'drunken,' or 'a sepulchre.' Sychar may possibly have been a village
nearer the well than Sichem, on the site of the village now called El
Askar." [34:1] As Dr. Lightfoot specially mentions Neubauer, his opinion
may be substantially given in a single sentence: "La Mischna mentionne
un endroit appelé 'la plaine d'En-Sokher,' qui est peut-être le Sychar
de l'Evangile." He had a few lines before said: "Il est donc plus
logique de ne pas identifier Sychar avec Sichem." [34:2] Now, with
regard to all these theories, and especially in so far as they connect
Sychar with El Askar, let me quote a few more words in conclusion, from
a "common source of information:"--

"On the other hand there is an etymological difficulty in the way of
this identification. _'Askar_ begins with the letter 'Ain, which
Sychar does not appear to have contained; a letter too stubborn and
enduring to be easily either dropped or assumed in a name ... These
considerations have been stated not so much with the hope of leading
to any conclusion on the identity of Sychar, which seems hopeless,
as with the desire to show that the ordinary explanation is not
nearly so obvious as it is usually assumed to be." [34:3]

Mr. Grove is very right.

I have been careful only to quote from writers who are either
"apologetic," or far from belonging to heterodox schools. Is it not
perfectly clear that no place of the name of Sychar can be reasonably
identified? The case, in fact, simply stands thus:--As the Gospel
mentions a town called Sychar, apologists maintain that there must have
been such a place, and attempt by various theories to find a site for
it. It is certain, however, that even in the days of St. Jerome there
was no real trace of such a town, and apologists and travellers have