What is the importance of Shechem in the Bible?

Answer

Shechem was an ancient biblical city in Israel. Today, the area of Shechem is known as Tell Balata, an archaeological site near Nablus in the West Bank. The town was located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim in central Israel, just southeast of Samaria. The name Shechem means “shoulder” in Hebrew, which is appropriate considering its location as a pass between two mountains.

Shechem was a place of promise. First mentioned in Genesis 12:6–7, Shechem was the location where Abram stopped at the tree of Moreh and received God’s promise of the land. Shechem became part of the Promised Land of Israel, was given to the Kohathites, and served as a Levitical city of refuge (Joshua 21:20-21). Shechem was the place where Joseph’s remains were buried «And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. », (Joshua 24:32). During the time of the divided kingdom of Israel, Shechem was the capital of the northern kingdom for a while «And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. », (1 Kings 12:1).

Shechem was a place of commitment. In the area of Shechem, the Israelites were reminded of God’s covenantal relationship with them, which He had first made to Abraham. Before they entered Canaan, the Israelites had been instructed to pronounce the blessings and the curses of the law on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, respectively (Deuteronomy 11:2).

6-30″>(Deuteronomy 11:26-30). They did this under Joshua’s leadership after the battle of Ai “And all Israel, their elders, officers, judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well as the stranger, and the one born among them; half of them against Mount Gerizim, and half against Mount Ebal; as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded before, to bless the people of Israel.”, (Joshua 8:33). Later, a renewal of the covenant also occurred at Shechem when Joshua gathered the Israelites to challenge them to follow the Lord (Joshua 24:1,14-15).

Shechem was a place of worship. When the Lord appeared to Abram at Shechem, he built an altar to God at the site “And the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your seed, I will give this land,’ and there he built an altar to the LORD, who appeared to him.”, (Genesis 12:7). Abram’s grandson, Jacob, also built an altar at Shechem, naming it “El Elohe Israel,” or “mighty God of Israel” (Genesis 33:18-20). Even in Joshua’s time, the altar at Shechem was a holy site of the Lord “And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, which was by the sanctuary of the LORD.”, (Joshua 24:26).

Shechem was a place of man’s sin. A Hivite chieftain named Hamor was the father of a man named Shechem, who lived in the city that bore his name. Shechem raped Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, and two of Jacob’s sons avenged their sister by slSlaughtering all the men in the city, including Shechem and Hamor (Genesis 34:1-29).

In the time of the judges, the Shechemites sided with Abimelek, a son of one of Gideon’s concubines (Judges 9:1-6). Abimelek positioned himself as king among the Shechemites, killing all but one of Gideon’s other sons. Jotham, the surviving son, pronounced a curse on Abimelek and the Shechemites, and after three years the city of Shechem turned against the would-be king (Judges 9:16-20). In response to Shechem’s rejection, Abimelek attacked the city and killed a thousand men and women (Judges 9:48-49;57).

Shechem is only mentioned in the New Testament in Stephen’s sermon «and were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem. », (Acts 7:16). Some scholars identify Sychar in Samaria as the ancient city of Shechem (John 4:5-6), but most believe that Sychar was a distinct place.

Shechem is important in the Bible because the city displayed man’s sinfulness and failure to properly honor God, while at the same time revealing God’s faithfulness.