It has been remarked in reference to Jacob's Well, where our Lord held his conversation with the woman of Samaria, that no Christian scholar ever read the fourth chapter of St. John's Gospel without being struck with the numerous internal evidences of truth which crowd upon the mind in its perusal. Within so small a compass it is impossible to find, in other writings, so many sources of reflection and of interest. Independently of its importance as a theological document, it concentrates so much information that a volume might be filled with its singular illustration of the history of the Jews and the geography of the country. All that can be collected upon these subjects from Josephus seems to be but a comment on this chapter. The journey of our Lord from Judea into Galilee--the cause of it--his passage through Samaria--his approach to the metropolis of that country--its name--his arrival at the Amorite field which terminates the narrow Valley of Schechem--the ancient custom of stopping at a well--the female employment of drawing water--the disciples sent into the city for food, by which the situation of the well and of the town is so obviously implied--the question of the woman referring to existing prejudices which separated the Jews from the Samaritans--the depth of the well--the oriental allusion contained in the expression "living water"--the history of the well itself, and the customs thereby illustrated--the worship upon Mount Gerizim--all these occur within a few verses, and supply a species of evidence for the truth of the narrative in which they are embodied that no candid mind has ever been able to resist.[135]