Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
feet higher still. The sit of the present city, which was also that of the Hebrew city, occurs exactly
on the water-summit; and streams issuing from the numerous springs there flow down the opposite
slopes of the valley, spreading verdure and fertility in every direction. Travellers vie with each
other in the language which they employ to describe the scene that here bursts so suddenly upon
them on arriving in spring or early summer at this paradise of the holy land. “The whole valley,”
says Dr. Robinson, “was filled with gardens of vegetables and orchards of all kinds of fruits,
watered by fountains which burst forth in various parts and flow westward in refreshing streams.
it came upon us suddenly like a scene of fairy enchantment. We saw nothing to compare with it
in all Palestine.” The allusions to Shechem in the Bible are numerous, and show how important
the place was in Jewish history. Abraham, on his first migration to the land of promise, pitched
his tent and built an altar under the oak (or terebinth) of Moreh at Shechem. “The Canaanite was
then in the land;” and it is evident that the region, if not the city, was already in possession of the
aboriginal race. See (Genesis 12:6) At the time of Jacob’s arrival here, after his sojourn in
Mesopotamia, (Genesis 33:18; 34) Shechem was a Hivite city, of which Hamor, the father of
Shechem, was the headman. it was at this time that the patriarch purchased from that chieftain
“the parcel of the field” which he subsequently bequeathed, as a special patrimony, to his son
Joseph. (Genesis 33:19; Joshua 24:32; John 4:5) The field lay undoubtedly on the rich plain of
the Mukhna, and its value was the greater on account of the well which Jacob had dug there, so
as not to be dependent on his neighbors for a supply of water. In the distribution of the land after
its conquest by the Hebrews, Shechem fell to the lot of Ephraim, (Joshua 20:7) but was assigned
to the Levites, and became a city of refuge. (Joshua 21:20,21) It acquired new importance as the
scene of the renewed promulgation of the law, when its blessings were heard from Gerizim and
its curses from Ebal, and the people bowed their heads and acknowledged Jehovah as their king
and ruler. (27:11; Joshua 24:23-25) it was here Joshua assembled the people, shortly before his
death, and delivered to them his last counsels. (Joshua 24:1,25) After the death of Gideon,
Abimelech, his bastard son, induced the Shechemites to revolt from the Hebrew commonwealth
and elect him as king. (Judges 9:1) ... In revenge for his expulsion after a reign of three years,
Abimelech destroyed the city, and as an emblem of the fate to which he would consign it, sowed
the ground with salt. (Judges 9:34-45) It was soon restored, however, for we are told in (1 Kings
12:1) ... that all Israel assembled at Shechem, and Rehoboam, Solomon’s successor, went thither
to be inaugurated as king. here, at this same place, the ten tribes renounced the house of David,
and transferred their allegiance to Jeroboam, (1 Kings 12:16) under whom Shechem became for
a time the capital of his kingdom. From the time of the origin of the Samaritans, the history of
Shechem blends itself with that of this people and of their sacred mount, Gerizim. [Samaria]
Shechem reappears in the New Testament. It is the Sychar of (John 4:5) near which the Saviour
conversed with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. The population of Nablus consists of about
5000, among whom are 500 Greek Christians, 150 Samaritans, and a few Jews. The enmity between
the Samaritans and jews is as inveterate still as it was in the days of Christ. The Mohammedans,
of course, make up the bulk of the population. The well of Jacob and the tomb of Joseph are still
shown in the neighborhood of the town. The well of Jacob lies about a mile and a half east of the
city, close to the lower road, and just beyond the wretched hamlet of Balata . The Christians
sometimes call it Bir es-Samariyeh— “the well of the Samaritan woman.” The well is deep—75
feet when last measured—and there was probably a considerable accumulation of rubbish at the
bottom. Sometimes it contains a few feet of water, but at others it is quite dry. It is entirely excavated
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William Smith