Genesis 34
34
The Rape of Dinah
1One day, Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to see the women of that place. 2She was seen by Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area. Shechem took Dinah and raped her. 3But he was so attracted to her that he fell in love and began expressing his feelings to her. 4He told his father, “Please get this girl for me so that I can marry her.”
5Jacob learned that Shechem had done this very bad thing to his daughter. But all his sons were out in the fields with the cattle. So he did nothing until they came home. 6Then Shechem’s father, Hamor, came out to talk with Jacob.
7In the fields Jacob’s sons heard the news about what had happened. They were very angry because Shechem had brought shame to Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter. They came in from the fields as soon as they heard about the terrible thing Shechem had done.
8But Hamor talked to Dinah’s brothers and said, “My son Shechem wants Dinah very much. Please let him marry her. 9This marriage will show we have a special agreement. Then our men can marry your women, and your men can marry our women. 10You can live in the same land with us. You will be free to own the land and to trade here.”
11Shechem also talked to Jacob and to Dinah’s brothers and said, “Please accept me. I will do anything you ask me to do. 12I will give you any gift#34:12 gift Or “dowry.” Here, the money a man paid for a wife. you want if you will only allow me to marry Dinah. I will give you anything you ask, but let me marry her.”
13Jacob’s sons decided to lie to Shechem and his father because Shechem had done such a bad thing to their sister Dinah. 14The brothers said to them, “We cannot allow our sister to marry you because you are not yet circumcised. That would bring us shame. 15But we will allow you to marry her if you do this one thing: Every man in your town must be circumcised like us. 16Then your men can marry our women, and our men can marry your women. Then we will become one people. 17If you refuse to be circumcised, we will take Dinah away.”
18This agreement made Hamor and Shechem very happy. 19Shechem was very happy to do what Dinah’s brothers asked.
Shechem was the most honored man in his family. 20Hamor and Shechem went to the meeting place of their city. They spoke to the men of the city and said, 21“These people want to be friends with us. We want to let them live in our land and be at peace with us. We have enough land for all of us. We are free to marry their women, and we are happy to give them our women to marry. 22But there is one thing that all our men must agree to do. They must agree to be circumcised as they are. 23If we do this, we will become rich from all their cattle and other animals. We should make this agreement with them so that they will stay here with us.” 24All the men who heard this in the meeting place agreed with Hamor and Shechem. And every man was circumcised at that time.
25Three days later the men who were circumcised were still sore. Two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, knew that the men would be weak at this time. So they went to the city and killed all the men there. 26Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, killed Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and left. 27Jacob’s sons went to the city and stole everything that was there because of what Shechem had done to their sister. 28So the brothers took all their animals, all their donkeys, and everything else in the city and in the fields. 29The brothers took everything those people owned. They even took their wives and children.
30But Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have caused me a lot of trouble. All the people in this place will hate me. All the Canaanites and the Perizzites will turn against me. There are only a few of us. If the people in this place gather together to fight against us, I will be destroyed. And all our people will be destroyed with me.”
31But the brothers said, “Should we let these people treat our sister like a prostitute? They were wrong to do that to our sister!”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Genesis 34
34
Dinah Is Raped
1Dinah, daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to visit some of the Canaanite women. 2When Shechem, son of the local ruler Hamor the Hivite, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3He became very fond of Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her.
4So Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl for my wife.”
5Jacob heard that Shechem had dishonored his daughter Dinah. His sons were with his livestock out in the open country, so Jacob kept quiet until they came home.
6So Shechem’s father Hamor came to Jacob to speak with him. 7Jacob’s sons came in from the open country as soon as they heard the news. The men felt outraged and very angry because Shechem had committed such a godless act against Israel’s family by raping Jacob’s daughter. This shouldn’t have happened.
8Hamor told them. “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please let her marry him. 9Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take ours for yourselves. 10You can live with us, and the land will be yours. Live here, move about freely in this area, and acquire property here.”
11Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and her brothers, “Do me this favor. I’ll give you whatever you ask. 12Set the price I must pay for the bride and the gift I must give her as high as you want. I’ll pay exactly what you tell me. Give me the girl as my wife.”
13Then Jacob’s sons gave Shechem and his father Hamor a misleading answer because he had dishonored their sister Dinah. 14They said, “We can’t do this. We can’t give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised. That would be a disgrace to us! 15We will give our consent to you only on one condition: Every male must be circumcised as we are. 16Then we’ll give our daughters to you and take yours for ourselves, and we’ll live with you and become one people. 17If you won’t agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our daughter and go.”
18Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19The young man didn’t waste any time in doing what they said because he took such pleasure in Jacob’s daughter. He was the most honored person in all his father’s family.
20So Hamor and his son Shechem went to their city gate to speak to the men of their city. They said, 21“These people are friendly toward us, so let them live in our land and move about freely in the area. Look, there’s plenty of room in this land for them. We can marry their daughters and let them marry ours. 22These people will consent to live with us and become one nation on one condition: Every male must be circumcised as they are. 23Won’t their livestock, their personal property, and all their animals be ours? We only need to agree to do this for them. Then they’ll live with us.”
24All the men who had come out to the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem. So they were all circumcised at the city gate.
25Two days later, while the men were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and boldly attacked the city. They killed every man 26including Hamor and his son Shechem. They took Dinah from Shechem’s home and left. 27Then Jacob’s sons stripped the corpses and looted the city where their sister had been dishonored. 28They took the sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, and whatever else was in the city or out in the fields. 29They carried off all the wealth and all the women and children and looted everything in the houses.
30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have caused me a lot of trouble! You’ve made the people living in the area, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, hate me. There are only a few of us. If they join forces against me and attack me, my family and I will be wiped out.”
31Simeon and Levi asked, “Should Shechem have been allowed to treat our sister like a prostitute?”
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