, many springs were protected and enclosed, because they were very important for the survival of both the shepherds and their flocks. Jesus/Yeshuas’ reference to these things in His teaching, was due to the prevailing culture and lifestyle and the everyday things which people could understand by association.
We do not see the same significance in quite the same way today, because of the modern society in which we live and the conveniences which we have the privilege of using.
Jesus/Yeshua’s reference to Himself being the living water and also referring to being a well springing up to eternal life; take on another deeper meaning in considering the ancient lifestyles.
It is not without significance that women were the water bearers. Women are the bringers forth of life. They are the ones whose waters break and gush forth, introducing the next generation from the place of our hiding.
The fact that it is women who seek out and provide that life giving and life sustaining water, for both human and animal consumption; is an important token of their role and priority in God’s creation and order. Water is the one thing we cannot live without for more than 3 days and is 75%+ of our physical makeup.
Wells, pools and springs are mentioned many times in numerous scriptures and connected to many significant events in history; mainly because a well was the place of, and source of, life giving water, in a land that had so much dry desert and barren earth.
There were often disputes and sabotage was inflicted on wells that had been dug. Ownership of them was key to the livelihood and prosperity of those who lived locally, or those who needed to access to water when driving herds across parched desert terrain.
Most travel routes followed a path that had wells along the WAY for obvious practical reasons.
A few of the references to wells:
Jacobs well below as it looks today.
Hebrew: באר יעקב , Be’er Yaaqov;
Also known as Jacob’s fountain and Well of Sychar, it is a deep well hewn out of solid rock that has been associated in religious tradition with Jacob for roughly two millennia, either because it was handed down by tradition that he dug it, or because it was near to the land which he gave to Joseph. Genesis 33:19; 47:22; Joshua 24:32.
Abrahams well at Beersheba is connected to Hagar and Ishmael.
Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Gen. 21:17-19, 30-31.
Hebrew: בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע Be’er Sheva biblical town of southern Israel, now a city and the main centre of the Negev (ha-Negev) region.
It was because of a well that Beersheba first appeared on the pages of biblical history.
Abraham paid the price of seven ewe lambs to secure ownership of a well at Beersheba.
The site takes its name from the phrase:
the well of the seven
the place of swearing by 7 lambs
or well of oath.
Beersheba is first mentioned as the site where Abraham, founder of the Jewish people, made a covenant with the Philistine king Abimelech of Gerar. (Genesis 21:25-34).
Beersheba is at the southern tip of Israel. It is the last piece of fertile land before the forbidding Negev Desert. Here, travelers in ancient times would water their animals before they entered the blistering heat of the desert. Beersheba in the south and Dan in the north: these two cities stood at either end of the land of the Bible.
Rachel was at the well because every afternoon, she watered her flock of sheep at this well near Haran, an outpost of the ancient city of Ur.
Stone wells with wooden buckets were covered with a broad flat stone, too large for one man to move. (Was there supernatural help for this action?)
The symbolic significance of this fact is that the connection to Rachel, who was about to appear at the well, would not be a natural and simple one, but rather would require enormous effort in order to uncover the well and to draw its waters, that is, in a symbolic meaning, to make Rachel become Jacob’s wife and the mother of his children.
Jacob saw Rachel with his uncle Laban’s flock, he went to the well, rolled the stone back, and watered the sheep. Genesis 29:1-7
Jacob was sent by his father Isaac to find a wife from a relative‘s family. He met Rachel at the well and for him, it was love at first sight. He went to the well and single-handily moved the great stone cover off of the well.
There is a likeness here to the stone being rolled away supernaturally from the tomb of Messiah; and the living water of eternal life that flowed from His resurrected life.
Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. 2 And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, see, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was on the well’s mouth.
7 “Look,” said Jacob, “it is still broad daylight; it is not yet time to gather the livestock. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.” 8 But they replied, “We cannot, until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well.
So here are some thoughts:
Eyes/ayin we see with our eyes.
We have both natural and spiritual sight.
Spiritual sight is given by Ruach Hakodesh.
Ruach HaKodesh is often associated with water and a wellspring of life from within. This inner flow enhances our spiritual eyesight.
And as we noted earlier according to Strongs and the Hebrew lexicon, the word for eye, ayin, can also mean spring, as in a source of ground water.
So there does seem to be a connection.
We say that scripture is the WORD of God and also Jesus/Yeshua is Himself the WORD. The Word or scripture itself, is associated with water, washing of the water of the Word, which renews our mind. (Eph. 5:26; Rom.12:2)
He said, eat and drink of Me. It has the meaning of spiritual drinking, from the waters springing up into eternal life. John 4:14
Miriam was seen as the water source the spiritual rock they drank from that was Christ.
and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they long drank the water that flowed from the spiritual rock that went with them–and that rock was the Christ. 1Cor. 10:4
There are also many springs that became pools where ritual cleansing took place. Settlements usually formed around water sources, later developing into large cities over time especially those on trade routes.
So water, wells, pools, springs, and eyes and spiritual elements are connected.
There’s a reference to the Pools of Heshbon in Song of Songs/Song of Solomon,
where he likens his love’s eyes to the pools of Heshbon, which refers to the magnificent fish-pools of Heshbon.
Song 7:4. The eyes of the Shulammite.
‘Your eyes are like the sparkling pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim.’
Here we find pool, water, eyes, and fish are connected in this Song.
There is a metaphysical meaning to the phrase: eyes like sparking pools of Heshbon.
This speaks of great intelligence, light, and understanding, of which the eyes are the outer organs. The eyes shine in beauty and brilliance according to the depths of true spiritual sight, the very light of life, which is realized in consciousness.
The beauty of the pool is in its power of reflection, which the turbulent roaring of the seas and oceans constantly moving with their great heaving tides, are not calm enough to reflect anything but the color of the skies above. Neither are sweeping rivers, muddy and always swirling downward, they too are never still enough.
There is also a connection to eyes in the story of Leah in Genesis 29:17 as follows: Leah was tender eyed;
the Torah describes her eyes as soft from weeping.
Or one translation says she had watery eyes. Some translations say weak, or showing a sorrowing soul, watery or tearful eyes. Some scholars say her eyes were blue or blue/green, which were unusual to the brown eyed people of the middle eastern countries. (Leah tender-eyed—that is, soft blue eyes—thought a blemish.)
Leah’s bleared eyes would be regarded in the East as a great defect, just as bright eyes were much admired. (See 1Samuel 16:12, where David is described as fair of eyes.)
Leah’s face was not ugly, however its possible that her eyes were not clear and lustrous, dark and sparkling, rather they were weak or soft, wanting in clearness and brilliancy; as in all probability Rachel’s were.
Blue is obviously the color as that we see reflected in water. Blue eyes are known to be less strong than brown, especially in bright sunlight, and they would have looked watery in color, compared to dark brown eyes. It may also have been the reason for the term, tender, where we use the word sensitive or delicate.
There is strong connection with women and wells and water and these were some of the women who went above and beyond;
among them:
Hagar
Samaritan Woman
Rachel
Rebekah
Miriam ’s Well (Be’erah shel Miriam), is the name of the spring that miraculously provided water and accompanied the Israelites throughout the 40 years they traveled in the wilderness.
The Hebrew letter ע Ayin has a value of 70, which stands for appointed times, as defined by Leviticus 23:2. Also Seventy, (70) elders were appointed by Moses. (Numbers 11:16)
There are 70 specially appointed times for holy days, called HaMoyadim, (ha mow ya dimm), in a year.
The 70 specific appointed times in the Jewish calendar are:
52 weekly Sabbaths each year.
Passover Week includes seven feast days.
Then there’s Shavuot (Pentecost),
Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets),
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement),
and the seven days of
Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).
The end of Sukkot is celebrated by Shemini Atzeret, the eighth-day assembly.
When all these are added together, there’s a total of 70 appointed times/HaMoyadim.
So it could be said that each spring/eye/ayin was an appointed time at the well!
Alef: ox strength
Yod/Yud/Yood: arm
Nun/Noon: seed/fish/ life as in food sustaining and seed bringing forth life in all living things.
Yod/Yud/Yood: arm
= A strong arm giving life.
The connection for the samaritan woman was that she knew and believed in a coming Messiah; and also understood the need for water to sustain life and Jesus/Yeshua joined the 2 together for her.
This was a story beyond that of a thirsty man, it was God reaching out across a great divide, over the thick high walls of resentment and mistrust that separated Jesus/Yeshua the Messiah from one Samaritan Woman.
It’s a story of walls of separation and they were about to not only be breached but come tumbling down!
In those days, many of the Jews despised Gentiles/Goyim/Heathen; however, in their thinking, if there was anything worse than a Gentile, it was a Samaritan and there wasn’t much worse than a Samaritan, unless it was a Samaritan woman. Jews of this time, for reasons related to Jewish purity laws, considered Samaritan women to be in a constant state of ceremonial uncleanness. Jewish men would literally have crossed the street to avoid physical contact with a Samaritan woman.
Jews and Samaritans hated each other, the way only people who are close to each other can hate each other, especially if religious differences are involved. The Samaritans and Jews shared a common ancestry, each side claiming to be the true descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who were worshipping God in the proper way, in the proper place, with the proper rituals. At one time or another each party became offensive and sometimes violent while expressing their differences. The rivalry was bitter, and sometimes deadly. Around 400 B.C. during the time of Pesach/Passover, the Samaritans polluted the temple in Jerusalem by scattering parts of dead bodies all over the temple grounds.
Some time later the Jews attacked and destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerazim.
At the time when Jacob first met Rachel the Jews and Samaritans were one people. They shared a common faith, a common heritage and a common devotion to Yahweh.
These background facts help explain the woman’s obvious surprise when Jesus/Yeshua asked her for a drink. Her knowledge of the history between their people must have made her wonder if this was a cruel joke? It explains the level of suspicion and skepticism that the woman had toward Jesus/Yeshuua, challenging Him as the conversation unfolds. “How can you (a Jewish man) ask me (a Samaritan woman) for a drink?” And then Jesus replies in this way: “If you knew the gift of God, and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
He replied in such a way as to arouse her natural human curiosity, He was reaching out, by saying that it was not so much that He needed a drink, but that He’d like to give her a drink. He was building a bridge. Inviting her to partake of the water of chaim that only He could offer and provide. To the woman, it probably seems like just one more example of the Jews claiming religious superiority, which was evident in the national and religious pride in her response.
It is important to note that all of this took place at about the sixth hour. That’s midday. 12 o’clock, Noon. This is the time when the intensity of the sun would be the greatest and would not be the normal time to draw water. Water would be drawn preferably in the morning or the evening, when the sun would not be so hot. We are informed in Genesis 24:11: “It was toward evening, the time when the women go out to draw water.” So why was this woman at the well drawing water at noon?
The simple answer is, she came at a time when no one else would normally be there.
To her, bearing the sun’s heat would not be as bad as bearing the disapproval of the community. Having to hear the things they would say, and getting the looks she would undoubtedly get, was preferable to the hot sun. Her background and lifestyle separated her from her others and worse than that, it separated her from God.
The Bible reveals that sin separates us from God, that it cuts us off from the source of light/awr and life/chaim. It’s a foundational truth, but unpleasant as it may be, maybe it’s a foundational truth, that needs to be continually repeated. Sometimes we may all need to be reminded that the gospel which Jesus/Yeshua preached was a declaration, an invitation and a choice:
“The time has come! The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” Messiah didn’t offer peace and pardon without repentance. The road to eternal life/chaim can only begin with repentance.
King Davids WELL in Bethlehem… Is there a lock and chain on our inner well?
When Jesus/Yeshua invited people to be His disciples, He didn’t tell them that they had to be perfect before they could even think about following Him.
However, the very heart of discipleship is our willingness to be transformed by God’s grace. The way we move forward in discipleship and maturity is:
by letting go of the things we love more than we love God.
Notice at the end of her encounter with Messiah, she has completely forgotten the purpose for which she came to the well, because she has found a new and greater purpose in her life.
Because of the Samaritan woman who was at the well, the WAY was opened for non Jews to be saved.
This was a place of life giving water, a place of drinking, of meeting. A very important place because it was a source of life and it became a place to receive the living water of chaim-lifes, phyisical and spiritual. A place of joy, which followed, springing up with the living waters.
Indeed, the water that I shall give him will become in him a well of water springing up into eternal life. John 4:14
Wells are often beside pools – בריכות, which were places of cleansing and healing/
A pool is defined as a small and rather deep collection of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream; a reservoir for water.
The name of one famous pool in scripture is Bethesda and it occurs only once in the Bible.
It was the Hebrew name of a pool, reservoir or tank, with five porches, referenced in John 5:2; located near the Sheep Gate, or market, in Jerusalem.
Periodically, an angel of the Lord descended and stirred the water. When that happened, the first person to plunge into the pool would be healed of whatever affliction this person had.
The name of the pool is said to be derived from the Hebrew and/or Aramaic language. Beth hesda (בית חסד/חסדא), means either house of mercy, or the flowing water, or, house of grace.
Wells are often deep and brown eyes are sometimes referred to as deep pools and windows of the soul like looking into a well or deep pool of water. Especially in romantic descriptive narratives. This gives rise to thoughts of deep pools and wells of living water of the soul, visible through our physical eyes and the indwelling waters of chaim of Yeshua and His Ruach HaKodesh.
Are these living waters visible to those who look into our eyes?
What did the Samaritan woman see when she looked into Jesus/Yeshuas’ eyes?
She said He had nothing to draw the water with and then she drew from His well of chaim, His inner well of everlasting living waters.
His eyes were sinless and reflected eternal life, did she see the 3 chaim?
The physical necessity of natural water for the 1st chaim. The 2nd chaim of new birth, the spiritual chaim to be lived while still here on the earth yet with the waters of the Ruach springing up within? (and she knew of the coming Messiah and the promise of eternal chaim). The 3rd life/chaim, that resurrection life, and all things new in the olam/world to come.
The closest we will come to looking into sinless eyes is probably a new born baby’s innocent gaze.
And even that does not come close to what she must have seen in Messiah eyes we can only imagine ……..
They must have been the deepest pools of eternal weight of glory, mixed with compassion and unconditional love, wisdom, grace and mercy and even these words are inadequate by far.
Messiahs eyes = wells of chaim/lifes.
Wells also give a picture of depth and provision. Empty wells are used in 2 pet 2:17, to describe that which is ungodly and unprofitable, empty.
Joseph was put into a dry well by his brothers. Genesis 37:12-36
Joseph was thrown into one by his brothers and all he would have seen was that the WAY out, was up. Joseph was thrown into a well that had run dry, lifeless and unable to sustain life or give life, just dirty dust.
It has been said that from the bottom of a well you can see the stars in the daytime??
However, in non-open daylight (that is, from a location that severely restricted the observer’s field of vision, such as the bottom of a deep well, a long chimney, or a mine shaft), Sirius itself is potentially visible during daytime; however, even for the very, very sharp-eyed, Sirius wouldn’t stand out the way typical stars do against the dark backdrop of the night sky.
We see the stars at night not because we are in darkness, but because there is no sunlight scattered in the atmosphere to drown out the starlight. Stars are much fainter than the sun. So even if we were in a deep well and couldn’t see a thing down there, the sky itself would still be in full sunlight and so we couldn’t see the stars.
The view of the wells rim, looks like the pupil of the eye!
However both during the day and at night, his view would have been very focused and directed at the heavens. Looking up was the only direction he could go. Upward to God, to the heavens from where His help would eventually come.
He had seen the stairway to heaven like a well looking up
Only Heaven was visible from that depth and his only exit was heaven wards almost a image of Jacobs ladder to heaven as the spirals upward beckoned to Joseph When He was released his journey took on an upward destiny.
Sometimes we may feel we are in a well and if we are, look up, for your redemption draws near – the only WAY is up.
We also call 12 midday, noon, which is also the letter N in Hebrew that means: life, seed, fish. He met the woman to build a bridge and to tear down a wall of separation between them we could say that this noon was not just the time, it was more than simply a reference to the clock but was the hour of her visitation – the time that the seed of chaim/lifes, (specifically highlighting her eternal chaim), was offered and planted into her.
What will be our response when we meet Messiah by the well at noon? What will He see in our Ayin/ayim? In the pools of our souls/spirits?
What will we see in the Ayin/ayim of Messiah, in those deep eternal wells of chaim?
As deep calls to deep let’s leave the bottom of that dry well and soar ever higher upward; to the place in the shamayim/heavenlies; up the ladder, (sullam), the highway to heaven that Jacob saw, where He has made a place for us to be seated together IN Him.
And our view from that spiritually elevated position is as far removed from the pinpoint exit of the well as we can get while still in the second stage of chaim!
May we also realize what is offered to us and may we, too, drink deeply of that living water, this day and every day. May our lives be so transformed that we can’t possibly contain the outflow of living watergushing forth from our hearts, minds and mouths.
Like the Samaritan woman, may we also have the sense not to walk away, until Jesus/Yeshua has done what He came to do. That is, until He has satisfied us with living water welling up to eternal life.
What do eye see at the bottom of our wells?
Is it the water of life springing up?
Don’t leave here until you are sure you are filled with the everlasting fountain of life/chaim in Jesus, Messiah Yeshua.
Shalom and thank you to all who have prayed for mmm while issues both technical and otherwise were being resolved.
Please Do Not leave this page without the surety in your heart that you have Him in your life and heart as the days draw ever closer to the end of this age..
NOT CERTAIN?
YOU CAN BE..
Make sure Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are greatly loved and very precious in His sight.
He longs to give you the Shalom He paid the ultimate price for..
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute, SAY IT RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
