^33:18After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near³⁷ the city. ^33:19Then he purchased the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent; he bought it³⁸ from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money.³⁹^33:20There he set up an altar and called it “The God of Israel is God.”⁴⁰

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Footnotes

37 Heb “in front of.”
38 The words “he bought it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 19 is one long sentence.
39 The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qésitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown. (However, cf. , which renders the term as “sheep”).
40 Heb “God, the God of Israel.” Rather than translating the name, a number of modern translations merely transliterate it from the Hebrew as “El Elohe Israel” (cf. , , ). It is not entirely clear how the name should be interpreted grammatically. One option is to supply an equative verb, as in the translation: “The God of Israel [is] God.” Another interpretive option is “the God of Israel [is] strong [or “mighty”].” Buying the land and settling down for a while was a momentous step for the patriarch, so the commemorative naming of the altar is significant.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

After Jacob came from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at Shechem in the land of Canaan and camped in front of the city. He purchased a section of the field where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. And he set up an altar there and called it God, the God of Israel.

NLTNew Living Translation

Later, having traveled all the way from Paddan-aram, Jacob arrived safely at the town of Shechem, in the land of Canaan. There he set up camp outside the town. Jacob bought the plot of land where he camped from the family of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver. And there he built an altar and named it El-Elohe-Israel.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-Aram. And he camped before the city. And he bought a piece of land where he pitched his tent for one hundred pieces of money from the hand of the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem. And there he erected an altar and called it “El Elohe Israel.”

KJV 1900King James Version

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. And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money. And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.

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