And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram; and pitched his tent before the city.
Shalem - i:e., peace; and the meaning may be that Jacob came into Canaan, arriving 'safe, prosperous, unharmed' (Gesenius), in fulfillment of the promise (Genesis 28:15; Genesis 28:2 l), at the city Shechem. But most writers, following the Septuagint, take Shalom as a proper name-a city of (prince) Shechem (cf. Genesis 34:1-31; Judges 9:28), and the site to be marked by one of the little villages about two miles to the northeast, in the rich fertile plain or wady of El Mukhna (vale of encampment), 'which,' says Porter ('Handbook for Syria and Palestine'), 'sends out a broad green arm among the dark hills on the east, just opposite the vale of Shechem Nabulus. The arm is called Salim, and takes its name from a little village that is made conspicuous by a group of olive trees, on the rocky acclivity to the north, doubtless occupying the site and retaining the name of Shalem.' (See also Robinson's 'Biblical Researches,' chapter 3:, page 102.)
And pitched his tent before the city - literally, in front of; i:e., to the east of the city. The population of Canaan, it would appear, had risen greatly in numbers, as in the social scale, from the time that Abraham fed his flocks on the free, unoccupied pasture land, or "place of Sichem" (Genesis 12:6). In Jacob's day a city had been built upon the spot, and the adjoining ground was private property, a portion of which he had to purchase for the site of his encampment.