Shechem

Biblical References

• Patriarchal period: After entering Canaan, Abraham came to Shechem, to the oak of Moreh (KJV "plain of Moreh"), and there built his first altar in the land (Genesis 12:6-7). After returning from Padan-aram, Jacob bought a parcel of a field before the city from the sons of Hamor and built an altar there (Genesis 33:18-20). Later, when Shechem the son of Hamor defiled Dinah, Simeon and Levi killed the men of the city (Genesis 34). Jacob then buried the foreign gods of his household under the oak near Shechem and went up to Bethel (Genesis 35:4). Joseph set out to find his brothers, who were feeding their father's flock at Shechem (Genesis 37:12-14).
• Conquest and settlement: Near the end of his life, Joshua gathered the twelve tribes of Israel at Shechem and renewed the covenant (Joshua 24:1-25). The bones of Joseph, brought up from Egypt, were buried in the parcel of ground at Shechem that Jacob had bought (Joshua 24:32). Shechem was a city of refuge (Joshua 20:7) and a city of the Levites (Joshua 21:21).
• Period of the judges: Abimelech, the son of Gideon (Jerubbaal), became king with the backing of the men of Shechem. From the top of Mount Gerizim, Jotham rebuked them with a parable of the trees, and Abimelech later beat down the city and sowed it with salt (Judges 9). The same chapter also mentions the house of Baal-berith at Shechem (Judges 9:4).
• Monarchy: Rehoboam went to Shechem to be made king, but the northern tribes rejected him, resulting in the division of the kingdom (1 Kings 12:1-20). Jeroboam built Shechem and dwelt there (1 Kings 12:25).
• New Testament: In his speech, Stephen states that the patriarchs were buried at Shechem (Acts 7:16).

Background

Shechem lay in the valley between Gerizim, the mount of blessing, and Ebal, the mount of cursing (Deuteronomy 11:29; 27:12), at a crossroads linking north and south as well as east and west. Scholars generally identify the site with Tell Balata, east of modern Nablus. The name is understood to mean "shoulder" in Hebrew, probably a reference to the ridge-like terrain. Some interpreters read Genesis 48:22 as playing on the word with the overlapping sense of "portion." The city is also reportedly mentioned in Egyptian documents from the period before Israel (the Amarna letters).

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Shechem was where the first altar in the Promised Land was built, where the covenant was renewed after the conquest, and where the united kingdom was divided. It is therefore read as a place where the covenant relationship between God and His people was both established and tested. The region later became the center of Samaria. In the New Testament, the town of Sychar, where Jesus met the Samaritan woman, was "near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph" (John 4:5-6), and "this mountain" mentioned by the woman (John 4:20) is understood to be Mount Gerizim.

Interpretive Issues

• The burial site in Acts 7:16: Genesis records that Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah at Hebron and that Jacob bought land at Shechem, whereas Stephen says that Abraham bought a sepulchre from the sons of Hamor at Shechem. Interpretations differ: some hold that Stephen telescoped the two events, others seek to harmonize the texts, and still others suggest that Stephen followed a tradition current in his day.
• The location of Sychar: Some identify Sychar with Shechem, while others regard it as a different village nearby.
• Joseph's tomb: A site near Nablus is traditionally known as "Joseph's Tomb," but this tradition is of later origin; Scripture does not specify the location.

In the Korean Church

Joshua 24:15, "but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD," is frequently cited in sermons on family worship and adopted as a family motto. The account of Jacob's troubles while staying at Shechem and his subsequent journey up to Bethel (Genesis 33-35) is a common sermon theme contrasting Shechem with Bethel.