Genesis 34
34
1Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land; 2and when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humbled her. 3And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob; he loved the maiden and spoke tenderly to her. 4So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this maiden for my wife.” 5Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his cattle in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. 6And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard of it; and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had wrought folly in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.
8But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; I pray you, give her to him in marriage. 9Make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10You shall dwell with us; and the land shall be open to you; dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” 11Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12Ask of me ever so much as marriage present and gift, and I will give according as you say to me; only give me the maiden to be my wife.”
13The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. 15Only on this condition will we consent to you: that you will become as we are and every male of you be circumcised. 16Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. 17But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”
18Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. 19And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his family. 20So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21“These men are friendly with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters in marriage, and let us give them our daughters. 22Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. 23Will not their cattle, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” 24And all who went out of the gate of his city hearkened to Hamor and his son Shechem; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came upon the city unawares, and killed all the males. 26They slew Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away. 27And the sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled; 28they took their flocks and their herds, their asses, and whatever was in the city and in the field; 29all their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and made their prey. 30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites; my numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” 31But they said, “Should he treat our sister as a harlot?”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
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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