Surprising details
Wells in the Bible
20 passages of the Berean Standard Bible, line by line, from Nave’s Topical Bible.
- Hagar saw a well and gave the boy a drinkGen 21:19
The verses
Gen 21:19Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
- Abraham gave seven lambs as witness that he dug the well at BeershebaGen 21:25–31
The verses
Gen 21:25–31But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized, Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.” So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock, and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?” He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.” So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
- The Philistines stopped up Abraham's wells; Isaac reopened themGen 26:15, Gen 26:18
The verses
Gen 26:15So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.
Gen 26:18Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave these wells the same names his father had given them.
- Quarrels over wells: Esek, Sitnah, then RehobothGen 26:20–22
The verses
Gen 26:20–22But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth and said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”
- Isaac's servants found water: Shibah, BeershebaGen 26:32–33
The verses
Gen 26:32–33On that same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We have found water!” they told him. So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.
- The well named Beer-lahai-roiGen 16:14
The verses
Gen 16:14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi. It is located between Kadesh and Bered.
- Rebekah came to the spring with her jarGen 24:16
The verses
Gen 24:16Now the girl was very beautiful, a virgin who had not had relations with any man. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up again.
- A large stone covered the well's mouth at HaranGen 29:2–3
The verses
Gen 29:2–3He looked and saw a well in the field, and near it lay three flocks of sheep, because the sheep were watered from this well. And a large stone covered the mouth of the well. When all the flocks had been gathered there, the shepherds would roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.
- Jacob rolled the stone away and watered Rachel's flockGen 29:10
The verses
Gen 29:10As soon as Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, with Laban’s sheep, he went up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep.
- Moses sat by a well in Midian and helped seven sistersExod 2:15–17
The verses
Exod 2:15–17When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. And when some shepherds came along and drove them away, Moses rose up to help them and watered their flock.
- Israel sang to a well: 'Spring up, O well!'Num 21:16–18
The verses
Num 21:16–18From there they went on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people so that I may give them water.” Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well, all of you sing to it! The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah,
- The promised land had wells they did not digDeut 6:11
The verses
Deut 6:11with houses full of every good thing with which you did not fill them, with wells that you did not dig, and with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied,
- David's spies hid inside a well at Bahurim2 Sam 17:18–19
The verses
2 Sam 17:18–19But a young man did see them and told Absalom. So the two left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. Then the man’s wife took a covering and spread it over the mouth of the well, scattering grain over it so nobody would know a thing.
- Three mighty men brought David water from Bethlehem's well2 Sam 23:15–16
The verses
2 Sam 23:15–16David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD,
- Uzziah dug many cisterns for his livestock2 Chr 26:10
The verses
2 Chr 26:10Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.
- Joseph was thrown into an empty pit with no waterGen 37:24
The verses
Gen 37:24and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.
- Jeremiah sank in the mud of a dry cisternJer 38:6
The verses
Jer 38:6So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
- Jesus sat by Jacob's well about the sixth hourJohn 4:6
The verses
John 4:6Since Jacob’s well was there, Jesus, weary from His journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
- The woman: you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deepJohn 4:11
The verses
John 4:11“Sir,” the woman replied, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living water?
Sources
From Nave’s Topical Bible (Orville J. Nave, 1896; public domain): subjects chosen, lines shortened and put into modern words, lines of interpretation left out; each verse checked.
Berean Standard Bible · Public domain