the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Shechem
Morrish Bible Dictionary
or 1. The first city of Canaan visited by Abram, Genesis 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. Genesis 33:18; Genesis 37:12-14; Joshua 20:7; Joshua 21:21; Joshua 24:1,25,32; Judges 9:1-57; 1 Kings 12:1,25; 2 Chronicles 10:1; Psalm 60:6; Psalm 108:7; Jeremiah 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 Acts 7:16 , where it says that Abraham bought a sepulchre there. This is thought to clash with Genesis 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."*
* For further details concerning Stephen's address see "Bible Handbook, New Testament," pages 144-6.
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. Genesis 33:19; Genesis 34:2-26; Joshua 24:32; Judges 9:28 .
3. Descendant of Gilead, a grandson of Manasseh. Numbers 26:31; Joshua 17:2 .
4. Son of Shemidah, a descendant of Manasseh. 1 Chronicles 7:19 : cf. Joshua 17:2 .
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Morrish, George. Entry for 'Shechem'. Morrish Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/mbd/s/shechem.html. 1897.
