Shalem
Shalem [1]
shā´lem ( שׁלם , shālēm ; εἰς Σαλήμ , eis Salḗm ): 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 ( Nāblus ), there is a village bearing the name Sālem . If the King James Version is right, this must represent the city referred to; and East of Salem would transpire the events recorded in Gen 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.
