Wells

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(boil). Wells were of great importance in Palestine (Gen. 24:11; Num. 20:17-19; Judg. 7:1). They were sometimes deep (John 4:11); frequently owned in common (Gen. 29:2-3); covered at times with a stone and surrounded by a low wall to protect them from drifting sand (Gen. 29:2-8); to stop them up an act of hostility (Gen. 26:15-16); to invade them a cause for contention (Gen. 21:25); water sometimes drawn by sweeps or windlasses, but generally by a bucket attached to a rope, and in some cases steps led down to them (Gen. 21:25-31; Judg. 1:13-15; 1 Sam. 29:1); emblem of blessings (Jer. 2:13; 17:13).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

There are several Hebrew words for the wells that were in Palestine. Some may have been dug in connection with springs of water and others have been principally supplied by water from the surrounding land. The word ayin differs from either of the above: it signifies literally “an eye,” and was like an eye in the ground from which the waters sprang up, and is not said to be dug, and yet is called “a well” in the AV. It occurs in Genesis 24:13-45; Genesis 49:22; Exodus 15:27 and Nehemiah 2:13; and the same word is often translated “fountain.” From the same is mayan (Psa. 84:6; Isa. 12:3; &c).
Ain Tabgha – Copious Spring
The words beer, bor refer to any well, cistern, or pit (Gen. 16:14; Gen. 24:11,20; Deut. 6:11; etc.).
Beersheba (Beer Seba)—An Ancient Well
There is the same difference in the New Testament, and the two words πηγή, “spring” or “fountain,” and φρέαρ, “well,” are both used respecting Jacob’s well; so that apparently it was a fountain (John 4:6) within the well (John 4:11-12).
Ruins at Jacob’s Well
In John 4:14 (πηγή) is used symbolically: it is “a fountain” which Christ gives that springs up into eternal life. It is the Holy Spirit, the power of life that springs up in the soul towards its heavenly source.
In 2 Peter 2:17 an apostate is a spring or fountain “without water”; he has left the only source of life.

“31. Wells” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Genesis 24:11 He made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
“A modern guide-book could hardly furnish a truer picture of what occurs at the close of every day in the vicinity of Eastern villages than this description, written so many thousand years ago.”—Hackett, Illustrations of Scripture, p. 89.
1. The position of a camel when at rest is kneeling. These animals are taught it when young.
2. Villages are built near wells or springs for convenience, but not near enough to be discommoded by the noise and dust and crowds which are sure to be drawn to such places.
3. The work of carrying water is done almost invariably by women, excepting in some large Oriental cities, where men as well as women become water carriers. See Genesis 29:10; Exodus 2:16; 1 Samuel 9:11.
4. Evening and early morning are the usual times for visiting the well for a supply of water.

“43. Customs Concerning Wells” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Genesis 26:15. All the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
In the East, digging wells gives title to unoccupied lands. Isaac therefore owned by inheritance the land in the vicinity of which these wells had been dug by his father’s direction. In a pastoral country it is a serious matter to choke up the wells which have been dug for the convenience of flocks and herds. It is, in fact, a declaration of war, and has always been considered a hostile act. Thus the Israelites did according to Divine command when they invaded Moab (2 Kings 3:19,25). In some parts of Persia the people have a way of concealing their wells with boards covered with sand, so as to conceal them from the eye of an enemy.

“44. Strife at Wells” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Genesis 26:20. The herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours.
These contests between rival herdmen for the possession of wells are still common in the land. Water is so necessary, and yet sometimes so hard to get, that it is no wonder there are battles waged for it. Some travelers state that the Bedouin would give a stranger milk to drink rather than water, the latter being more valuable. A contest similar to the one noticed in the text took place between the servants of Abraham and those of Abimelech (Gen. 21:25).

“50. Well Stones” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Genesis 29:2. Out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.
This was to protect the water from impurity, and from shifting sands, which without such protection would soon choke it. Modern travelers make frequent mention of the stone covers to wells and cisterns. Some of these stones are so large and heavy as to require the united strength of several men to remove them. May there not be reference to this custom in Job 38:30: “The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.”

“51. Wells Opened” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Genesis 29:3. Thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place.
This is not a part of the history, since all the flocks were not actually gathered and the stone removed until Rachel came (vs.10). The verse is meant to describe the general custom of the country. It was usual to wait until all the flocks were gathered, and then the stone was taken off and the work of watering began (vs. 8). Harmer refers to the statement of Sir John Chardin, that he had known wells or cisterns locked up in the East, and accepts Chardin’s explanation that this may have been the case in this instance, and that Rachel probably had the key, and that for that reason they were all obliged to wait until she came. But we see no reason for supposing any lock and key in the case; no mention is made of them in the narrative. The reason assigned in verse 8 for waiting for Rachel is, not that she had any special means for opening the well, but that it was customary for all the flocks to be gathered before the stone was rolled away.

“33. How Wells Are Used” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Genesis 24:16. She went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
The wells are usually approached by flights of steps, so that the women may dip their pitchers directly into the water. In some cases the wells are dug deep, and require a rope, or some simple machinery, for raising the water. See note on John 4:11 (#491).

Related Books and Articles: