What the Bible Says About the Meaning of Shechem

Scripture

⁶ Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 12:6-7

Genesis 33:18-20: ¹⁸ And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city.
¹⁹ And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent.
²⁰ There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Genesis 34:1-31: Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land.
² And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her.
³ His soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.
⁴ So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”
⁵ Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came.
⁶ And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.
⁷ The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing must not be done.
⁸ But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife.
⁹ Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.
¹⁰ You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.”
¹¹ Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give.
¹² Ask me for as great a bride price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.
¹³ The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah.
¹⁴ They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.
¹⁵ Only on this condition will we agree with you—that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised.
¹⁶ Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people.
¹⁷ But if you will not listen, behold, I am afraid of you, and the Lord has made you go away from me.
¹⁸ Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem.
¹⁹ The young man did not delay to do this, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter.
²⁰ So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying:
²¹ These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters.
²² Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.
²³ Will not their livestock, their property and all their animals be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.”
²⁴ All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
²⁵ On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males.
²⁶ They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and went away.
²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.
²⁸ They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field.
²⁹ All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.
³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.”
³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Genesis 35:1-4: ¹ God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”
² So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.
³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”
⁴ So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

Joshua 24:1-28: ¹ Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God.
² And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.
³ Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many.
⁴ And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
⁵ And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out.
⁶ And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.
⁷ And they cried to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time.
⁸ Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.
⁹ Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel.
¹⁰ And I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.
¹¹ And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
¹² And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.
¹³ I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’”
¹⁴ “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.”
¹⁵ And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
¹⁶ Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods,
¹⁷ for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed.
¹⁸ And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
¹⁹ But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.
²⁰ If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”
²¹ And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.”
²² Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”
²³ He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.”
²⁵ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem.
²⁶ And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God.
²⁷ And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.”
²⁸ So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

Judges 9:1-57: ¹ Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother’s family,
² “Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.”
³ And his mother’s relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.”
⁴ And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him.
⁵ And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.
⁶ And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.
⁷ Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and lifted his voice and cried out.
⁸ The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’
⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’
¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’
¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’
¹² And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’
¹³ “But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’”
¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’
¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you have acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him as his deeds deserved—”
¹⁷ for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian,
¹⁸ And you have risen up against my father’s house this day and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he is your relative—
¹⁹ if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.
²⁰ But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.”
²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.
²² Abimelech ruled over Israel three years.
²³ God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
²⁴ that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.
²⁵ And the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way. And it was told to Abimelech.
²⁶ And Gaal the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives, and the leaders of Shechem put confidence in him.
²⁷ And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them and held a festival; and they went into the house of their god and ate and drank and reviled Abimelech.
²⁸ And Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is Zebul not his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him?
²⁹ If you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.
³⁰ When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.
³¹ And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you.
³² Now therefore, go by night, you and the people who are with you, and set an ambush in the field.
³³ In the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. And when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them as your hand finds to do.”
³⁴ And Abimelech and all the men who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies.
³⁵ And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush.
³⁶ And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the mountaintops!” And Zebul said to him, “You mistake the shadow of the mountains for men.”
³⁷ And Gaal spoke again and said, “Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners’ Oak.”
³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them.”
³⁹ And Gaal went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.
⁴⁰ But Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him. And many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate.
⁴¹ And Abimelech lived at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives, so that they could not dwell at Shechem.
⁴² And the next day the people went out into the field, and Abimelech was told.
⁴³ And he took his people and divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. And he looked and saw the people coming out of the city. So he rose against them and killed them.
⁴⁴ Abimelech and the company who was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and killed them.
⁴⁵ And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed the people who were in it, and he razed the city and sowed it with salt.
⁴⁶ When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of El-berith.
⁴⁷ And when Abimelech and all the men who were with him had gone up to Mount Zalmon, he took an axe in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood, and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done.”
⁴⁸ And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood, and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done.”
⁴⁹ Then all the people likewise cut down each one his bough and followed Abimelech and put them at the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about 1,000 men and women.
⁵⁰ Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and captured it.
⁵¹ There was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in, and they went up to the roof of the tower.
⁵² And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
⁵³ “But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.”
⁵⁴ Then he called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
⁵⁵ And all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.
⁵⁶ Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers.
⁵⁷ And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

1 Kings 12:1-19: ¹² Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
² And when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt.
³ Then they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam,
⁴ “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.”
⁵ He said to them, “Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away.
⁶ Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”
⁷ And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.”
⁸ But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.
⁹ He said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?”
¹⁰ And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs.
¹¹ And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.
¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.”
¹³ And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him,
¹⁴ and he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”
¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
¹⁶ So when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents.
¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah.
¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. So King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

1 Chronicles 6:67-70: ⁶⁷ They were given by lot to the sons of Aaron, of the Kohathite clans of the Levites, who were descendants of Aaron, for the first lot.
⁶⁸ But their dwelling place and their pasturelands were Bethel and its towns, and to the east Naaran, and to the west Gezer and its towns, Shechem and its towns, and Ayyah and its towns.
⁶⁹ Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands,
⁷⁰ and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its pasturelands, and Bileam with its pasturelands, for the rest of the clans of the Kohathites.

1 Chronicles 7:28-29: ²⁸ Their possessions and settlements were Bethel and its towns, and to the east Naaran, and to the west Gezer and its towns, Shechem and its towns, and Ayyah and its towns;
²⁹ Alongside their kinsmen of the house of their fathers, they also lived in Jerusalem, for the Levites had no portion or inheritance with them.

1 Chronicles 11:1-3: ¹ Then all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh.
² In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’”
³ Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.

2 Chronicles 10:1-19: ² Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
² Chronicles 10:2
And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt.
³ So they sent and summoned him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam,
⁴ Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.”
⁵ He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away.
⁶ Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”
⁷ And they said to him, “If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”
⁸ But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.
⁹ He said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?”
¹⁰ And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’—thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs.
¹¹ My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.
¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.”
¹³ And the king answered them harshly; and King Rehoboam forsake the counsel of the old men,
¹⁴ he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”
¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
¹⁶ And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents.
¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah.
¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Jeremiah 41:1-5: ¹ In the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah,
² Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor over the land.
³ Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with him, that is, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.
⁴ On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew about it,
⁵ There came eighty men from Shechem and Shiloh and Samaria, with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord.