John 4:11. The woman saith unto him, Sir, Thou halt nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.
The wells in Palestine are usually deep. The depth of Jacob’s well has been variously estimated by travelers from sixty-five feet to over a hundred. The best authorities give from seventy-five to eighty feet. To get water from such a depth a rope is fastened to the leathern bucket or earthen jar, which is let down into the well, sometimes by means of a pulley, and sometimes by merely sliding the rope over the stone curb of the well. It is not uncommon thing to find well-curbs with deep furrows in them, worn by the friction of the ropes which have for many years passed over them.