Shechem

Shechem, 1

Shechem, a town of central Palestine, in Samaria, among the mountains of Ephraim (Jos 20:7; 1Ki 12:25), in the narrow valley between the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim (comp. Jdg 9:7), and consequently within the tribe of Ephraim (Jos 21:20). It is in N. lat. 32°17′, E. long. 35°20′, being thirty-four miles north of Jerusalem and seven miles south of Samaria. It was a very ancient place, and appears to have arisen as a town in the interval between the arrival of Abraham in Palestine and the return of Jacob from Padan-aram, for it is mentioned only as a place, described by reference to the oaks in the neighborhood, when Abraham came there on first entering the land of Canaan (Gen 12:6). But, in the history of Jacob it repeatedly occurs as a town having walls and gates: it could not, however, have been very large or important, if we may judge from the consequence which the inhabitants attached to an alliance with Jacob, and from the facility with which the sons of the patriarch were able to surprise and destroy them (Gen 33:18-19; Gen 34:1-2; Gen 34:20; Gen 34:24; Gen 34:26). After the conquest of the country, Shechem was made a city of refuge (Jos 20:7), and one of the Levitical towns (Jos 21:21), and during the lifetime of Joshua it was a center of union to the tribes (Jos 24:1; Jos 24:25), probably because it was the nearest considerable town to the residence of that chief in Timnath-serah. In the time of the judges, Shechem became the capital of the kingdom set up by Abimelech (Jdg 9:1, sq.), but was at length conquered and destroyed by him (Jdg 9:34). It must, however, have been before long rebuilt, for it had again become of so much importance by the time of Rehoboam’s accession, that he there gave the meeting to the delegates of the tribes, which ended in the separation of the kingdom (1Ki 12:10). It was Shechem which the first monarch of the new kingdom made the capital of his dominions (1Ki 12:25; comp. 14:17), although later in his reign the pleasantness of Tirzah induced him to build a palace there, and to make it the summer residence of his court; which gave it such importance, that it at length came to be regarded as the capital of the kingdom, till Samaria eventually deprived it of that honor (1Ki 14:7; 1Ki 16:24) [ISRAEL]. Shechem, however, still throve. It subsisted during the exile (Jer 41:5) and continued, for many ages after, the chief seat of the Samaritans and of their worship, their sole temple being upon the mountain (Gerizim), at whose foot the city stood [SAMARITANS]. The city was taken, and the temple destroyed, by John Hyrcanus, B.C. 129. In the New Testament it occurs under the name of Sychar (Joh 4:5), which seems to have been a sort of nick name, such as the Jews were fond of imposing upon places they disliked. Stephen, however, in his historical retrospect, still uses the proper and ancient name (Act 7:16). Not long after the times of the New Testament the place received the name of Neapolis, which it still retains in the Arabic form of Nabulus, being one of the very few names imposed by the Romans in Palestine which have survived to the present day. It had probably suffered much, if it was not completely destroyed, in the war with the Romans, and would seem to have been restored or rebuilt by Vespasian, and then to have taken this new name. It has remained in the hands of the Muhammadans since A.D. 1242.

There is no reason to question that the present town occupies the site of the ancient Shechem, although its dimensions are probably more contracted. The fertility and beauty of the deep and narrow valley in which the town stands, especially in its immediate neighborhood, have been much admired by travelers, as far exceeding what they had seen in any other part of Palestine. The town itself is long and narrow, extending along the N.E. base of Mount Gerizim, and partly resting upon its declivity. The population of the place is rated by Dr. Olin at 8000 or 10,000, of whom 500 or 600 are Christians of the Greek communion, and the rest Muslims, with the exception of about 130 Samaritans, and one-third that number of Jews. The inhabitants bear the character of being an unusually valiant as well as a turbulent race, and some years since maintained a desperate struggle against the Egyptian government in some bloody rebellions.

Shechem, 2

Shechem, son of Hamor, prince of the country or district of Shechem, in which Jacob formed his camp on his return from Mesopotamia. This young man having seen Jacob’s daughter Dinah, was smitten with her beauty, and deflowered her. This wrong was terribly and cruelly avenged by the damsel’s uterine brothers, Simeon and Levi, as described in the article Dinah (Genesis 34). It seems likely that the town of Shechem, even if of recent origin, must have existed before the birth of a man so young as Hamor’s son appears to have been; and we may therefore suppose it a name preserved in the family, and which both the town and the princes inherited. Shechem’s name is always connected with that of his father Hamor (Gen 33:19; Genesis 34; Act 7:16).

1. A Canaanite prince, at the town of the same name, who abducted Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and was soon afterwards treacherously slain, with many of his people, by Simeon and Levi, Gen 34:1-31 .\par 2. A city of central Canaan, between the mountains Gerizim and Ebal, thirty-four miles north of Jerusalem; called also Sychar and Sychem, Mal 7:16 . It is first mentioned in the history of Abraham, who here erected his first altar in Canaan, and took possession of the country in the name of Jehovah, Gen 12:6 33:18,19 35:4. Jacob bought a field in its neighborhood, which by way of overplus, he gave to his son Joseph, who was buried here, Gen 48:22 Jos 24:32 . After the conquest of Canaan it became a Levitical city of refuge in Ephraim, and a gathering-place of the tribes, Jos 20:7 21:21 24:1,25 Jdg 9:1-57 . Here Rehoboam gave the ten tribes occasion to revolt, 1Ki 12:1-33 . In its vicinity was Jacob’s well or fountain, at which Christ discoursed with the woman of Samaria, Joh 4:5 . See also Mal 8:25 9:31 15:3. After the ruin of Samaria by Shalmaneser, Shechem became the capital of the Samaritans; and Josephus says it was so in the time of Alexander the Great. St the present day it is also the seat of the small remnant of the Samaritans. See SAMARITANS.\par It was called by the Romans Neapolis, from which the Arabs have made Napolose, or Nabulus.\par The valley of Shechem extends several miles northwest between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, and is about five hundred yards wide; so that in the pure and elastic air of Palestine the two mountains are within hailing distance of each other, one circumstance among thousands evincing the exact truthfulness of Bible narratives, Deu 27:11-14 Jdg 9:7 . The winter rains which fall in the eastern part of the valley find their way to the Jordan, while in the western part are numerous springs, forming a pretty brook which flows towards the Mediterranean. "Here," says Dr. Robinson, "a scene of luxuriant and almost unparalleled verdure burst upon our view. The whole valley was filled with gardens of vegetables and orchards of all kinds of fruits, watered by several fountains, which burst forth in various parts and flow westward in refreshing streams. It came upon us suddenly, like a scene of fairy enchantment. We saw nothing to compare with it in Palestine." The modern town has several long and narrow streets, partly on the base of Mount Gerizim. It does not appear to extend so far to the east as the ancient city did. The houses are high and well built of stone, and covered with small domes. Nabulus is thought to contain eight thousand inhabitants, all Mohammedans except five hundred Greek Christians, one hundred and fifty Samaritans, and as many Jews. The rocky base of Mount Ebal on the north of the valley is full of ancient excavated tombs. On Mount Gerizim is the holy place of the Samaritans, and the ruins of a strong fortress erected by Justinian. At the foot of these mountains on the east lies the beautiful plain of Mukhna, ten miles long and a mile and a half wide; and where the valley opens on this plain, Joseph’s tomb and Jacob’s well are located, by the unanimous consent of Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans. The former spot is now covered by a Mohammedan Wely, or sacred tomb; and the latter by an arched stone chamber, entered by a narrow hole in the roof, and the mouth of the well within is covered by a large stone. The well itself is one hundred and five feet deep, and is now sometimes dry. It bears every mark of high antiquity.\par The following extract is from Dr. Clarke’s description of this place: "There is nothing in the Holy Land finer than a view of Napolose from the heights around it. As the traveller descends towards it from the hills, it appears luxuriantly embosomed in the most delightful and fragrant bowers, half concealed by rich gardens, and by stately trees collected into groves, all around the bold and beautiful valley in which it stands. Trade seems to flourish among its inhabitants. Their principal employment is in making soap; but the manufactures of the town supply a very widely extended neighborhood, and are exported to a great distance upon camels. In the morning after our arrival, we met caravans coming from Grand Cairo, and noticed others reposing in the large olive plantations near the gates."\par "The sacred story of events transacted in the fields of Sychem, from our earliest years is remembered with delight; but with the territory before our eyes where those events took place, and in the view of objects existing as they were described above three thousand years ago, the grateful impression kindles into ecstasy. Along the valley we beheld ’a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,’ Gen 37:25, as in the days of Reuben and Judah, ’with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh,’ who would gladly have purchased another Joseph of his brethren, and conveyed him as a slave to some Potiphar in Egypt. Upon the hills around, flocks and herds were feeding, as of old; nor in the simple garb of the shepherds of Samaria was there any thing repugnant to the notions we may entertain of the appearance presented by the sons of Jacob. It was indeed a scene to abstract and to elevate the mind; and under emotions so called forth by every circumstance of powerful coincidence, a single moment seemed to concentrate whole ages of existence."\par "The principal object of veneration is Jacob’s well, over which a church was formerly erected. This is situated at a small distance from the town, in the road to Jerusalem, and has been visited by pilgrims of all ages, but particularly since the Christian era, as the place where our Savior revealed himself to the woman of Samaria."\par "The spot is so distinctly marked by the evangelist, and so little liable to uncertainty, from the circumstance of the well itself and the features of the country, that, if no tradition existed for its identity, the site of it could hardly be mistaken. Perhaps no Christian scholar ever attentively read Joh 4:1-54, without being struck with the numerous intervals evidences of truth which crowd upon the mind in its perusal. Within so small a compass it is impossible to find in other writings so many sources of reflection and of interest. Independently of its importance as a theological document, it concentrates so much information, that a volume might be filled with illustration it reflects on the history of the Jews and on the geography of their country. All that can be gathered on these subjects from Josephus seems but as a comment to illustrate this chapter. The journey of our Lord from Judea into Galilee; the cause of it; his passage through the territory of Samaria; his approach to the metropolis of this country; its name; his arrival at the Amorite field which terminates the narrow valley of Sychem; the ancient custom of halting at a well; the female employment of drawing water; the disciples sent into the city for food, by which its situation out of the town is obviously implied; the question of the woman referring to existing prejudices which separated the Jews from the Samaritans; the depth of the well; the oriental allusion contained in the expression, ’living water;’ the history of the well, and the customs thereby illustrated; the worship upon Mount Gerizim; all these occur within the space of twenty verses."\par

She’chem. (back or shoulder). An important city in central Palestine, in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, 34 miles north of Jerusalem, and 7 miles southeast of Samaria. Its present name, Nablus, is a corruption of Neapolis, which succeeded the more ancient Shechem, and received its new name from Vespasian. On coins still extant, it is called Flavia Neapolis. The situation of the town is one of surpassing beauty. It lies in a sheltered valley, protected by Gerizim on the south and Ebal on the north. The feet of these mountains, where they rise from the town, are not more than five hundred yards apart. The bottom of the valley is about 1800 feet above the level of the sea, and the top of Gerizim 800 feet higher still.

The site of the present city, which was also that of the Hebrew city, occurs exactly on the water-summit; and streams issuing from the numerous springs there, flow down the opposite slopes of the valley, spreading verdure and fertility in every direction. Travellers vie with each other in the language which they employ to describe the scene that, here, bursts so suddenly upon them on arriving in spring or early summer, at this paradise of the Holy Land. "The whole valley," says Dr. Robinson, "was filled with gardens of vegetables and orchards of all kinds of fruits, watered by fountains which burst forth in various parts and flow westward in refreshing streams. It came upon us suddenly like a scene of fairy enchantment. We saw nothing to compare with it in all Palestine."

The allusions to Shechem in the Bible are numerous, and show how important the place was in Jewish history. Abraham, on his first migration to the land of promise, pitched his tent and built an altar under the oak, (or terebinth), of Moreh at Shechem. "The Canaanite was then in the land;" and it is evident that the region, if not the city, was already in possession of the aboriginal race. See Gen 12:6. At the time of Jacob’s arrival here, after his sojourn in Mesopotamia, Gen 33:18; Gen 33:34, Shechem was a Hivite city, of which Hamor, the father of Shechem, was the headman. It was at this time that the patriarch purchased from that chieftain "the parcel of the field" which he subsequently bequeathed, as a special patrimony, to his son Joseph. Gen 33:19; Jos 24:32; Joh 4:5. The field lay undoubtedly on the rich plain of the Mukhna, and its value was the greater on account of the well which Jacob had dug there, so as not to be dependent on his neighbors for a supply of water.

In the distribution of the land, after its conquest by the Hebrews, Shechem fell to the lot of Ephraim, Jos 20:7, but was assigned to the Levites, and became a city of refuge. Jos 21:20-21. It acquired new importance as the scene of the renewed promulgation of the law, when its blessings were heard from Gerizim, and its curses from Ebal, and the people bowed their heads and acknowledged Jehovah as their king and ruler. Deu 27:11; Jos 24:23-25. It was here Joshua assembled the people, shortly before his death, and delivered to them his last counsels. Jos 24:1; Jos 24:25.

After the death of Gideon, Abimelech, his bastard son, induced the Shechemites to revolt from the Hebrew commonwealth and elect him as king. Jdg 9:1. In revenge for his expulsion, after a reign of three years, Abimelech destroyed the city, and as an emblem of the fate to which he would consign it, sowed the ground with salt. Jdg 9:34-45. It was soon restored, however, for we are told in 1Ki 12:1, that all Israel assembled at Shechem, and Rehoboam, Solomon’s successor, went thither to be inaugurated as king. Here, at this same place, the ten tribes renounced the house of David, and transferred their allegiance to Jeroboam, 1Ki 12:16, under whom Shechem became, for a time, the capital of his kingdom.

From the time of the origin of the Samaritans, the history of Shechem blends itself with that of this people and of their sacred mount, Gerizim. See Samaria. Shechem reappears in the New Testament. It is the Sychar of Joh 4:5 near which the Saviour conversed with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. The population of Nablus consists of about 5000, among whom are 500 Greek Christians, 150 Samaritans, and a few Jews. The enmity between the Samaritans and Jews is as inveterate still as it was in the days of Christ. The Mohammedans, of course, make up the bulk of the population.

The well of Jacob and the tomb of Joseph are still shown in the neighborhood of the town. The well of Jacob lies about a mile and a half east of the city, close to the lower road, and just beyond the wretched hamlet of Balata. The Christians sometimes call it Bir es-Samariyeh -- "the well of the Samaritan woman". The well is deep -- 75 feet when last measured -- and there was, probably, a considerable accumulation of rubbish at the bottom. Sometimes, it contains a few feet of water, but at others, it is quite dry. It is entirely excavated in the solid rock, perfectly round, 9 feet in diameter, with the sides hewn smooth and regular. Of all the special localities of our Lord’s life, this is almost the only one absolutely undisputed.

The tomb of Joseph lies about a quarter of a mile north of the well, exactly in the centre of the opening of the valley. It is between Gerizim and Ebal. It is a small, square enclosure of high whitewashed walls, surrounding a tomb of the ordinary kind, but with the peculiarity that it is placed diagonally to the walls, instead of parallel as usual. A rough pillar used as an altar, and black with the traces of fire is at the head, and another at the foot of the tome. In the walls are two slabs with Hebrew inscriptions, and the interior is almost covered with the names of pilgrims in Hebrew, Arabic and Samaritan. Beyond this, there is nothing to remark in the structure itself. The local tradition of the tomb, like that of the well is as old as the beginning of the fourth century.

2. The son of Hamor, the chieftain of the Hivite settlement of Shechem, at the time of Jacob’s arrival. Gen 33:19; Gen 34:2-26; Jos 24:32; Jdg 9:28.

3. A man of Manasseh, of the clan of Gilead. Num 26:31.

4. A Gileadite, son of Shemida, the younger brother of Shechem, 3. 1Ch 7:19.

("shoulder", or "upper part of the back just below the neck"); explained as if the town were on the shoulder of the heights dividing the waters that flow toward the Mediterranean on the W. and to the Jordan on the E.; or on a shoulder or ridge connected with Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. Also called SICHEM, SYCHEM, and SYCHAR (Joh 4:5; Jos 20:7; Jdg 9:9; 1Ki 12:25). Mount Gerizim is close by (Jdg 9:7) on the southern side, Mount Ebal on the northern side. These hills at the base are but 500 yards apart. Vespasian named it Neapolis; coins are extant with its name "Flavia Neapolis"; now Nablus by corruption. The situation is lovely; the valley runs W. with a soil of rich, black, vegetable mold, watered by fountains, sending forth numerous streams flowing W.; orchards of fruit, olive groves, gardens of vegetables, and verdure on all sides delight the eye. On the E. of Gerizim and Ebal the flue plain of Mukhna stretches from N. to S.

Here first in Canaan God appeared to Abraham (Gen 12:6), and here he pitched his tent and built an altar under the oak or terebinth (not "plain") of Moreh; here too Jacob re-entered the promised land (Gen 33:18-19), and "bought a parcel of a field where he had spread his tent," from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, and bequeathed it subsequently to Joseph (Gen 48:22; Jos 24:32; Joh 4:5); a dwelling place, whereas Abraham’s only purchase was a burial place. It lay in the rich plain of the Mukhna, and its value was increased by the well Jacob dug there. Joshua made "Shechem in Mount Ephraim" one of the six cities of refuge (Jos 20:7). The suburbs in our Lord’s days reached nearer the entrance of the valley between Gerizim and Ebal than now; for the narrative in Joh 4:30; Joh 4:35, implies that the people could be seen as they came from the town toward Jesus at the well, whereas Nablus now is more than a mile distant, and cannot be seen from that point.

Josephus (B. J. 3:7, section 32) says that more than 10,000 of the inhabitants were once destroyed by the Romans, implying a much larger town and population than at present. (See DINAH; HAMOR.) (See JACOB on the massacre by Simeon and Levi, Genesis 34.) Under Abraham’s oak at Shechem Jacob buried the family idols and amulets (Gen 35:1-4). Probably too "the strange gods" or "the gods of the stranger" were those carried away by Jacob’s sons from Shechem among the spoils (Gen 35:2; Gen 34:26-29). The charge to "be clean and change garments" may have respect to the recent slaughter of the Shechemites, which polluted those who took part in it (Blunt, Undesigned Coincidences). Shechem was for a time Ephraim’s civil capital. as Shiloh was its religious capital (Jdg 9:2; Jdg 21:19; Jos 24:1-25-26; 1Ki 12:1). At the same "memorial terebinth" at Shechem the Shechemites made Abimelech king (Jdg 9:6).

Jotham’s parable as to the trees, the vine, the fig, and the bramble, were most appropriate to the scenery; contrast the shadow of the bramble which would rather scratch than shelter, with Isa 32:2. Abimelech destroyed Shechem and sowed it with salt (Jdg 9:45). From Gerizim the blessings, and from Ebal the curses, were read (Jos 8:33-35). At Shechem Joshua gave his farewell charge (Jos 24:1-25). Joseph was buried there (Jos 24:32; Act 7:16). At Shechem Rehoboam was made king by Israel (1Ki 12:1); he desired to conciliate the haughty Ephraimites by being crowned there. Here, through his ill advised obstinacy, the Israelites revolted to Jeroboam, who made Shechem his capital. Mediaeval writers (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, Jan. 1878, p. 27-28) placed the Dan and Bethel of Jeroboam’s calves on Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. The following reasons favor this view.

(1) The ruins below the western peak of Gerizim are still called Lozeh or Luz, the old name of Bethel; a western spur of Ebal has a site Amad ed Din, (possibly Joshua’s altar on Ebal), bearing traces of the name Dan, and the hill is called Ras el Kady ("judgment" answering to the meaning of Dan).

(2) The Bethel of the calf was close to the palace of Jeroboam who lived in Shechem (Amo 7:13; 1Ki 12:25).

(3) The southern Bethel was in Benjamin (Jos 18:22) and would hardly have been chosen as a religious center by Jeroboam who was anxious to draw away the people from Jerusalem (1Ki 12:28).

(4) The southern Bethel was taken from Jeroboam by Abijah king of Judah (2Ch 13:19), whereas the calf of Bethel was not destroyed but remained standing long after (2Ki 10:29).

(5) The Bethel of the calf is mentioned in connection with Samaria (1Ki 13:32; 2Ki 23:19; Amo 4:1-4; Amo 5:6), and the old prophet at Bethel was of Samaria according to Josephus (2Ki 23:18).

(6) The southern Bethel was the seat of a school of prophets, which is hardly consistent with its being the seat of the calf worship (2Ki 2:2-3).

The "men from Shechem" (Jer 41:5) who had paganly "cut themselves," and were slain by Ishmael, were probably of the Babylonian colonists who combined Jehovah worship with their old idolatries. Shechem was the chief Samaritan city from the time of the setting up of the temple on Gerizim down to its destruction in 129 B.C., i.e. for about 200 years. Sychar is probably a corruption of Shechem; others make it a Jewish alteration, for contempt, from shecher "a lie." (See SYCHAR.) Jesus remained at Shechem two days and won many converts, the firstfruits, followed by a full harvest under Philip the evangelist (Acts 8; Joh 4:35-43). The population now is about 5,000, of whom 500 are Greek Christians, 150 Samaritans, and a few Jews. The main street runs from E. to W. The houses are of stone, the streets narrow and dark. Eighty springs are within or around Shechem. It is the center of trade between Jaffa and Beirut on one side, and the transjordanic region on the other. It has manufactures of coarse woolen fabrics, delicate silk, camel’s hair cloth, and soap. Inscriptions from the Samaritan Pentateuch, of A.D. 529, which had been on the walls of a synagogue, have been found and read.

The well of Jacob lies one mile and a half E. of Shechem beyond the hamlet Balata; beside a mound of ruins with fragments of granite columns on a low hill projecting from Gerizim’s base in a N.E. direction, between the plain and the opening of the valley. Formerly a vaulted chamber, ten feet square, with a square hole opening into it, covered over the floor in which was the well’s mouth. Now the vault has in part fallen and covered up the mouth; only a shallow pit remains, half filled with stones and rubbish. The well was 75 feet deep at its last measurement, but 105 at Maundrell’s visit in 1697. It is now dry almost always, whereas he found 15 feet of water. Jacob dug it deep into the rocky ground, its position indicating it was dug by one who could not rely for water on the springs so near in the valley (Ain Balata and Defneh), the Canaanites being their owners. A church was built round it in the fourth century, but was destroyed before the crusades. Eusebius in the early part of the fourth century confirms the traditional site; John 4 accords with it.

Jesus in His journey from Jerusalem to Galilee rested at it, while "His disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat"; so the well must have lain before, but at some little distance from, the city. Jesus intended on their return to proceed along the plain toward Galilee, without visiting the city Himself, which agrees with the traditional site. The so-called "tomb of Joseph," a quarter of a mile N. of the well in the open plain, in the center of the opening between Gerizim and Ebal, is more open to doubt. A small square of high walls surrounds a common tomb, placed diagonally to the walls; a rough pillar altar is at the head, and another at the foot. In the left corner is a vine whose branches "run over the wall" (Gen 49:22). Maundrell’s description applies better to another tomb named from Joseph at the N.E. foot of Gerizim. However the phrase in Gen 33:19, "a parcel of a field," Jos 24:32, favors the site near Jacob’s well, bechelqat hasadeh, a smooth lever open cultivated land; in Palestine there is not to be found such a dead level, without the least hollow in a circuit of two hours.

Shechem (shç’kem), shoulder. Gen 36:4. A town in the valley between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim; called also Sichem, Sychem, Sychar. Neapolis, and now Nablus, were successively on or near the site of Shechem. It was 34 miles north of Jerusalem, about seven miles southeast of Samaria, and its site is unrivalled for beauty in Palestine. Two mountains parallel to each other, Ebal and Gerizim, almost meeting at their bases and only a mile and a half apart at their summits, enclose a beautiful little valley extending east and west, not more than a, hundred yards wide at the narrowest part, and widening out in both directions. The city is mentioned 48 times in the Bible. Its history begins 4000 years ago, before Jerusalem was founded, and extends through Scripture from Abraham to Christ. Jesus visited the region, preached to a woman at Jacob’s well, and many from Sychar believed on him. Joh 4:5; Joh 4:39-42. whether Sychar occupied precisely the same site as ancient Shechem has been a question in dispute among scholars. Dr. Thomson describes the situation thus: "Nothing in Palestine surpasses (the vale) in fertility and natural beauty; and this is mainly due to the fine mill-stream which flows through it. The whole country is thickly studded with villages, the plains clothed with grass or grain, and the rounded hills with orchards of olive, fig, pomegranate, and other trees... Nablûs is a queer old place. The streets are narrow and vaulted over; and in the wintertime it is difficult to pass along many of them on account of brooks, which rush over the pavement with deafening roar. In this respect I know no city with which to compare it except Brusa; and, like that city, it has mulberry, orange, pomegranate, and other trees mingled in with the houses, whose odoriferous flowers load the air with delicious perfume during the months of April and May. Here the bilbûl delights to sit and sing, and thousands of other birds unite to swell the chorus. See Samaritans.

[Shech’em]

1. The first city of Canaan visited by Abram, Gen 12:6, where it is called SICHEM. When Jacob returned to Palestine, Hamor the Hivite was its king. It was attacked and plundered by Simeon and Levi. The bones of Joseph were buried there. At the distribution of the land it fell to the lot of Ephraim, and became a Levitical city and a city of refuge. It was there that Joshua delivered his last address to the people. Under the Judges the city was taken by Abimelech, when about a thousand men and women took refuge in the tower, which was destroyed by fire. The tribes assembled there to crown Rehoboam, and, on the division of the kingdom, it became the headquarters of Jeroboam. Gen 33:18; Gen 37:12-14; Jos 20:7; Jos 21:21; Jos 24:1; Jos 24:25; Jos 24:32; Jdg 9:1-57; 1Ki 12:1; 1Ki 12:25; 2Ch 10:1; Psa 60:6; Psa 108:7; Jer 41:5.

Shechem was called Neapolis by the Romans, of which its present name, Nablus, is supposed to be a corruption. It lies 32° 13’ N, 35° 16’ E. Its vicinity is luxurious in fruit and flowers. It is still partially inhabited by Samaritans, who have a synagogue there, and yearly keep the Passover.

It is called SYCHEM in Act 7:16, where it says that Abraham bought a sepulchre there. This is thought to clash with Gen 33:19, which speaks of Jacob buying it. But nothing is said in the latter passage about a sepulchre: Jacob bought a piece of ground to spread his tent in. Bengel says of this alleged discrepancy in Stephen’s address, that "the brevity which was best suited to the ardour of the Spirit gave Stephen just occasion, in the case of a fact so well known, to compress these details in the way he has done."*

2. Son of Hamor the chief of the city of Shechem - from whom the city appears to have derived its name - killed with his father and household by Simeon and Levi because he had dishonoured their sister Dinah. Gen 33:19; Gen 34:2-26; Jos 24:32; Jdg 9:28.

3. Descendant of Gilead, a grandson of Manasseh. Num 26:31; Jos 17:2.

4. Son of Shemidah, a descendant of Manasseh. 1Ch 7:19: cf. Jos 17:2.

* For further details concerning Stephen’s address see "Bible Handbook, New Testament," pages 144-6.

SHECHEM.—See Sychar.

( = "shoulder" or "ridge"):

By: Emil G. Hirsch, M. Seligsohn

Earliest Mention.

1. City of central Palestine; called Sichem in Gen. xii. 6, A. V.; Shalem, according to some commentators, ib. xxxiii. 18; Sychem in Acts vii. 16; and Sychar in John iv. 5. Its situation is indicated as in Mount Ephraim in Josh. xx. 7 and I Kings xii.25; but from Judges ix. 7 it seems to have been immediately below Mount Gerizim, and it is therefore placed by Josephus ("Ant." iv. 8, § 48) between Gerizim and Ebai. Shechem is elsewhere stated to have been in the neighborbood of Dothan (Gen. xxxvii. 12 et seq.), north of Shiloh (Judges xxi. 19). The first mention of the place occurs in connection with Abraham, who, on his first migration to the land of Canaan, built an altar under the oak of Moreh on the site where later Shechem was built (Gen. xii. 6). At the time of Abraham the place, which could scarcely have been a city, was occupied by the Canaanites.Shechem first appears as a city in the time of Jacob, who, after his meeting with Esau, encamped in front of it in the field which he bought for 100 pieces of money from Hamor, the prince of the country (ib. xxxiii. 18-19). It was then inhabited by the Hivvites (ib.). Jacob's arrival at Shechem marked a very important period in its history; for the defilement of Dinah, which took place there, resulted in the pillage of the city and the massacre of all the male inhabitants by Jacob's sons (ib. xxxiv. 2-29). This narrative shows also that Shechem was at that time a commercial center, and rich in sheep, oxen, and asses. The oak-tree under which Abraham had built an altar still existed in the time of Jacob, who hid under it the images and the earrings of the Shechemites (ib. xxxv. 4). The surrounding territory afforded good pasturage; and therefore during Jacob's stay at Hebron his sons drove their flocks to Shechem (ib. xxxvii. 12 et seq.). Jacob had previously promised the city to Joseph (ib. xlviii. 22, Hebr.); and it was allotted by Joshua to Ephraim, and Joseph's remains were buried there. Afterward it was assigned to the Levites, becoming also a city of refuge (Josh. xx. 7, xxi. 20-21, xxiv. 32).

Religious Center.

After the conquest of Canaan, Shechem became an important religious center. The two mountains, Gerizim and Ebal, between which the city was situated, had been previously designated as the places where the Levites should recite their blessings; and under Joshua this arrangement was carried into effect (Deut. xxvii. 11; Josh. viii. 32-35). It was at Shechem that Joshua drew up the statutes of the Mosaic religion and set up a stone as a monument in the temple of Yhwh under the oak-tree (Josh. xxiv. 1-28). Shortly before his death Joshua assembled at Shechem the elders and judges of Israel, giving them his last recommendations and exhorting them to adhere to the cult of Yhwh.

Capital of Jeroboam.

After Gideon's death the inhabitants of Shechem, separating themselves from the commonwealth, elected Abimelech as king, and solemnly inaugurated him in the temple under the oak-tree (Judges ix. 1-6). At the end of three years, however, they revolted and were all slain, the city being destroyed and sown with salt (ib. verses 23-45). It was restored later and regained its former importance; for after Solomon's death all the tribes of Israel assembled there to crown Rehoboam. It was there that the ten tribes, whose demands were spurned by Rehoboam, renounced their allegiance to him and elected Jeroboam as king (I Kings xii. 1-20). The latter fortified Shechem and made it for a time his capital (ib. verse 25). From that time no mention is made of the place. It was most probably included in "the cities of Samaria" which were conquered by the Assyrian kings, and whose inhabitants, carried away into captivity, were replaced by colonists from other countries (comp. II Kings xvii. 5-6, 24; xviii. 9 et seq.).

People of Shechem, probably proselytes, are mentioned as having been slain by Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah (Jer. xli. 5), while on their way to the Temple at Jerusalem, to which they were carrying gifts, not knowing that it had been destroyed. After the Exile, Shechem became the religious capital of the Samaritans, whose temple was on Mount Gerizim (comp. Joshua, Son of Sirach, i. 26). Thus Shechem was to the Samaritans what Jerusalem was to the Jews; and its religious prominence was maintained for nearly 200 years, when it was captured by John Hyrcanus (129 B.C.), who destroyed the temple (Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 9, § 1; idem, "B. J." i. 2, § 6). Later, Alexander Jannæus met with a crushing defeat near Shechem ("Ant." xiii. 14, §§ 1-2; "B. J." i. 4, §§ 4-5).

Destroyed Under Vespasian.

The place seems to have been completely destroyed during the Jewish wars, and on its site another city was built by Vespasian (72 C.E.), to which he gave the name "Neapolis" ("B. J." iv. 8, § 1; Pliny, "Historia Naturalis," v. 13, § 69); this was afterward changed by the Arabs to "Nablus." The identification of Shechem with Neapolis by Josephus and Pliny is supported by Num. R. xxiii. 14, which renders "Shechem" by "Neapolis" (). Eusebius ("Onomasticon," s.v. "Sichem"), however, places Neapolis in the vicinity of the site of Shechem. On coins from Neapolis that city is called "Flavia Neapolis" (Eckhel, "Doctrina Nummorum Veterum," iii. 483 et passim). Both Josephus and Pliny declare that Shechem or Neapolis was called by the natives "Mabortha" (Μαβορθά) or "Mamortha." This name is evidently a corruption of the Aramean "Mabarakta," or "the blessed city," so called by the Samaritans in opposition to Jerusalem, as they similarly term Mount Gerizim "the blessed mountain" in opposition to Mount Moriah, which they designate "the accursed mountain" (Gen. R. lxxxi. 3). Great hostility to the Jews was manifested by the Samaritan inhabitants of Neapolis. R. Ishmael ben Jose, who once passed Neapolis () in order to go to Jerusalem to pray, relates that he was the object of their derision (Yer. 'Ab. Zarah v. 4).

Tomb of Joseph.

Under the Roman emperors Neapolis became one of the most important cities of Palestine. Septimius Severus once deprived it of the "jus civitatis," but he restored it later (Spartianus, "Vita Severi," ch. ix.). Under Zeno (474) riots occurred in Neapolis between the Samaritans and the Christians. In 1184 the city was captured by the troops of Saladin. It has been remarked above that the name "Neapolis" was corrupted into "Nablus" by the Arabs; and the city has been generally known under the latter name since the Middle Ages. Its history is closely connectedwith that of the Samaritans. It may be added that the tomb of Joseph (comp. Josh. xxiv. 32) has always been the chief object of attraction for visitors to Nablus. This fact is first mentioned by Benjamin of Tudela ("Itinerary," ed. Asher, pp. 32-33)—who, by the way, relates that in his time there were no Jews at Nablus—and after him by the French traveler R. Jacob, who was at Nablus in 1258 (Carmoly, "Itinéraires," p. 186). Isaac Ḥelo (14th cent.) says (ib. p. 251) that people came from afar to Nablus to visit the tomb of Joseph and Jacob's well, and that there were in the place few Jews, but many Samaritans. The author of the "Yiḥus ha-Ẓaddiḳim" (ib. p. 386) is more precise in placing Joseph's tomb in the village of Al-Balaṭah, near Nablus, adding that visitors recite over the tomb Ps. Ixxvii., lxxx., and lxxxi. Finally, the author of "Yiḥus ha-Abot" (ib. p. 445) says that the village Al-Balaṭah, which contains Joseph's tomb, is a Sabbath-day's journey (2,000 cubits) north of Nablus. Samuel b. Samson (ib. p. 150), however, places Joseph's tomb at Shiloh. Nablus at present has a population of about 24,000, including 170 Samaritans and 150 Jews.

Bibliography:

Besides the sources mentioned in the article, Guérin, Samarie, i. 372 et seq.;

Neubaner, G. T. pp. 168 et seq.;

Robinson, Researches, iii. 96 et seq., 113 et seq.;

idem, Later Researches, p. 131;

Schürer, Gesch. 3d ed., i. 50-51;

Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, pp. 233 et seq.

2. Son of Hamor, Prince of Shechem; he probably derived his name from that town. He is particularly known for his defilement of Dinah, Jacob's daughter, which misdeed led to the destruction of his family and the massacre of all the male inhabitants of Shechem (Gen. xxxiv. 1-26). See Dinah; Hamor.

3. Son of Gilead and grandson of Manasseh, and head of the family of Shechemites, according to Num. xxvi. 31 and Josh. xvii. 2. In I Chron. vii. 19, however, he is said to have been the son of Shemida and, consequently, the grandson of Gilead.

SHECHEM.—1. Gen 33:19; Gen 34:2; Gen 34:4 etc. See Jacob, Hamor. 2. A Manassite clan, Num 26:31 (35), (the Shechemites), Jos 17:2, 1Ch 7:19. 3. See next article.

SHECHEM.—The place in which Jacob for a while established himself (Gen 33:18, Joh 4:12). Here he is said to have dug the well coosecrated by Christ’s conversation with the Samaritan woman, and still shown to travellers, with a claim to authenticity which is lacking in the vast majority of the so-called ‘holy places.’ It was evidently a place of sanctity: there was a great oak (or terebinth) here—no doubt a sacred tree—where Jacob hid his teraphim (Gen 35:4), and under which Joshua gave his parting address to the elders (Jos 24:1-33). A great stone under the tree was traditionally connected with the latter event (Jos 24:26). This is no doubt the reason why Shechem was a Levitical city, and also a city of refuge (Jos 20:7). The city, however, remained Canaanite after the conquest, serving the local god Baal-herith (Jdg 9:4): Gideon’s concubine, mother of Abimelech, was a Canaanitess from Shechem, and her relatives set up her son as a king, to his and their own destruction (Jdg 9:1-57). Here Rehoboam alienated the Northern Kingdom by his overhearing speech (1Ki 12:1), and Jeroboam for a time was established here (1Ki 12:25). It was not a place of importance before the Exile, though continuously inhabited down to and after that event (Jer 41:5). The development of the Samaritan nation led to its rise. It was known at this period to the natives by the name Mabortha (Jos. [Note: Josephus.] BJ IV. viii. 1), but the name by which it was generally known, after its re-building by Titus Flavins Vespasianus, was Flavia Neapolis, or, more briefly, Neapolis—a name which still persists in the modern Arabic form Nâblus, though usually Roman or Greek names imposed on Palestinian sites have disappeared, the older names persisting.

In the Byzantine period there was a bishopric at Neapolis, of which we know little—save that the Samaritans in a.d. 474 wounded the bishop, and were in consequence severely punished by the emperor Zeno. The city fell to the Crusaders in 1099, and several churches were there built by them—one of which still survives in part as a mosque. In 1184 it was re-conquered by Saladin. The inhabitants have always been noted for turbulence and lawlessness. Towards the end of the 18th century it was a storm-centre of the inter-tribal wars of the fellahîn, the leader of the district being the notorious Kasim el-Ahmad.

It is now a town of some 24,000 inhabitants, all Moslems except about 150 Samaritans and 700 Christians. They are concerned in extensive soap manufacture, and in trade in wool and cotton with Eastern Palestine. There are Protestant and Roman Catholic missions, and an important English hospital directed by the Church Missionary Society.

In or near the town are shown ‘Jacob’s well,’ which, as already said, is not improbably authentic; and a shrine covering the traditional ‘tomb of Joseph,’ the genuineness of which is perhaps less unassailable.

R. A. S. Macalister.

shē´kem (שׁכם, sh^ekhem, “shoulder”; Συχέμ, Suchém, ἡ Σίκιμα, hē Sı́kima, τὰ Σίκιμα, tá Sı́kima, etc.; the King James Version gives “Sichem” in Gen 12:6; and “Sychem” in Act 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 Palestine (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 (Jos 17:7). It was in the territory of Ephraim; it was made a city of refuge, and assigned to the Kohathite Levites (Jos 20:7; Jos 21:21). Near the city the Law was promulgated (Deu 27:11; Jos 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 (Jos 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 (Jos 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, Jdg 9:46). 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 (1Ki 12:1; 2Ch 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 was built on Mt. Gerizim (Sirach 50:26; Ant., XI, viii, 6; XII, i, 1; XIII, iii, 4). Shechem was captured by John Hyrcanus in 132 BC (Ant., XIII, ix, 1; BJ, I, ii, 6). It appears in the New Testament only in the speech of Stephen (Act 7:16, King James Version “Sychem”). Some (e.g. Smith, DB, under the word) would identify it with Sychar of Joh 4:5; but see SYCHAR. Under the Romans it became Flavia Neapolis. In later times it was the seat of a bishopric; the names of five occupants of the see are known.

2. Location and Physical Features:

There is no doubt as to the situation of ancient Shechem. It lay in the pass which cuts through Mts. Ephraim, Ebal and Gerizim, guarding it on the North and South respectively. Along this line runs the great road which from time immemorial has formed the easiest and the quickest means of communication between the East of the Jordan and the sea. It must have been a place of strength from antiquity. The name seems to occur in Travels of a Mohar (Max Muller, Asien u. Europa, 394), “Mountain of Sahama” probably referring to Ebal or Gerizim. The ancient city may have lain somewhat farther East than the modern Nāblus, in which the Roman name Neapolis survives. The situation is one of great beauty. The city lies close to the foot of Gerizim. The terraced slopes of the mountain rise steeply on the South. Across the valley, musical with the sound of running water, the great bulk of Ebal rises on the North, its sides, shaggy with prickly pear, sliding down into grain fields and orchards. The copious springs which supply abundance of water rise at the base of Gerizim. The fruitful and well-wooded valley winds westward among the hills. It is traversed by the carriage road leading to Jaffa and the sea. Eastward the valley opens upon the plain of Makhneh. To the East of the city, in a recess at the base of Gerizim, is the sanctuary known as Rijāl el-‛Amūd, literally, “men of the column” or “pillar,” where some would locate the ancient “oak of Moreh” or “of the pillar.” Others would find it in a little village farther East with a fine spring, called Balāṭa, a name which may be connected with ballūṭ, “oak.” Still farther to the East and near the base of Ebal is the traditional tomb of Joseph, a little white-domed building beside a luxuriant orchard. On the slope of the mountain beyond is the village of ‛Askar; see SYCHAR. To the South of the vale is the traditional Well of Jacob; see &JACOB’S WELL. To the Southwest of the city is a small mosque on the spot where Jacob is said to have mourned over the blood-stained coat of Joseph. In the neighboring minaret is a stone whereon the Ten Commandments are engraved in Samaritan characters. The main center of interest in the town is the synagogue of the Samaritans, with their ancient manuscript of the Pentateuch.

3. Modern Shechem:

The modern town contains about 20,000 inhabitants, the great body of them being Moslems. There are some 700 or 800 Christians, chiefly belonging to the Greek Orthodox church. The Samaritans do not total more than 200. The place is still the market for a wide district, both East and West of Jordan. A considerable trade is done in cotton and wool. Soap is manufactured in large quantities, oil for this purpose being plentifully supplied by the olive groves. Tanning and the manufacture of leather goods are also carried on. In old times the slopes of Ebal were covered with vineyards; but these formed a source of temptation to the “faithful.” They were therefore removed by authority, and their place taken by the prickly pears mentioned above.

In St. Stephen’s address we read that Jacob and the fathers were carried over unto Shechem and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought of the sons of Hamor in Shechem (Act_7:16). There is here a combining of two separate traditions. Jacob was buried at Machpelah (Gen_50:13), which Abraham bought from the sons of Heth (23). Jacob himself bought ground from the children of Hamor, and in it Joseph was buried (Jos_24:32). This ground was in Shechem. Here Jacob established his residence for some time, and his people entered into the closest relations with the natives. A well, said to have been dug by his orders, was in existence in Christ’s day, and here at Jacob’s well our Lord had His famous interview with the Samaritan woman (John 4). Shechem became famous as a Levite city, and a city of refuge, and still later as the capital of the ten tribes under Jeroboam. It became a city of the Samaritans. Its situation was between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, and it lay on the Roman road from Jerusalem to Galilee.

Literature.-C. W. Wilson, article ‘Shechem,’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) ; G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land (G. A. Smith) , 1900, pp. 120, 332; R. J. Knowling, Expositor’s Greek Testament , ‘Acts,’ 1900, ad loc.

J. W. Duncan.

The ancient town of Shechem lay between Mt Gerizim and Mt Ebal in central Canaan (Deu 27:12-13; Jdg 9:7). It was the first recorded camping place of Abraham when he came to Canaan from Haran (Gen 12:4-6). (For maps of the region see PALESTINE.)

Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, upon returning to Canaan from Paddan-aram, bought land in Shechem and settled there with his family and flocks (Gen 33:18-19). When a conflict arose with some of the local inhabitants, Jacob’s sons massacred the men of Shechem and plundered the town (Genesis 34). Jacob and his family then moved elsewhere, though at times they still pastured their flocks near Shechem (Gen 35:1-4; Gen 37:12). Joseph’s bones were later buried at Shechem in a field that Jacob had given to Joseph (Gen 48:22; Jos 24:32; Joh 4:5-6).

After the conquest of Canaan, the people of Israel gathered at Shechem to confirm the covenant. The blessings of the covenant were announced from Mt Gerizim on one side of the town, and the curses from Mt Ebal on the other. Just before Joshua’s death, the leaders of Israel gathered at Shechem once more and declared their loyalty to the covenant (Deu 27:1-14; Jos 8:30-35; Jos 24:1-28).

In the division of Canaan among the Israelites, Shechem fell within the tribal allotment of Ephraim, but was set apart for the Levites. It was one of the three cities of refuge west of Jordan (Jos 20:2; Jos 20:7; Jos 21:20-21; see CITY OF REFUGE).

In the time of the judges, Abimelech tried to establish a kingdom in Shechem but his success was shortlived (Jdg 9:1-6; Jdg 9:16-57). In the time of the monarchy, after the death of Solomon, Rehoboam went to Shechem to be crowned king, no doubt hoping this would help him win the allegiance of the northern tribes. However, the northerners broke away and established their own kingdom, with its capital initially at Shechem (1Ki 12:1; 1Ki 12:25). Within a few years they shifted the capital to Tirzah, and later again to Samaria (1Ki 15:33; 1Ki 16:8; 1Ki 16:24; 1Ki 16:29). Although Shechem lost its importance, it continued to exist, even after the Assyrians had destroyed the northern kingdom and taken most of the people into captivity (Jer 41:5).

When Assyria brought people from elsewhere to live in the deserted northern kingdom, these immigrants intermarried with the Israelites left in the land. In due course this produced a people of mixed blood and mixed religion who became known as the Samaritans. Shechem became the chief city of the Samaritans, and Mt Gerizim became to them a sacred mountain. There they built their temple, worshipped, and held religious festivals. The village of Sychar was nearby (Joh 4:5-6; Joh 4:20). (See SAMARIA, SAMARITANS.)