1441. The symbolism of Shechem as these qualities can also be seen from the consideration that Shechem is the first stopping place in the land of Canaan as you come from Syria, or Haran. Because the land of Canaan symbolizes love's heavenly aspects, it stands to reason that Shechem symbolizes the first disclosure of heavenly attributes. When Jacob returned from Haran to the land of Canaan, he too came to Shechem, as these verses show:
Jacob traveled to Succoth and built himself a house, and for his livestock he made shelters; so he called the name of the place Succoth. 1 And Jacob came to Salem (the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan) when he came from Paddan-aram, and he camped in front of the city and raised an altar there. (Genesis 33:17, 18, 19, 20)
Here again Shechem symbolizes first light.
[2] In David:
God has spoken in his holiness: "I will exult. I will cleave Shechem, and the valley of Succoth I will measure out. I own Gilead, and I own Manasseh, and Ephraim is the strength of my head. 2 Judah is my lawgiver. Moab is my wash basin. On Edom I will set my shoe; over Philistia I will trumpet." (Psalms 60:6-7, 8; 108:7-8, 9)
Shechem has a similar kind of symbolism here too. These prophetic words of David's clearly illustrate the fact that names, including that of Shechem, have no meaning but a symbolic one; otherwise the prophecy would be hardly anything besides a conglomeration of names.
Shechem became a city of refuge (Joshua 20:7) and a city of priests as well (Joshua 21:21), and a pact was struck there (Joshua 24:1, 25). These facts involve something similar.
Footnotes:
1. Succoth is a Hebrew word (סֻכּוֹת [sukkōṯ]) for temporary shelters made of interwoven branches, most commonly associated with the so-called "Feast of Booths" described in Leviticus 23:34-43. (For more on the Feast of Booths, see note 2 in §414.) [LHC]
2. The Latin robur capitis mei, here translated "the strength of my head," is a literal rendering of the underlying Hebrew, מָעוֹז רֹאשִׁי (mā‘ôz rōšî). It may be understood as a figurative reference to a helmet. [LHC]
