Bible Strands
Genesis 33:18
After Jacob had come from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped just outside the city.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Jacob’s arrival at Shechem in Canaan after departing Paddan-aram, noting his safe encampment just outside the city walls. This occurs immediately after his departure from Succoth and his reconciliation with Esau.
The words — שָׁלֵם (sha.Lem) translates literally to "safe" or "complete," marking the conclusion of his journey, while שְׁכֶם (she.Khem) identifies the specific Canaanite city where he pitches camp.
The thread — Shechem reappears as a focal point for covenant assemblies (Joshua 24:1), tribal conflict (Judges 9:1), and ancestral burial (Acts 7:16). The location tracks the movement of Israel through promise, division, and remembrance.
Why it lands — The text states a factual transition from travel to settlement, requiring the reader to note the geographical anchor before the subsequent purchase of land. It frames the narrative progression without commentary, leaving the theological weight to the surrounding events.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Joshua 24:1 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.
- Judges 9:1 Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother,
- Acts 7:16 Their bones were carried back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver.
- Genesis 25:20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
- John 4:5 So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
- Genesis 28:2 “Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.
- Genesis 28:6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife there, commanding him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,”
- Genesis 35:9 After Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.
- Genesis 46:15 These are the sons of Leah born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, in addition to his daughter Dinah. The total number of sons and daughters was thirty-three.
- John 3:23 Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because the water was plentiful there, and people kept coming to be baptized.