Verse 16
16. Into Sychem Sychem is the Shechem or Sychar of John 4:5; and for a full account of the place and of Joseph’s tomb see our notes there.
Abraham bought… of the sons of Emmor To make this correct history Jacob should be substituted for Abraham; for, according to Genesis 33:19, it was Jacob who purchased the family tomb at Shechem. Far earlier indeed than this the venerable Abraham did make a somewhat similar purchase, namely, of the cave of Machpelah of the sons of Heth, wherein to bury Sarah his wife, of which see the interesting account in the twenty-third chapter of Genesis. We see no other plausible way among all the proposed expedients of sustaining the accuracy of Stephen but by supposing that in the earliest copies from Luke’s manuscript the word Abraham was by mistake inserted for Jacob, for which, however, there is no manuscript support. But for a mistake committed by Stephen the sacred historian himself could not be held responsible.
Dr. Wordsworth ingeniously argues that Emmor or Hamor was a hereditary princely name like Pharaoh and Candace; that Abraham in all probability had bought the same spot from an earlier Hamor, and that Jacob as matter of peace re-bought the same ground.
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