Shoulder. The son of Hamor the Hivite (Genesis 33:19 ; 34 ). A descendant of Manasseh (Numbers 26:31 ; Joshua 17:2 ). A city in Samaria (Genesis 33:18 ), called also Sichem (12:6), Sychem (Acts 7:16 ). It stood in the narrow sheltered valley between Ebal on the north and Gerizim on the south, these mountains at their base being only some 500 yards apart. Here Abraham pitched his tent and built his first altar in the Promised Land, and received the first divine promise (Genesis 12:6,7 ). Here also Jacob "bought a parcel of a field at the hands of the children of Hamor" after his return from Mesopotamia, and settled with his household, which he purged from idolatry by burying the teraphim of his followers under an oak tree, which was afterwards called "the oak of the sorcerer" (Genesis 33:19 ; 35:4 ; Judges 9:37 ). (See MEONENIM .) Here too, after a while, he dug a well, which bears his name to this day ( John 4:5,39-42 ). To Shechem Joshua gathered all Israel "before God," and delivered to them his second parting address (Joshua 24:1-15 ). He "made a covenant with the people that day" at the very place where, on first entering the land, they had responded to the law from Ebal and Gerizim (Joshua 24:25 ), the terms of which were recorded "in the book of the law of God", i.e., in the roll of the law of Moses; and in memory of this solemn transaction a great stone was set up "under an oak" (Compare Genesis 28:18 ; 31:44-48 ; Exodus 24:4 ; Joshua 4:3,8,9 ), possibly the old "oak of Moreh," as a silent witness of the transaction to all coming time. Shechem became one of the cities of refuge, the central city of refuge for Western Palestine (Joshua 20:7 ), and here the bones of Joseph were buried (24:32). Rehoboam was appointed king in Shechem (1 Kings 12:1,19 ), but Jeroboam afterwards took up his residence here. This city is mentioned in connection with our Lord's conversation with the woman of Samaria (John 4:5 ); and thus, remaining as it does to the present day, it is one of the oldest cities of the world. It is the modern Nablus, a contraction for Neapolis, the name given to it by Vespasian. It lies about a mile and a half up the valley on its southern slope, and on the north of Gerizim, which rises about 1,100 feet above it, and is about 34 miles north of Jerusalem. It contains about 10,000 inhabitants, of whom about 160 are Samaritans and 100 Jews, the rest being Christians and Mohammedans. The site of Shechem is said to be of unrivalled beauty. Stanley says it is "the most beautiful, perhaps the only very beautiful, spot in Central Palestine." Gaza, near Shechem, only mentioned 1 Chronicles 7:28 , has entirely disappeared. It was destroyed at the time of the Conquest, and its place was taken by Shechem. (See SYCHAR .)

The ancient town of Shechem lay between Mt Gerizim and Mt Ebal in central Canaan (Deuteronomy 27:12-13; Judges 9:7). It was the first recorded camping place of Abraham when he came to Canaan from Haran (Genesis 12:4-6). (For maps of the region see PALESTINE.) Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, upon returning to Canaan from Paddan-aram, bought land in Shechem and settled there with his family and flocks (Genesis 33:18-19). When a conflict arose with some of the local inhabitants, Jacob’s sons massacred the men of Shechem and plundered the town (Genesis 34). Jacob and his family then moved elsewhere, though at times they still pastured their flocks near Shechem (Genesis 35:1-4; Genesis 37:12). Joseph’s bones were later buried at Shechem in a field that Jacob had given to Joseph (Genesis 48:22; Joshua 24:32; John 4:5-6). After the conquest of Canaan, the people of Israel gathered at Shechem to confirm the covenant. The blessings of the covenant were announced from Mt Gerizim on one side of the town, and the curses from Mt Ebal on the other. Just before Joshua’s death, the leaders of Israel gathered at Shechem once more and declared their loyalty to the covenant (Deuteronomy 27:1-14; Joshua 8:30-35; Joshua 24:1-28). In the division of Canaan among the Israelites, Shechem fell within the tribal allotment of Ephraim, but was set apart for the Levites. It was one of the three cities of refuge west of Jordan (Joshua 20:2; Joshua 20:7; Joshua 21:20-21; see CITY OF REFUGE). In the time of the judges, Abimelech tried to establish a kingdom in Shechem but his success was shortlived (Judges 9:1-6; Judges 9:16-57). In the time of the monarchy, after the death of Solomon, Rehoboam went to Shechem to be crowned king, no doubt hoping this would help him win the allegiance of the northern tribes. However, the northerners broke away and established their own kingdom, with its capital initially at Shechem (1 Kings 12:1; 1 Kings 12:25). Within a few years they shifted the capital to Tirzah, and later again to Samaria (1 Kings 15:33; 1 Kings 16:8; 1 Kings 16:24; 1 Kings 16:29). Although Shechem lost its importance, it continued to exist, even after the Assyrians had destroyed the northern kingdom and taken most of the people into captivity (Jeremiah 41:5). When Assyria brought people from elsewhere to live in the deserted northern kingdom, these immigrants intermarried with the Israelites left in the land. In due course this produced a people of mixed blood and mixed religion who became known as the Samaritans. Shechem became the chief city of the Samaritans, and Mt Gerizim became to them a sacred mountain. There they built their temple, worshipped, and held religious festivals. The village of Sychar was nearby (John 4:5-6; John 4:20). (See SAMARIA, SAMARITANS.)

SHECHEM . 1 . Genesis 33:19 ; Genesis 34:2 ; Genesis 34:4 etc. See Jacob, Hamor. 2. A Manassite clan, Numbers 26:31 (35), (the Shechemites), Joshua 17:2 , 1 Chronicles 7:19 . 1 Chronicles 7:3 . See next article. SHECHEM . The place in which Jacob for a while established himself ( Genesis 33:18 , John 4:12 ). Here he is said to have dug the well coosecrated by Christ’s conversation with the Samaritan woman, and still shown to travellers, with a claim to authenticity which is lacking in the vast majority of the so-called ‘holy places.’ It was evidently a place of sanctity: there was a great oak (or terebinth) here no doubt a sacred tree where Jacob hid his teraphim ( Genesis 35:4 ), and under which Joshua gave his parting address to the elders ( Joshua 24:1-33 ). A great stone under the tree was traditionally connected with the latter event ( Joshua 24:26 ). This is no doubt the reason why Shechem was a Levitical city, and also a city of refuge ( Judges 9:1-570 ). The city, however, remained Canaanite after the conquest, serving the local god Baal-herith ( Judges 9:4 ): Gideon’s concubine, mother of Abimelech, was a Canaanitess from Shechem, and her relatives set up her son as a king, to his and their own destruction ( 1618455100_87 ). Here Rehoboam alienated the Northern Kingdom by his overhearing speech ( 1 Kings 12:1 ), and Jeroboam for a time was established here ( 1 Kings 12:25 ). It was not a place of importance before the Exile, though continuously inhabited down to and after that event ( Jeremiah 41:5 ). The development of the Samaritan nation led to its rise. It was known at this period to the natives by the name Mabortha (Jos. ^[1] BJ IV. viii. 1), but the name by which it was generally known, after its re-building by Titus Flavins Vespasianus, was Flavia Neapolis , or, more briefly, Neapolis a name which still persists in the modern Arabic form Nâblus , though usually Roman or Greek names imposed on Palestinian sites have disappeared, the older names persisting. In the Byzantine period there was a bishopric at Neapolis, of which we know little save that the Samaritans in a.d. 474 wounded the bishop, and were in consequence severely punished by the emperor Zeno. The city fell to the Crusaders in 1099, and several churches were there built by them one of which still survives in part as a mosque. In 1184 it was re-conquered by Saladin. The inhabitants have always been noted for turbulence and lawlessness. Towards the end of the 18th century it was a storm-centre of the inter-tribal wars of the fellahîn , the leader of the district being the notorious Kasim el-Ahmad. It is now a town of some 24,000 inhabitants, all Moslems except about 150 Samaritans and 700 Christians. They are concerned in extensive soap manufacture, and in trade in wool and cotton with Eastern Palestine. There are Protestant and Roman Catholic missions, and an important English hospital directed by the Church Missionary Society. In or near the town are shown ‘Jacob’s well,’ which, as already said, is not improbably authentic; and a shrine covering the traditional ‘tomb of Joseph,’ the genuineness of which is perhaps less unassailable. R. A. S. Macalister.

In St. Stephen’s address we read that Jacob and the fathers were carried over unto Shechem and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought of the sons of Hamor in Shechem (Acts 7:16). There is here a combining of two separate traditions. Jacob was buried at Machpelah (Genesis 50:13), which Abraham bought from the sons of Heth (23). Jacob himself bought ground from the children of Hamor, and in it Joseph was buried (Joshua 24:32). This ground was in Shechem. Here Jacob established his residence for some time, and his people entered into the closest relations with the natives. A well, said to have been dug by his orders, was in existence in Christ’s day, and here at Jacob’s well our Lord had His famous interview with the Samaritan woman (John 4). Shechem became famous as a Levite city, and a city of refuge, and still later as the capital of the ten tribes under Jeroboam. It became a city of the Samaritans. Its situation was between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, and it lay on the Roman road from Jerusalem to Galilee. Literature.-C. W. Wilson, article ‘Shechem,’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) ; G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land (G. A. Smith) , 1900, pp. 120, 332; R. J. Knowling, Expositor’s Greek Testament , ‘Acts,’ 1900, ad loc. J. W. Duncan.

1. The first city of Canaan visited by Abram, Genesis 12:6 , where it is called SICHEM.When Jacob returned to Palestine, Hamor the Hivite was its king. It was attacked and plundered by Simeon and Levi. The bones of Joseph were buried there. At the distribution of the land it fell to the lot of Ephraim, and became a Levitical city and a city of refuge. It was there that Joshua delivered his last address to the people. Under the Judges the city was taken by Abimelech, when about a thousand men and women took refuge in the tower, which was destroyed by fire. The tribes assembled there to crown Rehoboam, and, on the division of the kingdom, it became the headquarters of Jeroboam. Genesis 33:18 ; Genesis 37:12-14 ; Joshua 20:7 ; Joshua 21:21 ; Joshua 24:1,25,32 ; Judges 9:1-57 ; 1 Kings 12:1,25 ; 2 Chronicles 10:1 ; Psalm 60:6 ; Psalm 108:7 ; Jeremiah 41:5 . Shechem was called Neapolis by the Romans, of which its present name, Nablus, is supposed to be a corruption. It lies 32 13' N, 35 16' E . Its vicinity is luxurious in fruit and flowers. It is still partially inhabited by Samaritans, who have a synagogue there, and yearly keep the Passover. It is called SYCHEM in Acts 7:16 , where it says that Abraham bought a sepulchre there. This is thought to clash with Genesis 33:19 , which speaks of Jacob buying it. But nothing is said in the latter passage about a sepulchre: Jacob bought a piece of ground to spread his tent in. Bengel says of this alleged discrepancy in Stephen's address, that "the brevity which was best suited to the ardour of the Spirit gave Stephen just occasion, in the case of a fact so well known, to compress these details in the way he has done."* * For further details concerning Stephen's address see "Bible Handbook, New Testament," pages 144-6. 2. Son of Hamor the chief of the city of Shechem — from whom the city appears to have derived its name — killed with his father and household by Simeon and Levi because he had dishonoured their sister Dinah. Genesis 33:19 ; Genesis 34:2-26 ; Joshua 24:32 ; Judges 9:28 . 3. Descendant of Gilead, a grandson of Manasseh. Numbers 26:31 ; Joshua 17:2 . 4. Son of Shemidah, a descendant of Manasseh. 1 Chronicles 7:19 : cf. Joshua 17:2 .

Part; portion; back early in the morning

("shoulder", or "upper part of the back just below the neck"); explained as if the town were on the shoulder of the heights dividing the waters that flow toward the Mediterranean on the W. and to the Jordan on the E.; or on a shoulder or ridge connected with Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. Also called SICHEM, SYCHEM, and SYCHAR (John 4:5; Joshua 20:7; Judges 9:9; 1 Kings 12:25). Mount Gerizim is close by (Judges 9:7) on the southern side, Mount Ebal on the northern side. These hills at the base are but 500 yards apart. Vespasian named it Neapolis; coins are extant with its name "Flavia Νeapolis "; now Nablus by corruption. The situation is lovely; the valley runs W. with a soil of rich, black, vegetable mold, watered by fountains, sending forth numerous streams flowing W.; orchards of fruit, olive groves, gardens of vegetables, and verdure on all sides delight the eye. On the E. of Gerizim and Ebal the flue plain of Mukhna stretches from N. to S. Here first in Canaan God appeared to Abraham (Genesis 12:6), and here he pitched his tent and built an altar under the oak or terebinth (not "plain") of Moreh; here too Jacob re-entered the promised land (Genesis 33:18-19), and "bought a parcel of a field where he had spread his tent," from the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, and bequeathed it subsequently to Joseph (Genesis 48:22; Joshua 24:32; John 4:5); a dwelling place, whereas Abraham's only purchase was a burial place. It lay in the rich plain of the Mukhna, and its value was increased by the well Jacob dug there. Joshua made "Shechem in Mount Ephraim" one of the six cities of refuge (Joshua 20:7). The suburbs in our Lord's days reached nearer the entrance of the valley between Gerizim and Ebal than now; for the narrative in John 4:30; John 4:35, implies that the people could be seen as they came from the town toward Jesus at the well, whereas Nablus now is more than a mile distant, and cannot be seen from that point. Josephus (B. J. 3:7, section 32) says that more than 10,000 of the inhabitants were once destroyed by the Romans, implying a much larger town and population than at present. (See DINAH; HAMOR.) (See JACOB on the massacre by Simeon and Levi, Genesis 34.) Under Abraham's oak at Shechem Jacob buried the family idols and amulets (Genesis 35:1-4). Probably too "the strange gods" or "the gods of the stranger" were those carried away by Jacob's sons from Shechem among the spoils (Genesis 35:2; Genesis 34:26-29). The charge to "be clean and change garments" may have respect to the recent slaughter of the Shechemites, which polluted those who took part in it (Blunt, Undesigned Coincidences). Shechem was for a time Ephraim's civil capital. as Shiloh was its religious capital (Judges 9:2; Judges 21:19; Joshua 24:1-25-26; 1 Kings 12:1). At the same "memorial terebinth" at Shechem the Shechemites made Abimelech king (Judges 9:6). Jotham's parable as to the trees, the vine, the fig, and the bramble, were most appropriate to the scenery; contrast the shadow of the bramble which would rather scratch than shelter, with Isaiah 32:2. Abimelech destroyed Shechem and sowed it with salt (Judges 9:45). From Gerizim the blessings, and from Ebal the curses, were read (Joshua 8:33-35). At Shechem Joshua gave his farewell charge (Joshua 24:1-25). Joseph was buried there (Amos 4:1-4; Acts 7:16). At Shechem Rehoboam was made king by Israel (1 Kings 12:1); he desired to conciliate the haughty Ephraimites by being crowned there. Here, through his ill advised obstinacy, the Israelites revolted to Jeroboam, who made Shechem his capital. Mediaeval writers (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, Jan. 1878, p. 27-28) placed the Dan and Bethel of Jeroboam's calves on Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. The following reasons favor this view. (1) The ruins below the western peak of Gerizim are still called Lozeh or Luz, the old name of Bethel; a western spur of Ebal has a site Amad ed Din, (possibly Joshua's altar on Ebal), bearing traces of the name Dan, and the hill is called Ras el Κady ("judgment" answering to the meaning of Dan). (2) The Bethel of the calf was close to the palace of Jeroboam who lived in Shechem (Amos 7:13; 1 Kings 12:25). (3) The southern Bethel was in Benjamin (Joshua 18:22) and would hardly have been chosen as a religious center by Jeroboam who was anxious to draw away the people from Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:28). (4) The southern Bethel was taken from Jeroboam by Abijah king of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:19), whereas the calf of Bethel was not destroyed but remained standing long after (2 Kings 10:29). (5) The Bethel of the calf is mentioned in connection with Samaria (1 Kings 13:32; 2 Kings 23:19; Joshua 24:32; Amos 5:6), and the old prophet at Bethel was of Samaria according to Josephus (2 Kings 23:18). (6) The southern Bethel was the seat of a school of prophets, which is hardly consistent with its being the seat of the calf worship (2 Kings 2:2-3). The "men from Shechem" (Jeremiah 41:5) who had paganly "cut themselves," and were slain by Ishmael, were probably of the Babylonian colonists who combined Jehovah worship with their old idolatries. Shechem was the chief Samaritan city from the time of the setting up of the temple on Gerizim down to its destruction in 129 B.C., i.e. for about 200 years. Sychar is probably a corruption of Shechem; others make it a Jewish alteration, for contempt, from shecher "a lie." (See SYCHAR.) Jesus remained at Shechem two days and won many converts, the firstfruits, followed by a full harvest under Philip the evangelist (Acts 8; John 4:35-43). The population now is about 5,000, of whom 500 are Greek Christians, 150 Samaritans, and a few Jews. The main street runs from E. to W. The houses are of stone, the streets narrow and dark. Eighty springs are within or around Shechem. It is the center of trade between Jaffa and Beirut on one side, and the transjordanic region on the other. It has manufactures of coarse woolen fabrics, delicate silk, camel's hair cloth, and soap. Inscriptions from the Samaritan Pentateuch, of A.D. 529, which had been on the walls of a synagogue, have been found and read. The well of Jacob lies one mile and a half E. of Shechem beyond the hamlet Balata; beside a mound of ruins with fragments of granite columns on a low hill projecting from Gerizim's base in a N.E. direction, between the plain and the opening of the valley. Formerly a vaulted chamber, ten feet square, with a square hole opening into it, covered over the floor in which was the well's mouth. Now the vault has in part fallen and covered up the mouth; only a shallow pit remains, half filled with stones and rubbish. The well was 75 feet deep at its last measurement, but 105 at Maundrell's visit in 1697. It is now dry almost always, whereas he found 15 feet of water. Jacob dug it deep into the rocky ground, its position indicating it was dug by one who could not rely for water on the springs so near in the valley (Ain Balata and Defneh), the Canaanites being their owners. A church was built round it in the fourth century, but was destroyed before the crusades. Eusebius in the early part of the fourth century confirms the traditional site; John 4 accords with it. Jesus in His journey from Jerusalem to Galilee rested at it, while "His disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat"; so the well must have lain before, but at some little distance from, the city. Jesus intended on their return to proceed along the plain toward Galilee, without visiting the city Himself, which agrees with the traditional site. The so-called "tomb of Joseph," a quarter of a mile N. of the well in the open plain, in the center of the opening between Gerizim and Ebal, is more open to doubt. A small square of high walls surrounds a common tomb, placed diagonally to the walls; a rough pillar altar is at the head, and another at the foot. In the left corner is a vine whose branches "run over the wall" (Genesis 49:22). Maundrell's description applies better to another tomb named from Joseph at the N.E. foot of Gerizim. However the phrase in Genesis 33:19, "a parcel of a field," Joshua 24:32, favors the site near Jacob's well, bechelqat hasadeh , a smooth lever open cultivated land; in Palestine there is not to be found such a dead level, without the least hollow in a circuit of two hours.

1. Son of the Hivite. (See HAMOR; DINAH; JACOB.) (Genesis 33:19; Genesis 33:34). 2. Numbers 26:31; Joshua 17:2. 3. 1 Chronicles 7:19.

Shechem (shç'kem), shoulder. Genesis 36:4. A town in the valley between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim; called also Sichem, Sychem, Sychar. Neapolis, and now Nablus, were successively on or near the site of Shechem. It was 34 miles north of Jerusalem, about seven miles southeast of Samaria, and its site is unrivalled for beauty in Palestine. Two mountains parallel to each other, Ebal and Gerizim, almost meeting at their bases and only a mile and a half apart at their summits, enclose a beautiful little valley extending east and west, not more than a, hundred yards wide at the narrowest part, and widening out in both directions. The city is mentioned 48 times in the Bible. Its history begins 4000 years ago, before Jerusalem was founded, and extends through Scripture from Abraham to Christ. Jesus visited the region, preached to a woman at Jacob's well, and many from Sychar believed on him. John 4:5; John 4:39-42. whether Sychar occupied precisely the same site as ancient Shechem has been a question in dispute among scholars. Dr. Thomson describes the situation thus: "Nothing in Palestine surpasses (the vale) in fertility and natural beauty; and this is mainly due to the fine mill-stream which flows through it. The whole country is thickly studded with villages, the plains clothed with grass or grain, and the rounded hills with orchards of olive, fig, pomegranate, and other trees... Nablûs is a queer old place. The streets are narrow and vaulted over; and in the wintertime it is difficult to pass along many of them on account of brooks, which rush over the pavement with deafening roar. In this respect I know no city with which to compare it except Brusa; and, like that city, it has mulberry, orange, pomegranate, and other trees mingled in with the houses, whose odoriferous flowers load the air with delicious perfume during the months of April and May. Here the bilbûl delights to sit and sing, and thousands of other birds unite to swell the chorus. See Samaritans.

1. A Canaanite prince, at the town of the same name, who abducted Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and was soon afterwards treacherously slain, with many of his people, by Simeon and Levi, Genesis 34:1-31 . 2. A city of central Canaan, between the mountains Gerizim and Ebal, thirty-four miles north of Jerusalem; called also Sychar and Sychem, Acts 7:16 . It is first mentioned in the history of Abraham, who here erected his first altar in Canaan, and took possession of the country in the name of Jehovah, Genesis 12:6 33:18,19 35:4 . Jacob bought a field in its neighborhood, which by way of overplus, he gave to his son Joseph, who was buried here, Genesis 48:22 Joshua 24:32 . After the conquest of Canaan it became a Levitical city of refuge in Ephraim, and a gathering-place of the tribes, Joshua 20:7 21:21 24:1,25 Judges 9:1-57 . Here Rehoboam gave the ten tribes occasion to revolt, 1 Kings 12:1-33 . In its vicinity was Jacob's well or fountain, at which Christ discoursed with the woman of Samaria, John 4:5 . See also Acts 8:25 9:31 15:3 . After the ruin of Samaria by Shalmaneser, Shechem became the capital of the Samaritans; and Josephus says it was so in the time of Alexander the Great. St the present day it is also the seat of the small remnant of the Samaritans. See SAMARITANS . It was called by the Romans Neapolis, from which the Arabs have made Napolose, or Nabulus. The valley of Shechem extends several miles northwest between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, and is about five hundred yards wide; so that in the pure and elastic air of Palestine the two mountains are within hailing distance of each other, one circumstance among thousands evincing the exact truthfulness of Bible narratives, Deuteronomy 27:11-14 Judges 9:7 . The winter rains which fall in the eastern part of the valley find their way to the Jordan, while in the western part are numerous springs, forming a pretty brook which flows towards the Mediterranean. "Here," says Dr. Robinson, "a scene of luxuriant and almost unparalleled verdure burst upon our view. The whole valley was filled with gardens of vegetables and orchards of all kinds of fruits, watered by several 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 Palestine." The modern town has several long and narrow streets, partly on the base of Mount Gerizim. It does not appear to extend so far to the east as the ancient city did. The houses are high and well built of stone, and covered with small domes. Nabulus is thought to contain eight thousand inhabitants, all Mohammedans except five hundred Greek Christians, one hundred and fifty Samaritans, and as many Jews. The rocky base of Mount Ebal on the north of the valley is full of ancient excavated tombs. On Mount Gerizim is the holy place of the Samaritans, and the ruins of a strong fortress erected by Justinian. At the foot of these mountains on the east lies the beautiful plain of Mukhna, ten miles long and a mile and a half wide; and where the valley opens on this plain, Joseph's tomb and Jacob's well are located, by the unanimous consent of Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans. The former spot is now covered by a Mohammedan Wely, or sacred tomb; and the latter by an arched stone chamber, entered by a narrow hole in the roof, and the mouth of the well within is covered by a large stone. The well itself is one hundred and five feet deep, and is now sometimes dry. It bears every mark of high antiquity. The following extract is from Dr. Clarke's description of this place: "There is nothing in the Holy Land finer than a view of Napolose from the heights around it. As the traveller descends towards it from the hills, it appears luxuriantly embosomed in the most delightful and fragrant bowers, half concealed by rich gardens, and by stately trees collected into groves, all around the bold and beautiful valley in which it stands. Trade seems to flourish among its inhabitants. Their principal employment is in making soap; but the manufactures of the town supply a very widely extended neighborhood, and are exported to a great distance upon camels. In the morning after our arrival, we met caravans coming from Grand Cairo, and noticed others reposing in the large olive plantations near the gates." "The sacred story of events transacted in the fields of Sychem, from our earliest years is remembered with delight; but with the territory before our eyes where those events took place, and in the view of objects existing as they were described above three thousand years ago, the grateful impression kindles into ecstasy. Along the valley we beheld a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,' Genesis 37:25 , as in the days of Reuben and Judah, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh,' who would gladly have purchased another Joseph of his brethren, and conveyed him as a slave to some Potiphar in Egypt. Upon the hills around, flocks and herds were feeding, as of old; nor in the simple garb of the shepherds of Samaria was there any thing repugnant to the notions we may entertain of the appearance presented by the sons of Jacob. It was indeed a scene to abstract and to elevate the mind; and under emotions so called forth by every circumstance of powerful coincidence, a single moment seemed to concentrate whole ages of existence." "The principal object of veneration is Jacob's well, over which a church was formerly erected. This is situated at a small distance from the town, in the road to Jerusalem, and has been visited by pilgrims of all ages, but particularly since the Christian era, as the place where our Savior revealed himself to the woman of Samaria." "The spot is so distinctly marked by the evangelist, and so little liable to uncertainty, from the circumstance of the well itself and the features of the country, that, if no tradition existed for its identity, the site of it could hardly be mistaken. Perhaps no Christian scholar ever attentively read John 4:1-54 , without being struck with the numerous intervals evidences of truth which crowd upon the mind in its perusal. Within so small a compass it is impossible to find in other writings so many sources of reflection and of interest. Independently of its importance as a theological document, it concentrates so much information, that a volume might be filled with illustration it reflects on the history of the Jews and on the geography of their country. All that can be gathered on these subjects from Josephus seems but as a comment to illustrate this chapter. The journey of our Lord from Judea into Galilee; the cause of it; his passage through the territory of Samaria; his approach to the metropolis of this country; its name; his arrival at the Amorite field which terminates the narrow valley of Sychem; the ancient custom of halting at a well; the female employment of drawing water; the disciples sent into the city for food, by which its situation out of the town is obviously implied; the question of the woman referring to existing prejudices which separated the Jews from the Samaritans; the depth of the well; the oriental allusion contained in the expression, living water;' the history of the well, and the customs thereby illustrated; the worship upon Mount Gerizim; all these occur within the space of twenty verses."