Bereshis 34
34
1And Dinah Bat Leah, which she bore unto Ya'akov, went out to see the Banot HaAretz.
2And when Shechem Ben Chamor the Chivi (Hivite), Nasi HaAretz, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and violated her.
3And his nefesh had deveykus unto Dinah Bat Ya'akov, and he loved the na'arah, and spoke to the lev hanaarah.
4And Shechem spoke unto Chamor aviv, saying, Get me this yaldah as isha.
5And Ya'akov heard that he had made his bat Dinah tameh; now his banim were with his mikneh in the sadeh; and Ya'akov held his peace until they were come.
6And Chamor avi Shechem went out unto Ya'akov to speak with him.
7And the Bnei Ya'akov came from the sadeh when they heard it; and the anashim were grieved, and they were in wrath greatly, because he had wrought nevalah (folly, disgrace, outrage) against Yisroel in lying with Bat Ya'akov; which thing ought not to be done.
8And Chamor spoke with them, saying, The nefesh of beni (my son) Shechem longeth for your bat; now give her him as isha.
9So intermarry with us, and give your banot unto us, and take benoteinu (our banot) unto you.
10And ye shall dwell with us; and HaAretz shall be before you; dwell and trade therein, and get you possessions therein.
11And Shechem said unto her av and unto her achim, Let me find chen (grace) in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
12Ask me never so much mohar (bride price, dowry) and mattan (gift), and I will pay according as ye shall say unto me; but give me the na'arah as isha.
13And the Bnei Ya'akov answered Shechem and Chamor aviv in mirmar (deceit) and spoke because he had made Dinah their achot tameh;
14And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give achoteinu (our sister) to ish that is arelah (uncircumcised); for that would be a cherpah (reproach, disgrace) unto us;
15But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will become like us, that every zachar of you be circumcised;
16Then will we give benoteinu unto you, and we will take your banot to us, and we will dwell among you, and we will become as Am Echad.
17But if ye will not pay heed unto us, to become circumcised; then will we take biteinu (our daughter), and we will go.
18And their words pleased Chamor, and Shechem Ben Chamor.
19And the na'ar deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Bat Ya'akov; and he was more respected than kol Bais Aviv.
20And Chamor and Shechem bno came unto the Sha'ar of their city, and they spoke with the anashim of their city, saying,
21These anashim are shlemim (peaceable) with us; therefore let them settle in HaAretz, and let them trade therein for HaAretz, hinei, it is plenty of room for them; let us take their banot to us as nashim, and let us give them benoteinu.
22Only herein will the anashim consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be Am Echad, if every zachar among us be circumcised, just as they are nimolim (ones being circumcised).
23Shall not their mikneh and their property and every behemah of theirs be ours? Only let us consent unto them, and they will settle among us.
24And unto Chamor and unto Shechem bno paid heed all that went out of the Sha'ar of his city; and every zachar was circumcised, all that went out of the Sha'ar of his city.
25And it came to pass on the Yom HaShlishi, when they were in pain, that two of the Bnei Ya'akov, Shim'on and Levi, achei Dinah, took each ish his cherev, and came upon the Ir betach (boldly, confidently), and they slaughtered kol zachar.
26And they slaughtered Chamor and Shechem bno with the edge of the cherev, and took Dinah from the Bais Shechem and left.
27The Bnei Ya'akov came upon the chalalim (dead ones, slain ones), and plundered the Ir, because they had made their achot tameh.
28They seized their tzon, and their bakar, and their chamorim, and that which was in the Ir, and that which was in the sadeh,
29And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their nashim they carried off and plundered even all that was in the bais.
30And Ya'akov said to Shim'on and Levi, Ye have brought trouble on me to make me a stench among the inhabitants of HaAretz, among the Kena'ani and the Perizzi; and I being few in mispar, they shall gather themselves together against me, and attack me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my bais.
31And they said, Should he deal with achoteinu like with zonah?
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Bereshis 34: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 34
34
The Rape of Dinah. 1#The story of the rape of Dinah and the revenge of Jacob’s sons on the men of the city of Shechem may reflect the relations of the tribes of Simeon and Levi to their Canaanite neighbors around Shechem; the tribes are represented by their eponymous ancestors. Jacob’s farewell testament (49:5–7) cites this incident as the reason for the decline of the tribes of Simeon and Levi. Ominously, vv. 30–31 leave the situation unresolved, with Jacob concerned about the welfare of the whole family, and Simeon and Levi concerned only about the honor of their full sister. The danger to the family from narrow self-interest will continue in the Joseph story. Dinah, the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit some of the women of the land. 2When Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite,#Hivite: the Greek text has “Horite”; the terms were apparently used indiscriminately to designate the Hurrian or other non-Semitic elements in Palestine. the leader of the region, saw her, he seized her and lay with her by force. 3He was strongly attracted to Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and was in love with the young woman. So he spoke affectionately to her. 4Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this young woman for a wife.”
5Meanwhile, Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah; but since his sons were out in the field with his livestock, Jacob kept quiet until they came home. 6Now Hamor, the father of Shechem, went out to discuss the matter with Jacob, 7just as Jacob’s sons were coming in from the field. When they heard the news, the men were indignant and extremely angry. Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter; such a thing is not done.#2 Sm 13:12. 8Hamor appealed to them, saying: “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10Thus you can live among us. The land is open before you. Settle and move about freely in it and acquire holdings here.”#Hamor seems to be making concessions to Jacob’s family in the hope of avoiding warfare between the two families. 11Then Shechem appealed to Dinah’s father and brothers: “Do me this favor, and whatever you ask from me, I will give. 12No matter how high you set the bridal price and gift, I will give you whatever you ask from me; only give me the young woman as a wife.”
Revenge of Jacob’s Sons. 13Jacob’s sons replied to Shechem and his father Hamor with guile, speaking as they did because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14They said to them, “We are not able to do this thing: to give our sister to an uncircumcised man. For that would be a disgrace for us. 15Only on this condition will we agree to that: that you become like us by having every male among you circumcised. 16Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters in marriage; we will settle among you and become one people. 17But if you do not listen to us and be circumcised, we will take our daughter and go.”
18Their proposal pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. 19The young man lost no time in acting on the proposal, since he wanted Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more highly regarded than anyone else in his father’s house. 20So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and said to the men of their city: 21“These men are friendly toward us. Let them settle in the land and move about in it freely; there is ample room in the land for them. We can take their daughters in marriage and give our daughters to them. 22But only on this condition will the men agree to live with us and form one people with us: that every male among us be circumcised as they themselves are. 23Would not their livestock, their property, and all their animals then be ours? Let us just agree with them, so that they will settle among us.”
24All who went out of the gate of the city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all the males, all those who went out of the gate of the city,#All those who went out of the gate of the city: apparently meaning all the residents. By temporarily crippling the men through circumcision, Jacob’s sons deprived the city of its defenders. were circumcised. 25On the third day, while they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, brothers of Dinah, each took his sword, advanced against the unsuspecting city and massacred all the males.#Gn 49:6. 26After they had killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, they took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.#Jdt 9:2. 27Then the other sons of Jacob followed up the slaughter and sacked the city because their sister had been defiled. 28They took their sheep, cattle and donkeys, whatever was in the city and in the surrounding country. 29They carried off all their wealth, their children, and their women, and looted whatever was in the houses.#Jdt 9:3–4.
30Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: “You have brought trouble upon me by making me repugnant to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I have so few men that, if these people unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be wiped out.” 31But they retorted, “Should our sister be treated like a prostitute?”
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