SHECHEN (she'kem), (Heb. sheh' kem, a shoulder or ridge).
1. A town of central Palestine, in Samaria, among the moutains of Ephraim (Josh. xx :7; Kings xii :25), in the narrow valley between the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim (comp. Judg. ix: 7; Joseph. Antiq. iv. 8, 44), and consequently within the tribe of Ephraim (Josh. xxi :21). It is in N. lat. 32° 17', E. long. 20', being thirty-four miles north of Jerusalem and seven miles south of Samaria.
(1) Early Origin. It was a very ancient place, and appears to have arisen as a town in the inter val between the arrival of Abraham in Palestine and the return of Jacob from Padan-aram, tor it is mentioned only as a place, described by refer ence to the oaks in the neighborhood, when Abra ham came there on first entering the land of Canaan (Gen. xii :6). But, in the history of Jacob it repeatedly occurs as a town having walls and gates: it could not, however, have been very large or important if. we may judge from the conse quence which the inhabitants attached to an alli ance with Jacob, and from the facility with which the sons of the Patriarch were able to surprise and destroy them (Gen. xxxiii:i8, 19; xxxiv :1, 2, 20, 24, 26).
(2) Importance. After the conquest of the country, Shcchem was made a city of refuge ( Josh. xx :7), and one of the Levitical towns ( Josh. xxi :21), and during the lifetime of Joshua it was a center of union to the tribes (Josh. xxiv : 25), probably because it was the nearest con siderable town to the residence of that chief in Timnath-serah. In the time of the judges, Sly. chem became the capital of the kingdom set up by Abimelech (Judg. ix sq.), but was at length conquered and destroyed by him (Judg. ix :34). It must, however, have been ere long rebuilt, for it had again become of so much importance by the time of Rehoboam's accession that he there gave the meeting to the delegates of the tribes, which ended in the separation of the kingdom (i Kings xii :25). It was Shechem which the first monarch of the new kingdom made the capital of his domin ions (i Kings xii :25; comp. xiv :17), although later in his reign the pleasantness of Tirzah in duced him to build a palace there, and to make it the summer residence of his court ; which gave it such importance, that it at length came to be regarded as the capital of the kingdom, till Sa maria eventually deprived it of that honor ( Kings xiv :7; xvi :24; see !slum.). Shechem, how ever, still throve.
(3) Seat of Worship. It subsisted during the Exile (Jer. xli :5), and continued for many ages after the chief seat of the Samaritans and of their worship, their sole temple being upon the moun tain (Gerezim) at whose foot the city stood (Jo seph. /ait]. xi. 8, 6; comp. John iv :20 ; and see also the articles EBAL and GERM ; SAMARITANS).
The city was taken, and the temple destroyed, by John Hyreanus, B. C. 129 (Joseph. Antiq xiii. g,
; De Bell Ind. i. 2, 6). In the New Testament it occurs under the name of Sychar ( John iv :5), which seems to have been a sort of nick-name (perhaps from slicker, 'falsehood', spoken of idols in Hab. :18; or from shikkor, 'drunkard,' in al lusion to Is. xxviii :1, 7),—suc11 as the Jews were fond of imposing upon places they disliked; and nothing could exceed the enmity which existed between them and the Samaritans, who possessed Shechem. Stephen, however, in his historical retrospect, still uses the proper and ancient name (Acts vii :16). Not long after the times of the New Testament the place received the name of Neapolis, which it still retains in the Arabic form of Nabulus, being one of the very few names im posed by the Romans in Palestine which have survived to the present day. It had probably suf fered much, if it was not completely destroyed, in the war with the Romans, and would seem to have been restored or rebuilt by Vespasian, and then to have taken this new name.
(4) Present Condition. There is no reason to question that the present town occupies the site of the ancient Shechem, although its dimensions are probably more contracted. The fertility and beauty of the deep and narrow valley in which the town stands, especially in its immediate neigh borhood, have been much admired by travelers, as far exceeding what they had seen in any other part of Palestine. The town itself is long and narrow, extending along the northeast base of Mount Gerizim, and partly resting upon its de clivity.
Modern Shechem, called Nablus (or Nabulus), has an estimated population of from ten to twenty thousand, among whom are about one thousand Christians and two hundred Samaritans. In the Samaritan synagogue are several valuable manu scripts, the most important of which is the codex of the Pentateuch known as the Samaritan Codex.
2. Son of Hamor, prince of the country or district of Shechem, in which Jacob formed his camp on his return from Mesopotamia. This young man having seen Jacob's daughter Dinah, was smitten with her beauty, and deflowered her. This wrong was terribly and cruelly avenged by the damsel's uterine brothers, Simeon and Levi, as described in the article DINAR (Gen xxxiv), B. C. 1906. It seems likely that the town of Shechem, even if of recent origin, must have existed before the birth of a man so young as Hamor's son appears to have been; and we may therefore suppose it a name preserved in the family, and which both the town and the princes inherited. Shechem's name is always connected with that of his father Hamor (Gen. xxxiii :19; xxxiv ; Acts vii :16).
3. Son of Gilead, of the tribe of Manasseh, and founder of the Shechemites (Num. xxvi:31), B. C. after 1856.
4. A Gileadite, son of Shemidah Chron vii :19), B. C. after 1856.