John 4:4,5 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And he must needs go through Samaria.— In his way to Galilee, Jesus was obliged to pass through Samaria, where one evening, being wearied with his journey, he sat down by Jacob's well, not far from the city of Sychar, which the evangelist tells us was near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his Son Joseph. Now if, as Mr. Maundrell conjectures, the plain beginning at Jacob's well was part of that parcel, Sychar might justly be said to be nigh to it, though it was as far distant as the present Naplosa, which is about a mile from it; but if Sychar in our Lord's time, as is probable, extended further towards the well than Naplosa does at present, the propriety of the evangelist's expression will appear yet more fully. It seems evident, however, from this history, that Sychar was at some distance from the well: for the disciples are said to have gone away into the city to buy meat, John 4:8 while the woman talked with Jesus at the well; and John 4:30 we are told that the Samaritans, on hearing what the woman said concerning Jesus, went out of the city, and came to see him, John 4:40. Besides, that the town was at some distance from the well, seems highly probable from the earnestness wherewith the woman begged Jesus to give her such water as would prevent her from being athirst, and from coming thither to draw. It seems, her coming from the town to the well was a great labour, from which she wished to be free. The name of this place was originally Sichem, but was changed into Sychar by the Jews, as a name of reproach; for Sychar signifies, in the Syriac language, a drunkard and a liar.