Genesis 34

1And Dinah (judgment) the daughter of Le’ah (weary; grieved), which she bore unto Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of), went out to see the daughters of the land.

2And when Sh’khem [back or shoulder, portion] the son of Hamor [male-donkey (ass)] (a donkey) the Hivi (villagers), prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.

3And his soul clave unto Dinah (judgment) the daughter of Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of), and he loved the girl, and spoke kindly unto the girl.

4And Sh’khem [back or shoulder, portion] spoke unto his father Hamor [male-donkey (ass)] (a donkey) saying, Get me this girl to wife.

5And Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) heard that he had defiled Dinah (judgment) his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) held his peace until they were come.

6And Hamor [male-donkey (ass)] (a donkey) the father of Sh’khem [back or shoulder, portion] went out unto Ya’akov to commune with him.

7And the sons of Ya’akov came out of the field when they heard [it]: and the men were grieved, and they were very exceedingly angry, because he had wrought folly in Isra’el in lying with Ya’akov’s daughter; which thing ought not to be done.

8And Hamor [male-donkey (ass)] (a donkey) communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Sh’khem [back or shoulder, portion] longs for youri daughter: I pray youi give her him to wife.

9And make youf marriages with us, [and] give youri daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

10And you1sf shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade you1sf in it, and get youri possessions in it.

11And Sh’khem [back or shoulder, portion] said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in youri eyes, and what youf shall say unto me I will give.

12Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as youf shall say unto me: but give me the girl to wife.

13And the sons of Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) answered Sh’khem [back or shoulder, portion] and Hamor [male-donkey (ass)] (a donkey) his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah (judgment) their sister:

14And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that [were] a reproach (disgrace; shame) unto us:

15But in this will we consent unto you: If youf will be as we [be], that every male of youi be circumcised;

16Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take youri daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

17But if youf will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.

18And their words pleased Hamor [male-donkey (ass)] (a donkey), and Sh’khem [back or shoulder, portion] Hamor [male-donkey (ass)]’s son.

19And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Ya’akov’s daughter: and he [was] more honorable than all the house of his father.

20And Hamor [male-donkey (ass)] (a donkey) and Sh’khem [back or shoulder, portion] his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,

21These men [are] peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade in it; for the land, behold, [it is] large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.

22Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they [are] circumcised.

23 [Shall] not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs [be] ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.

24And unto Hamor [male-donkey (ass)] (a donkey) and unto Sh’khem [back or shoulder, portion] his son listened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.

25And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Ya’akov, Shim’on (heard; he who hears; man of hearing) and Levi (Levite) [Joined to] (joined), Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and killed all the males.

26And they killed Hamor [male-donkey (ass)] (a donkey) and Sh’khem [back or shoulder, portion] his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Sh’khem’s [back or shoulder] house, and went out.

27The sons of Ya’akov came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.

28They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their donkeys, and that which [was] in the city, and that which [was] in the field,

29And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that [was] in the house.

30And Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) said to Shim’on (heard; he who hears; man of hearing) and Levi (Levite) [Joined to] (joined), Youf have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Kena’ani (low/humbled ones; merchants) and the P’rizi (rustic or belonging to a village): and I [being] few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

31And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an prostitute?

Genesis 34

1-4One day Dinah, the daughter Leah had given Jacob, went to visit some of the women in that country. Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite who was chieftain there, saw her and raped her. Then he felt a strong attraction to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, fell in love with her, and wooed her. Shechem went to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

5-7Jacob heard that Shechem had raped his daughter Dinah, but his sons were out in the fields with the livestock so he didn’t say anything until they got home. Hamor, Shechem’s father, went to Jacob to work out marriage arrangements. Meanwhile Jacob’s sons on their way back from the fields heard what had happened. They were outraged, explosive with anger. Shechem’s rape of Jacob’s daughter was intolerable in Israel and not to be put up with.

8-10Hamor spoke with Jacob and his sons, “My son Shechem is head over heels in love with your daughter—give her to him as his wife. Intermarry with us. Give your daughters to us and we’ll give our daughters to you. Live together with us as one family. Settle down among us and make yourselves at home. Prosper among us.”

11-12Shechem then spoke for himself, addressing Dinah’s father and brothers: “Please, say yes. I’ll pay anything. Set the bridal price as high as you will—the sky’s the limit! Only give me this girl for my wife.”

13-17Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father with cunning. Their sister, after all, had been raped. They said, “This is impossible. We could never give our sister to a man who was uncircumcised. Why, we’d be disgraced. The only condition on which we can talk business is if all your men become circumcised like us. Then we will freely exchange daughters in marriage and make ourselves at home among you and become one big, happy family. But if this is not an acceptable condition, we will take our sister and leave.”

18That seemed fair enough to Hamor and his son Shechem.

19The young man was so smitten with Jacob’s daughter that he proceeded to do what had been asked. He was also the most admired son in his father’s family.

20-23So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the public square and spoke to the town council: “These men like us; they are our friends. Let them settle down here and make themselves at home; there’s plenty of room in the country for them. And, just think, we can even exchange our daughters in marriage. But these men will only accept our invitation to live with us and become one big family on one condition, that all our males become circumcised just as they themselves are. This is a very good deal for us—these people are very wealthy with great herds of livestock and we’re going to get our hands on it. So let’s do what they ask and have them settle down with us.”

24Everyone who was anyone in the city agreed with Hamor and his son, Shechem; every male was circumcised.

25-29Three days after the circumcision, while all the men were still very sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each with his sword in hand, walked into the city as if they owned the place and murdered every man there. They also killed Hamor and his son Shechem, rescued Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. When the rest of Jacob’s sons came on the scene of slaughter, they looted the entire city in retaliation for Dinah’s rape. Flocks, herds, donkeys, belongings—everything, whether in the city or the fields—they took. And then they took all the wives and children captive and ransacked their homes for anything valuable.

30Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You’ve made my name repulsive to the people here, these Canaanites and Perizzites. If they decided to gang up on us and attack, as few as we are we wouldn’t stand a chance; they’d wipe me and my people right off the map.”

31They said, “Nobody is going to treat our sister like a whore and get by with it.”

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Genesis 34

Genesis 34