Shechem in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE
she'-kem (shekhem, "shoulder"; Suchem, he Sikima, ta Sikima,
etc.; the King James Version gives "Sichem" in Gen 12:6; and
"Sychem" in Acts 7:16):
1. Historical:
This place is first mentioned in connection with Abraham's
journey from Haran. At the oak of Moreh in the vicinity he
reared his first altar to the Lord in Israel (Gen 12:6
f). It was doubtless by this oak that Jacob, on his return
from Paddan-aram, buried "the strange (the American Standard
Revised Version "foreign") gods" (Gen 35:4). Hither he had
come after his meeting with Esau (Gen 33:18). Eusebius, in
Onomasticon, here identifies Shechem with Shalem; but see
SHALEM. To the East of the city Jacob pitched his tent in a
"parcel of ground" which he had bought from Hamor, Shechem's
father (Gen 33:19). Here also he raised an altar and called
it El-Elohe-Israel, "God, the God of Israel" (Gen 33:20).
Then follows the story of Dinah's defilement by Shechem, son
of the city's chief; and of the treacherous and terrible
vengeance exacted by Simeon and Levi (Genesis 34). To the
rich pasture land near Shechem Joseph came to seek his
brethren (Gen 37:12 ff). It is mentioned as lying to the
West of Michmethath (el-Makhneh) on the boundary of Manasseh
(Josh 17:7). It was in the territory of Ephraim; it was made
a city of refuge, and assigned to the Kohathite Levites
(Josh 20:7; 21:21). Near the city the Law was promulgated
(Dt 27:11; Josh 8:33). When his end was approaching Joshua
gathered the tribes of Israel here and addressed to them his
final words of counsel and exhortation (chapter 24). Under
the oak in the neighboring sanctuary he set up the stone of
witness (24:26). The war of conquest being done, Joseph's
bones were buried in the parcel of ground which Jacob had
bought, and which fell to the lot of Joseph's descendants
(24:33). Abimelech, whose mother was a native of the city,
persuaded the men of Shechem to make him king (Jdg 9:1-6),
evidently seeking a certain consecration from association
with "the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem." Jotham's
parable was spoken from the cliff of Gerizim overhanging the
town (Jdg 9:7 ff). After a reign of three years Abimelech
was rejected by the people. He captured the city, razed it
to the foundations, and sowed it with salt. It was then the
seat of Canaanite idolatry, the temple of Baal-berith being
here (Jdg 9:4,46). In the time of the kings we find that the
city was once more a gathering-place of the nation. It was
evidently the center, especially for the northern tribes;
and hither Rehoboam came in the hope of getting his
succession to the throne confirmed (1 Ki 12:1; 2 Ch 10:1).
At the disruption Jeroboam fortified the city and made it
his residence (2 Ch 10:25; Ant, VIII, viii, 4). The capital
of the Northern Kingdom was moved, however, first to Tirzah
and then to Samaria, and Shechem declined in political
importance. Indeed it is not named again in the history of
the monarchy. Apparently there were Israelites in it after
the captivity, some of whom on their way to the house of the
Lord at Jerusalem met a tragic fate at the hands of Ishmael
ben Nethaniah (Jer 41:5 ff). It became the central city of
the Samaritans, whose shrine...
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