Genesis 34
34
Dinah Raped by Shechem
1One day, Jacob and Leah’s daughter, Dinah, went out to visit the neighborhood girls. # 34:1 Perhaps the local women introduced her to Shechem, the prince of the city named for him. Dinah was likely fifteen or sixteen years old. 2Now Hamor, the tribal chief of the Hivites, had a son named Shechem, who was the prince. When he saw how attractive Dinah was, he seized her and sexually assaulted her. 3His heart was drawn to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, so he sought to win her affection and spoke tenderly to her. 4Shechem went to his father Hamor and said, “Get me this girl to be my wife.”
5Now Jacob heard that Shechem had violated his daughter Dinah; but his sons were in the fields with his livestock, so he waited to act until his sons returned home. 6Shechem’s father Hamor brought his son # 34:6 From v. 11 we learn that Shechem was present during this conversation. to speak with Jacob about marriage arrangements. 7During their conversation, Jacob’s sons came in from the field, and they heard the report of what Shechem had done to their sister Dinah. # 34:7 Apparently, Dinah was still being held in Hamor’s house within the city (see vv. 17, 26). They were shocked and furious over the shameful act Shechem committed against Israel # 34:7 Or “in Israel.” —a criminal act of sexual assault that never should have happened.
8But Hamor tried to defuse the situation, saying, “Listen, my son Shechem is in love with your daughter. Please, give her to him in marriage. 9Let’s allow our people to intermarry. # 34:9 Or “partner [with us],” that is, become our brothers-in-law. Let your daughters marry our sons, and we will let our daughters marry your sons. 10You may settle here among us, live anywhere you wish, # 34:10 Or “The land is before your faces.” This could be an idiom meaning “Make yourselves at home here.” move about # 34:10 Or “trade” (LXX, Vulgate, Targums). freely, and acquire property.” # 34:10 The basic meaning of the Hebrew verb used here is “take possession of land.”
11Then Shechem spoke up and said to Dinah’s family, “Please, let me find favor in your eyes. Whatever you require of me, I’ll pay. 12Set the bride-price as high as you wish, no matter how expensive it is; I’ll pay whatever you ask. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”
Jacob’s Sons Exact Revenge
13The sons of Jacob concocted a devious plan. Because of the rape of their sister Dinah, they answered Shechem and Hamor deceitfully, 14saying, “Our culture will not allow us to consent to our sister Dinah marrying someone who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. 15We would only approve of the marriage on one condition: you must circumcise every male among you and become as we are. 16Then we will allow our daughters to marry your sons and your daughters to marry our sons. And we will live among you and become one people. 17But if you refuse to be circumcised, then we will take our sister # 34:17 Or “daughter.” and be gone.” 18The offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. 19And the young man lost no time in doing what they asked, because Shechem really wanted to marry Jacob’s daughter!
Now Shechem was the most honored # 34:19 Or, possibly, “the most important.” in all his family, 20so Hamor and his son went to the gate of the city and spoke to the men, saying, 21“These people are our friends. Let them settle in our land and make themselves at home; there’s plenty of room in the country for them. And, let’s agree to exchange our daughters in marriage to them and to unite us as one people. 22They only have one condition in order to live among us and to unite with us as one people: every male among us must be circumcised as they are circumcised. 23Won’t all of their livestock and property become ours? Let us agree to their request, so they will live among us.” 24So all the townsmen agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male of the city was circumcised.
25Three days later, while all the men were still suffering in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city. They slaughtered every male of the city. 26They even killed Hamor and his son Shechem, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 27Later, Jacob’s other sons came upon the dead bodies, and they looted the city as retribution for the violation of their sister. 28They seized the flocks, herds, and donkeys, and all that was in the city and in the field. 29They plundered all their wealth and their household goods and took their wives and children as captives.
30When Jacob found out, he said to Simeon and Levi, “What have you done? You have ruined my name, # 34:30 Or “You have muddied the waters” or “You have made a stink.” That is, they had brought trouble upon Jacob. and now the Canaanites and Perizzites and all the people of this land will hate me! My men are so few that if they unite against me and attack, I and all my household will be destroyed!”
31But they answered him, “Why should they treat our sister like a whore?”
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Genesis 34: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationGenesis 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