Verse 29
29. Thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal There were special reasons for selecting these mountains. They are almost at the geographical centre of the land. They lie opposite each other, with a beautiful, well-watered valley between Ebal on the north and Gerizim on the south, each rising more than twenty-five hundred feet in height above the level of the sea. In the valley was Shechem modern Nablus. The modern town is beautifully surrounded with well-watered and productive gardens. Shechem was so prominent in the history of the patriarchs that the gathering of the tribes there would be especially impressive and significant. This was the first spot where Abraham pitched his tent in Canaan, and where he built an altar. To this place Jacob came on his return from Mesopotamia, and pitched his tent east of the city near to Shechem. Here he bought the parcel of a field from Hamor, Shechem’s father. Genesis 33:19. Here, too, he built an altar for worship. Here the tribes were soon to bury the bones of Joseph. See Joshua 24:32.
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