JACOB JOURNEYS TO SHALEM
Instead of traveling south to Mount Seir, Jacob went northwest.
At length he arrived at Shechem and settled there, erecting an altar which he (perhaps presumptuously) called El Elohe Israel (God, the God of Israel).
Twenty years earlier, when God had appeared to him at Bethel, Jacob had vowed that the Lord would be his God, that he would give a tenth of his wealth to the Lord, and that he would establish Bethel as God’s house (28:20-22).
Now, instead of returning to Bethel, he settles thirty miles away in the fertile area of Shechem, probably for the sake of his livestock. (Shechem represents the world.)
God does not speak directly to him until several years later, when He calls on Jacob to fulfill his vow (chap. 35).
In the meantime, the tragic events of chapter 34 take place.
Genesis 33:17-20 KJV
[17] And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
[18] And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan–aram; and pitched his tent before the city.
[19] And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money.
[20] And he erected there an altar, and called it El–elohe–Israel.
Genesis 33:17 KJV
And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
Genesis 33:18 KJV
And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan–aram; and pitched his tent before the city.
Genesis 33:19 KJV
And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money.
Genesis 33:20 KJV
And he erected there an altar, and called it El–elohe–Israel.
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