Person Old Testament
Shechem
Shechem, founder of a Hivite city where Jacob's daughter Dinah was raped. Mentioned in 11 verses across 1 book, first at Genesis 33:19.
Why it matters. Founded the city where Dinah was raped
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Shechem
Shechem was the founder of a city of the same name located in Canaan, inhabited by the Hivites. Israel (or 'Jacob') camped near Shechem upon returning to Canaan and bought a piece of land there (Gen.33.19).
In Genesis 34, Shechem is the setting of a tragic incident. Shechem, the son of the city's ruler Hamor, raped Jacob's daughter Dinah. Shechem wanted to marry Dinah, so Hamor proposed intermarriage between their people and Jacob's family. Jacob's sons deceitfully agreed on the condition that the men of Shechem be circumcised. While the men were recovering, Simeon and Levi attacked the city, killing all the males and plundering it. Jacob rebuked them for this, fearing retaliation from the Canaanites.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Parents
- Hamor
Appears in Scripture
Named in 11 verses across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.