Genesis 34

Jacob at Shechem

And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of that region, saw her, he took her, lay with her and defiled her.

34:2 The Hivites were a people who were in the land of Canaan before Abraham arrived there. Besides Shechem they lived in Gibeon (Joshua chapter 9), and near Mount Hermon (Josh 11:3).⚜

3 And his soul was united to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke kindly to the girl. 4 And Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife”.

5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field, and Jacob kept silent until they had come.

6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him. 7 And when they heard this, the sons of Jacob came from the field, and the men were sad and very angry, because in lying with Jacob’s daughter he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel, a thing which ought not to be done.

8 And Hamor talked with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9 And intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 And you will live with us, and the land will be before you. Live and do business in it, and get possessions for yourselves in it”.

11 And Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favour in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me any amount of dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me. But give me the girl as my wife”.

13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and spoke this way because he had defiled Dinah their sister,

34:13 Did they learn how to use deceit by watching their father? We do not know, but we do know that bad example has great power for evil. And deceitfulness is easily learned because of the deceitful nature of men’s hearts – Jer 17:9; Ps 58:3.⚜

14 saying to them, “Giving our sister to someone who is not circumcised is a thing we cannot do; for that would be a disgrace to us. 15 But on this condition we will give consent to you: if you will become like us and every male of you becomes circumcised, 16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for us, and we will live with you, and we will become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us to become circumcised, then we will take our daughter and we will be gone”.

18 And their words pleased Hamor, and Hamor’s son Shechem. 19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. And he was the most honoured of all the house of his father. 20 And Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying,

34:20 The main gate of towns and cities is the place where the elders and leaders came together to discuss and decide issues (Gen 19:1; Ruth 4:1).⚜

21 “These men are friendly with us. Therefore let them live in the land, and trade in it. For, see, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters for ourselves as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 But only on this condition will the men consent to live with us, to be one people: if every male among us becomes circumcised, just as they are circumcised. 23 But will not their cattle and their goods and every animal of theirs become ours? Only let us give consent to them, and they will live with us”.

24 And everyone who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

25 And it came about on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, and came on the city boldly, and killed all the males. 26 And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and left. 27 Then the sons of Jacob came on the slain and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, and whatever was in the city, and whatever was in the field, 29 and they carried off all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives, and looted everything that was in the houses.

34:25-29 See Gen 49:5-7.⚜

30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me, making me stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And since I have few in number, they will gather themselves together against me, and kill me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household”.

31 And they said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?”