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Translation
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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
"He cometh to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there." Why is the Evangelist exact about the place? It is, that when thou hearest the woman say, "Jacob our father gave us this well," thou mayest not think it strange. For this was the place where Levi and Simeon, being angry because of Dinah, wrought that cruel slaughter. …
Theophylact of Ohrid
But after the sons of Jacob had desolated the city, by the slaughter of the Sychemites, Jacob annexed it to the portion of his son Joseph, as we read in Genesis, I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword, and with my bow. (Gen. 48:22) This is referred to in what follows, Near to the place of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. But why does the Evangelist make mention of the parcel of ground, and the well? …
Western Saints
Thomas Aquinas
Describing it in more detail, he adds, He came therefore to a city of Samaria, i.e., of the region of Samaria, called Sychar. This Sychar is the same as Shechem. Genesis (33:18) says that Jacob camped near here and that two of his sons, enraged at the rape of Dinah, Jacob's daughter, by the son of the king of Shechem, killed all the males in that city. And so Jacob took possession of the city, and he lived there and dug many wells. …
Bonaventure
Here the opportunity of the place for resting is touched upon, because he was weary, and a pleasant place presented itself; whence he describes the place by the city, when he says: "He came therefore to a city of Samaria, which is called Sichar:" Sichar in the Chaldaic language, Shechem in Hebrew. This is the city where Simeon and Levi slew the men in vengeance for the violation of their sister, Genesis 34. …
Alcuin of York
The parcel of ground I conceive to have been left not so much to Joseph, as to Christ, of whom Joseph was a type; whom the sun, and moon, and all the stars truly adore. To this parcel of ground our Lord came, that the Samaritans, who claimed to be inheritors of the Patriarch Israel, might recognise Him, and be converted to Christ, the legal heir of the Patriarch.
Translation