Shechem
City · Shechem → Nablus, West Bank
Abraham built his first altar in the land here. Later Joshua gathered Israel to renew the covenant.
People
- Abraham
- Jacob
- Joseph
- Joshua
- Abimelech
- Rehoboam
- Jeroboam
At a glance
- Realm
- Canaan, then Israel (Ephraim)
- Role
- Covenant city between Ebal and Gerizim
- Peoples
- Hivite Canaanites, then Israel
- First mention
- Genesis 12 (place of Shechem)
The story
Shechem lay in the green pass between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, where Abraham built his first altar in Canaan when the LORD promised him the land. Here Jacob bought a field and dug a well, and here at last the bones of Joseph were brought up out of Egypt and buried.
Joshua gathered all Israel at Shechem to renew the covenant and set a great stone under the oak as a witness. In later days Abimelech was made king here and turned on the men of the city, and here the kingdom tore in two when Rehoboam scorned the people and Jeroboam took the north.