Shechem

One of the first towns in Canaan to be visited by Abram (Abraham) (Gen 12:6) and, therefore, to be associated with the Hebrew people. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim in the territory that was later allocated to the tribe of Ephraim, about 65km north of Jerusalem. In such a position it is not difficult to see why the town came to be so named; shechem means 'shoulder.'

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There is no mention of Shechem being conquered by Joshua; most commentators suggest the city surrendered peacefully, permitting all the tribes of Israel to gather there for their great covenant affirmation ceremony (Jos 24) as instructed by Moses when, for the last time, he taught and renewed the covenant with them on the plains of Moab just before the conquest (Deut 11). It also became one of the "cities of refuge" (Jos 21:7). The city seemed to have gone into decline soon after the kingdom split into two in the time of Rehoboam, son of Solomon. It is mentioned in the NT only once, in a historical recall in Stephen's speech (Acts 7:16).

Shechem was associated with many significant events in the OT, among which we may list the following (apart from those mentioned above):

1. Yahweh appeared to Abraham for the first time in the land of Canaan here (Gen 12:7). Here too it was revealed to him for the first time the specific land that Yahweh would give to his descendants and where he built his first altar to Yahweh in the land of Canaan.

2. On a friendly visit to the town, Shechem the son of the chieftain fell head over heel in love with Jacob's daughter Dinah and violated her. When Shechem then asked for her hand in marriage, Jacob agreed only on condition the Shechemite males circumcised themselves. During the time of their recovery, however, Simeon and Levi massacred all of them, and looted the town. For their faithless deed Jacob "scattered them" among his brothers (Gen 49:5); the tribe of Simeon would eventually be assimilated into Judah, and while the tribe of Levi, made ministers of the sanctuary were left without territorial inheritance.

3. Sometime after Israel's conquest of the land, Joseph's bones which they had brought up with them from Egypt were reinterned at Shechem (Jos 24:32); a memorial still marks the tomb today.

4. In his lifetime Gideon had rejected the plea by the people to "rule over them" (Judg 8:22). After his death, one of his sons, Abimelech decided he would have the throne for himself. He murdered all his siblings (though one escaped) and established a dictatorship over Israel, making Shechem—his mother's hometown—his center. His blood-stained reign did not last long; he died trying to put down a rebellion, committing suicide after his head was injured by a mill stone thrown down from the city under siege (Judg 9:22).

5. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, came to Shechem to be crowned king of the kingdom but left with only half of it to rule. When he responded poorly to the people's request to lighten their burden, the people under the leadership of Jeroboam ben Nebat rebelled, splitting the kingdom into two, the northern kingdom of Israel to be ruled by Jeroboam, and the southern kingdom of Judah left to Rehoboam (2 Ki 12).

Further Reading & Resources:

☰ Eugene D. Stockton, "Fortress temple of Shechem and Joshua's covenant," Australian Journal of Biblical Archaeology 1.1 (1968): 24-28.