Well (Hastings' Dictionary)

A distinction is now made in Eng. he- tween the words 'fountain' and 'well' whirh did not exist when the AV was made. According to its etymology (Anglo-Sax. ivijlla or wella, a spring, from weallan to surge, boil, and akin to Sniisk. val • The vague ' measure,' it tuav he useful to state here, standi In AV for ephah Dt 2.''', I'r -.'Oi", Mic Ol" ; or 1 K 4'-f-M' f." >iU 2Ch 210 W" 2711, Ezr 7«; teah Gn 18«, IS 2.1'», 1 K IH''^, 2K 7IM».16(,(j..l8(.ij. Is 27»|hut see RV and Comm.

l; »Ad/li/ Ps 80«, Is to": /9«T«< ( = balh) Lk 10« ; »^ (=l:or) Lk 10' »r» (=fftiA) Mt, 13M-Lk 13»i ; x«"'{ Key ««. 014 WELL WHEAT to move to and fro), ' well ' was need of springing water, and not confined as now to water standing in a hole or stored up in a pit. Thus Chaucer, Death of Blatinche, 160 — Ther were a fewe welles Came renning (ro the cUffes adoun; Milton, Lycidas, 15 — ' Begrin then, sisters of the sacred well That from beneath the seal of Jove doth spring.

* In AV ' well ' is therefore an accurate rendering of such words as 'ayin and vrrffi. In RV the attempt has been made here and there, but not consistently, to bring out the modern distinction. See next article. J. Hastings. WELL (nxi, Til [properly ' cistern '], pB, is'P [both = ' fountain '], Trrj-yij, (ppiap). — The art of sinking wells for supply of water in the absence of springs or brooks comes down from very early times.

Tliree wells of special interest are noted in the Bible : ( 1 ) Abraham's well at Beersheba ; (2) Jacob's well near the village of Sychar {'As/car) in Samaria ; and (3) the well at the gate of Beth- lehem. AH these are in existence at the present day. For the first see Beeesheba and Shibah.

(2) The digging of Jacob's well is not recorded in the OT, but in the NT we have the interesting account of the conversation between our Lord and the woman of Samaria (Jn 4°- °) which took place at this spot. The village of 'Askar, which, accord- ing to Conder, is the modem representative of Sychar, stands on the slope of Mount Ebal within siglit of Jacob's well.* See further under Jacob's Well.

(3) The well of Bethlehem, for whose water David thirsted (1 Ch 11"), is shown to travellers by the roadside on approaching Beth- lehem from Jerusalem. There is no reason to doubt that it is the same which existed in the days of David. Wells in Eastern countries have always been of the highest importance as objects of possession and as historical landmarks.

It was one of the special privileges accorded to the Israelites that they should come into possession of wells which they themselves had not digged (Dt 6").t and they sometimes became objects of strife (Gn 21^). This is not to be wondered at, considering the difficulty of sinking wells into the rock in tlnse early times, and the great value of the water when it had been reached. E. Hull.