Berĕshith (Genesis) 34
34
1And Dinah, the daughter of Lĕ’ah, whom she had borne to Ya‛aqoḇ, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2And Sheḵem, son of Ḥamor the Ḥiwwite, prince of the land, saw her and took her and lay with her, and humbled her.
3And his being clung to Dinah the daughter of Ya‛aqoḇ, and he loved the girl and spoke kindly to the girl.
4And Sheḵem spoke to his father Ḥamor, saying, “Take this girl for me for a wife.”
5And Ya‛aqoḇ heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Ya‛aqoḇ kept silent until they came.
6And Ḥamor, the father of Sheḵem, went out to Ya‛aqoḇ to speak with him.
7And the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ came in from the field when they heard it. And the men were grieved and very wroth, because he had done a senseless deed in Yisra’ĕl by lying with Ya‛aqoḇ’s daughter, which should not be done.
8But Ḥamor spoke with them, saying, “My son Sheḵem’s being longs for your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife.
9“And intermarry with us, give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves,
10and dwell with us, and let the land be before you. Dwell and move about in it, and have possessions in it.”
11And Sheḵem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favour in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I give.
12Ask of me a bride price and gift ever so high, and I give according to what you say to me, but give me the girl for a wife.
13But the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ answered Sheḵem and Ḥamor his father, and spoke with deceit, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.
14And they said to them, “We are not able to do this matter, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us.
15Only on this condition would we agree to you: If you become as we are, to have every male of you circumcised,
16then we shall give our daughters to you, and take your daughters to us. And we shall dwell with you, and shall become one people.
17But if you do not listen to us and be circumcised, we shall take our daughter and go.
18And their words pleased Ḥamor and Sheḵem, Ḥamor’s son.
19And the young man did not delay to do this because he delighted in Ya‛aqoḇ’s daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father.
20And Ḥamor and Sheḵem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying,
21“These men are at peace with us, so let them dwell in the land and move about in it. And see, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters for us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.
22“Only on this condition would the men agree to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.
23Their herds and their possessions, and all their beasts, should they not be ours? Only let us agree with them, and let them dwell with us.
24And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Ḥamor and Sheḵem his son; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25And it came to be on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ, Shim‛on and Lĕwi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males.
26And they killed Ḥamor and Sheḵem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Sheḵem’s house, and went out.
27The sons of Ya‛aqoḇ came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.
28They took their flocks and their herds, 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 they took captive, and they plundered all that was in the houses.
30And Ya‛aqoḇ said to Shim‛on and Lĕwi, “You have troubled me by making me a stench among the inhabitants of the land, among the Kena‛anites and the Perizzites. And I am few in number, they shall gather themselves against me and shall strike me, and I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”
31But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a whore?”
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Berĕshith (Genesis) 34: TS2009
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Genesis 34
34
Revenge against Shechem
1One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the young women who lived in the area. 2But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her. 3But then he fell in love with her, and he tried to win her affection with tender words. 4He said to his father, Hamor, “Get me this young girl. I want to marry her.”
5Soon Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter, Dinah. But since his sons were out in the fields herding his livestock, he said nothing until they returned. 6Hamor, Shechem’s father, came to discuss the matter with Jacob. 7Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the field as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious that their sister had been raped. Shechem had done a disgraceful thing against Jacob’s family,#34:7 Hebrew a disgraceful thing in Israel. something that should never be done.
8Hamor tried to speak with Jacob and his sons. “My son Shechem is truly in love with your daughter,” he said. “Please let him marry her. 9In fact, let’s arrange other marriages, too. You give us your daughters for our sons, and we will give you our daughters for your sons. 10And you may live among us; the land is open to you! Settle here and trade with us. And feel free to buy property in the area.”
11Then Shechem himself spoke to Dinah’s father and brothers. “Please be kind to me, and let me marry her,” he begged. “I will give you whatever you ask. 12No matter what dowry or gift you demand, I will gladly pay it—just give me the girl as my wife.”
13But since Shechem had defiled their sister, Dinah, Jacob’s sons responded deceitfully to Shechem and his father, Hamor. 14They said to them, “We couldn’t possibly allow this, because you’re not circumcised. It would be a disgrace for our sister to marry a man like you! 15But here is a solution. If every man among you will be circumcised like we are, 16then we will give you our daughters, and we’ll take your daughters for ourselves. We will live among you and become one people. 17But if you don’t agree to be circumcised, we will take her and be on our way.”
18Hamor and his son Shechem agreed to their proposal. 19Shechem wasted no time in acting on this request, for he wanted Jacob’s daughter desperately. Shechem was a highly respected member of his family, 20and he went with his father, Hamor, to present this proposal to the leaders at the town gate.
21“These men are our friends,” they said. “Let’s invite them to live here among us and trade freely. Look, the land is large enough to hold them. We can take their daughters as wives and let them marry ours. 22But they will consider staying here and becoming one people with us only if all of our men are circumcised, just as they are. 23But if we do this, all their livestock and possessions will eventually be ours. Come, let’s agree to their terms and let them settle here among us.”
24So all the men in the town council agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every male in the town was circumcised. 25But three days later, when their wounds were still sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, who were Dinah’s full brothers, took their swords and entered the town without opposition. Then they slaughtered every male there, 26including Hamor and his son Shechem. They killed them with their swords, then took Dinah from Shechem’s house and returned to their camp.
27Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob’s sons arrived. Finding the men slaughtered, they plundered the town because their sister had been defiled there. 28They seized all the flocks and herds and donkeys—everything they could lay their hands on, both inside the town and outside in the fields. 29They looted all their wealth and plundered their houses. They also took all their little children and wives and led them away as captives.
30Afterward Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have ruined me! You’ve made me stink among all the people of this land—among all the Canaanites and Perizzites. We are so few that they will join forces and crush us. I will be ruined, and my entire household will be wiped out!”
31“But why should we let him treat our sister like a prostitute?” they retorted angrily.
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