Genesis 34
34
Dinah Defiled
1Leah’s daughter#Gn 30:21 Dinah, whom Leah bore to Jacob, went out to see some of the young women of the area. 2When Shechem — son of Hamor the Hivite, who was the region’s chieftain — saw her, he took her and raped her. 3He became infatuated with Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He loved the young girl and spoke tenderly to her.#34:3 Lit spoke to her heart 4“Get me this girl as a wife,”#Jdg 14:2 he told his father.
5Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent until they returned. 6Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob. 7Jacob’s sons returned from the field when they heard about the incident. They were deeply grieved and very angry, for Shechem had committed an outrage against Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter,#Dt 22:20–30; Jdg 20:6; 2Sm 13:12 and such a thing should not be done.
8Hamor said to Jacob’s sons, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your#34:8 The Hb word for your is pl, showing that Hamor is speaking to Jacob and his sons. daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10Live with us. The land is before you. Settle here, move about, and acquire property in it.”
11Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor,#34:11 Lit “May I find favor in your eyes and I’ll give you whatever you say. 12Demand of me a high compensation#34:12 Or bride-price, or betrothal present and gift; I’ll give you whatever you ask me. Just give the girl to be my wife!”
13But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14“We cannot do this thing,” they said to them. “Giving our sister to an uncircumcised man is a disgrace to us. 15We will agree with you only on this condition: if all your males are circumcised as we are.#Gn 17:23–27 16Then we will give you our daughters, take your daughters for ourselves, live with you, and become one people. 17But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”
18Their words seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19The young man did not delay doing this, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most important in all his father’s family. 20So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city#Ru 4:1; 2Sm 15:2 and spoke to the men of their city.
21“These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about in it, for indeed, the region is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters as our wives and give our daughters to them. 22But the men will agree to live with us and be one people only on this condition: if all our men are circumcised as they are. 23Won’t their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let’s agree with them, and they will live with us.”
24All the men#Gn 23:10 who had come to the city gates listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all those men were circumcised. 25On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi,#Gn 49:5–7 Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and killed every male. 26They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went away. 27Jacob’s sons came to the slaughter and plundered the city because their sister had been defiled. 28They took their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29They captured all their possessions, dependents, and wives and plundered everything in the houses.
30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me,#Jos 7:25 making me odious to the inhabitants of the land,#Ex 5:21; 1Sm 13:4; 2Sm 10:6 the Canaanites and the Perizzites.#Gn 13:7; 34:2 We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”#Gn 46:26–27; Dt 4:27; 1Ch 16:19; Ps 105:12
31But they answered, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”
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Genesis 34: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Genesis 34
34
1Dinah, Jacob and Leah's daughter, went to visit some of the local women. 2Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her. He grabbed hold of her and raped her. 3However, then he fell deeply in love with Dinah and tried to get her to love him too. 4He went and asked his father, “Get this young girl for me so I can marry her.”
5Jacob found out that Shechem had violated#34:5. “Violated”: the word here is the one used in connection with being unclean. his daughter Dinah, but as his sons were away looking after the flocks in the fields he didn't say anything until they came home. 6In the meantime Hamor, Shechem's father, arrived to talk with Jacob. 7When Jacob's sons returned from the fields they were very upset when they heard the news and became extremely angry because Shechem had done something outrageous in Israel by having sex with Jacob's daughter—something that should never be done.
8Hamor told them, “My son Shechem is very much in love with your daughter and your sister Dinah.#34:8. “And sister Dinah”: supplied for clarity, since Hamor is addressing both Jacob and his sons. Please allow him to marry her. 9In fact we can have more marriages—you can give us your daughters and you can have our daughters. 10You can live among us and settle down wherever you like. You can go where you want and buy land for yourselves.”
11Then Shechem himself spoke up, and said to Dinah's father and brothers, “Please accept me and my proposal, and I'll do whatever you ask. 12You can set the bride price as high as you like, and I'll pay it along with all the gifts I'll give. Just let me have the girl so I can marry her.”
13Jacob's sons weren't honest when they answered him and his father Hamor because Shechem had violated their sister Dinah. 14They told them, “We can't do this! We can't allow our sister to marry a man who's not circumcised. That would bring disgrace on us. 15We will only agree to it with this condition: all of you must be circumcised like us. 16Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters, and we will live among you and become one family. 17But if you don't agree with us that you should be circumcised, then we'll take our sister and leave.”
18Hamor and his son Shechem agreed to what was proposed. 19The young man Shechem didn't waste any time in arranging this because he was infatuated with Jacob's daughter, and he was viewed as the most important person in his father's family. 20Hamor and Shechem went to the town gate and spoke to the other leaders there.
21“These men are our friends,” they told them. “Let's have them live here in our country and allow them to go wherever they want—it's big enough for all of them too. We can take their daughters as wives, and we can give our daughters to them to marry. 22But they will only agree to this on one condition: they will only join us and become one family if every male among us is circumcised like they are. 23If that happens, won't all their livestock and property—all their animals—end up belonging to us? We just have to agree to this and they will come and live among us.”
24Everyone there at the town gate agreed with Hamor and Shechem so every male in the town was circumcised. 25Three days later while they were still suffering pain, Simeon and Levi, two of Jacob's sons and Dinah's brothers, came with their swords into the town. Unopposed, they slaughtered every male. 26They killed Hamor and Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem's house, and left.
27Jacob's other sons arrived, robbed the dead bodies, and looted the town where their sister had been violated. 28They took their sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. They took whatever was in the town, and in the fields— 29all their possessions. They captured all their women and children, and plundered everything in their homes.
30But Jacob criticized Simeon and Levi, telling them, “You've just caused me a lot of trouble! You've made me like a bad smell among the people in this country, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I only have a few men, and if these people gather to attack me, I and my whole family will be wiped out.”
31But they replied, “Should we have let him treat our sister like a prostitute?”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com