Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 4:6

"and Jacob`s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour." — John 4:6 (ASV)

The well of Jacob lies at the foot of Mount Gerizim, the center of Samaritan worship. The “sixth hour” would probably have been about noon, reckoning from daybreak. It was an unusual time for a woman to come to a village well for water. Perhaps the Samaritan woman had a sudden need, or perhaps she did not care to meet the other women of the community, who may have shunned her because of her general character.