B'resheet (Gen) 34
34
1(v) One time Dinah the daughter of Le’ah, whom she had borne to Ya‘akov, went out to visit the local girls; 2and Sh’khem the son of Hamor the Hivi, the local ruler, saw her, grabbed her, raped her and humiliated her. 3But actually he was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Ya‘akov; he fell in love with the girl and tried to win her affection. 4Sh’khem spoke with his father Hamor and said, “Get this girl for me; I want her to be my wife.”
5When Ya‘akov heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter, his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Ya‘akov restrained himself until they came. 6Hamor the father of Sh’khem went out to Ya‘akov to speak with him 7just as Ya‘akov’s sons were coming in from the field. When they heard what had happened, the men were saddened and were very angry at the outrage this man had committed against Isra’el by raping Ya‘akov’s daughter, something that is simply not done. 8But Hamor said to them, “My son Sh’khem’s heart is set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife; 9and intermarry with us: give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10You will live with us, and the land will be available to you — you’ll live, do business and acquire possessions here.”
11Then Sh’khem said to her father and brothers, “Only accept me, and I will give whatever you tell me. 12Ask as large a bride-price as you like, I’ll pay whatever you tell me. Just let me marry the girl.” 13The sons of Ya‘akov answered Sh’khem and Hamor his father deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14They said to them, “We can’t do it, because it would be a disgrace to give our sister to someone who hasn’t been circumcised. 15Only on this condition will we consent to what you are asking: that you become like us by having every male among you get circumcised. 16Then we’ll give our daughters to you, and we’ll take your daughters for ourselves, and we’ll live with you and become one people. 17But if you won’t do as we say and get circumcised, then we’ll take our daughter and go away.” 18What they said seemed fair to Hamor and Sh’khem the son of Hamor, 19and the young man did not put off doing what was asked of him, even though he was the most respected member of his father’s family, because he so much wanted Ya‘akov’ s daughter.
20Hamor and Sh’khem his son came to the entrance of their city and spoke with its leading men: 21“These people are peaceful toward us; therefore let them live in the land and do business in it; for, as you can see, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives for ourselves, and we’ll give them our daughters. 22But the people will consent to live with us and become one people only on this condition: that every male among us gets circumcised, as they themselves are circumcised. 23Won’t their cattle, their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let’s consent to do what they ask, and then they will live with us.” 24Everyone going out the city’s gate listened to Hamor and Sh’khem his son; so every male was circumcised, every one that went out the gate of the city.
25On the third day after the circumcision, when they were in pain, two of Ya‘akov’s sons, Shim‘on and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, boldly descended on the city and slaughtered all the males. 26They killed Hamor and Sh’khem his son with their swords, took Dinah out of Sh’khem’s house, and left. 27Then the sons of Ya‘akov entered over the dead bodies of those who had been slaughtered and plundered the city in reprisal for defiling their sister. 28They took their flocks, cattle and donkeys, and everything else, whether in the city or in the field, 29everything they owned. Their children and wives they took captive, and they looted whatever was in the houses.
30But Ya‘akov said to Shim‘on and Levi, “You have caused me trouble by making me stink in the opinion of the local inhabitants, the Kena‘ani and the P’rizi. Since I don’t have many people, they’ll align themselves together against me and attack me; and I will be destroyed, I and my household.” 31They replied, “Should we let our sister be treated like a whore?”
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34
Dinah Is Raped
1Dinah, daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to visit some of the Canaanite women. 2When Shechem, son of the local ruler Hamor the Hivite, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3He became very fond of Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her.
4So Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl for my wife.”
5Jacob heard that Shechem had dishonored his daughter Dinah. His sons were with his livestock out in the open country, so Jacob kept quiet until they came home.
6So Shechem’s father Hamor came to Jacob to speak with him. 7Jacob’s sons came in from the open country as soon as they heard the news. The men felt outraged and very angry because Shechem had committed such a godless act against Israel’s family by raping Jacob’s daughter. This shouldn’t have happened.
8Hamor told them. “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please let her marry him. 9Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take ours for yourselves. 10You can live with us, and the land will be yours. Live here, move about freely in this area, and acquire property here.”
11Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and her brothers, “Do me this favor. I’ll give you whatever you ask. 12Set the price I must pay for the bride and the gift I must give her as high as you want. I’ll pay exactly what you tell me. Give me the girl as my wife.”
13Then Jacob’s sons gave Shechem and his father Hamor a misleading answer because he had dishonored their sister Dinah. 14They said, “We can’t do this. We can’t give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised. That would be a disgrace to us! 15We will give our consent to you only on one condition: Every male must be circumcised as we are. 16Then we’ll give our daughters to you and take yours for ourselves, and we’ll live with you and become one people. 17If you won’t agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our daughter and go.”
18Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19The young man didn’t waste any time in doing what they said because he took such pleasure in Jacob’s daughter. He was the most honored person in all his father’s family.
20So Hamor and his son Shechem went to their city gate to speak to the men of their city. They said, 21“These people are friendly toward us, so let them live in our land and move about freely in the area. Look, there’s plenty of room in this land for them. We can marry their daughters and let them marry ours. 22These people will consent to live with us and become one nation on one condition: Every male must be circumcised as they are. 23Won’t their livestock, their personal property, and all their animals be ours? We only need to agree to do this for them. Then they’ll live with us.”
24All the men who had come out to the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem. So they were all circumcised at the city gate.
25Two days later, while the men were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and boldly attacked the city. They killed every man 26including Hamor and his son Shechem. They took Dinah from Shechem’s home and left. 27Then Jacob’s sons stripped the corpses and looted the city where their sister had been dishonored. 28They took the sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, and whatever else was in the city or out in the fields. 29They carried off all the wealth and all the women and children and looted everything in the houses.
30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have caused me a lot of trouble! You’ve made the people living in the area, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, hate me. There are only a few of us. If they join forces against me and attack me, my family and I will be wiped out.”
31Simeon and Levi asked, “Should Shechem have been allowed to treat our sister like a prostitute?”
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