John 4:5-6

4:5 Now he came to a Samaritan town¹ called Sychar,² near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.³ 4:6 Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat right down beside⁴ the well. It was about noon.⁵

John 4:12

4:12 Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor⁶ Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.”⁷

¹tn Grk “town of Samaria.” The noun Σαμαρείας (Samareias) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

²sn Sychar was somewhere in the vicinity of Shechem, possibly the village of Askar, 1.5 km northeast of Jacob’s well.

³sn Perhaps referred to in Gen 48:22.

⁴tn Grk “on (ἐπί, epi) the well.” There may have been a low stone rim encircling the well, or the reading of Ì⁶⁶ (“on the ground”) may be correct.

⁵tn Grk “the sixth hour.”

sn It was about noon. The suggestion has been made by some that time should be reckoned from midnight rather than sunrise. This would make the time 6 a.m. rather than noon. That would fit in this passage but not in John 19:14 which places the time when Jesus is condemned to be crucified at “the sixth hour.”

⁶tn Or “our forefather”; Grk “our father.”

⁷tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end. In this instance all of v. 12 is one question. It has been broken into two sentences for the sake of English style (instead of “for he” the Greek reads “who”).