Jerubaal, Jacob and the Battle for Shechem: A Tradition History

Abstract

The Bible alludes to three different versions of the conquest/destruction of Shechem. The Jerubaal-Abimelech cycle, the conquest of Shechem by Jacob, and the Dinah story. The (later) Jacob story overtook the (earlier) Jerubaal story, a phenomenon I dub tradition cannibalism, as Jerubaal became identified with Gideon and shed his own story. When the idea of a conquering patriarch fell out of favor, the account reemerged as the Dinah story, with Simeon and Levi as the conquerors of Shechem.