Shalem

SHALEM sha'-lem (shalem; eis Salem):

The word as a place-name occurs only in Genesis 33:18. With Luther, following Septuagint, Peshitta and Vulgate, the King James Version reads "And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem." the Revised Version (British and American) with the Targums Onqelos and pseudo-Jonathan, the Samaritan codex and the Arabic, reads "came in peace to the city of Shechem." There is a heavy balance of opinion among scholars in favor of the latter reading. It is certainly a remarkable fact, supporting the King James Version, that about 4 miles East of Shechem (Nablus), there is a village bearing the name Salem. If the King James Version is right, this must represent the city referred to; and East of Salem would transpire the events recorded in Genesis 44. Against this is the old tradition locating Jacob's well and Joseph's tomb near to Shechem. Eusebius (in Onomasticon) gets over the difficulty by identifying Shalem with Shechem.

W. Ewing

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'SHALEM'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.