Genesis 12:5-6

Abram’s first settlement was in Shechem.

". . . towns on the main caravan route southwest-ward from the Euphrates which figure significantly in the Abram stories, are Shechem, Bethel, Hebron, and Gerar." [Note: Albright, p. 47.]

Shechem became sacred to the Israelites because here God revealed Himself to Abram for the first time in the Promised Land. This was God’s second major revelation to Abram. At Shechem Jacob later bought land, set up his home, and buried his idols in rededication to Yahweh after returning from his sojourn in Paddan-aram (Genesis 33:18-20; Genesis 35:4). Here, too, the Israelites assembled twice when they had taken possession of Canaan under Joshua’s leadership to commemo-rate God’s faithfulness in giving them the land He had promised their forefathers (Joshua 8; Joshua 24). Shechem was near the geographic center of Canaan (cf. Joshua 20:7). It lay in the heart of the land God now promised Abram. "Moreh" means "teacher," so the tree of Moreh may have been a pagan site for oracles.

The reference to the Canaanites’ presence in the land prepares the way for incidents of conflict with these native inhabitants that followed in Israel’s history (cf. Genesis 10:15-19). It also notes a barrier to the fulfillment of God’s promise to give Abram and his heirs the land (Genesis 12:7). Abram could not take possession of the Promised Land immediately because the Canaanites occupied it.