Genesis 34

The Dinah Incident

1Now #Gen. 30:21Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he #Gen. 20:2took her and lay with her, and violated her. 3His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman. 4So Shechem #Judg. 14:2spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”

5And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob #2 Sam. 13:22held his peace until they came. 6Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he #Deut. 22:20–30; Josh. 7:15; Judg. 20:6had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, #Deut. 23:17; 2 Sam. 13:12a thing which ought not to be done. 8But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. 10So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”

11Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12Ask me ever so much #Ex. 22:16, 17; Deut. 22:29dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”

13But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke #Gen. 31:7; Ex. 8:29deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is #Ex. 12:48uncircumcised, for #Josh. 5:2–9that would be a reproach to us. 15But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, 16then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 17But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”

18And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was #1 Chr. 4:9more honorable than all the household of his father.

20And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the #Gen. 19:1; 23:10; Ruth 4:1, 11; 2 Sam. 15:2gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying: 21“These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. 23Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.” 24And all who #Gen. 23:10, 18went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

25Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, #Gen. 29:33, 34; 42:24; 49:5–7Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. 26And they #Gen. 49:5, 6killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. 27The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. 28They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, 29and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.

30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, #Gen. 49:6“You have #Josh. 7:25troubled me #Ex. 5:21; 1 Sam. 13:4; 2 Sam. 10:6by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; #Gen. 46:26, 27; Deut. 4:27; 1 Chr. 16:19; Ps. 105:12and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

31But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”

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Genesis 34

Dinah is raped

1Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the women who lived there. 2She was seen by Hamor's son Shechem, the leader of the Hivites, and he grabbed her and raped her. 3But Shechem was attracted to Dinah, so he told her how much he loved her. 4He even asked his father to get her for his wife.

5Meanwhile, Jacob heard what had happened. But his sons were out in the fields with the cattle, so he did not do anything at the time. 6Hamor arrived at Jacob's home 7just as Jacob's sons were coming in from work. When they learnt that their sister had been raped, they became furiously angry. Nothing is more disgraceful than rape, and it should not be tolerated in Israel.

8Hamor said to Jacob and his sons:

My son Shechem really loves Dinah. Please let him marry her. 9Why don't you start letting your families marry into our families and ours marry into yours? 10You can share this land with us. Move freely about until you find the property you want; then buy it and settle down here.

11Shechem added, “Do this favour for me, and I'll give whatever you want. 12Ask anything, no matter how expensive. I'll do anything, just let me marry Dinah.”

13Jacob's sons wanted to get even with Shechem and his father because of what had happened to their sister. 14So they tricked them by saying:

You're not circumcised!#34.14 You're not circumcised: Israelite boys were circumcised when they were eight days old, and no uncircumcised man could be part of the people of Israel. It would be a disgrace for us to let you marry Dinah now. 15But we will let you marry her, if you and the other men in your tribe get circumcised. 16Then your families can marry into ours, and ours can marry into yours, and we can live together like one nation. 17But if you don't agree to get circumcised, we'll take Dinah and leave this place.

18Hamor and Shechem liked what was said. 19Shechem was the most respected person in his family, and he was so in love with Dinah that he hurried off to get everything done. 20The two men met with the other leaders of their city and told them:

21These people really are friendly. Why not let them move freely about until they find the property they want? There's enough land here for them and for us. Then our families can marry into theirs, and theirs can marry into ours.

22We have to do only one thing before they will agree to stay here and become one nation with us. Our men will have to be circumcised like their men. 23Just think! We'll get their property, as well as their flocks and herds. All we have to do is to agree, and they will live here with us.

24Every grown man followed this advice and got circumcised.

Dinah's brothers take revenge

25Three days later the men who had been circumcised were still weak from pain. So Simeon and Levi,#34.25 Simeon and Levi: Dinah's full brothers. two of Dinah's brothers, attacked with their swords and killed every man in town, 26including Hamor and Shechem. Then they took Dinah and left. 27Jacob's other sons came and took everything they wanted. All this was done because of the horrible thing that had happened to their sister. 28They took sheep, goats, donkeys, and everything else that was in the town or the fields. 29After taking everything of value from the houses, they dragged away the wives and children of their victims.

30Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “Look what you've done! Now I'm in real trouble with the Canaanites and Perizzites who live around here. There aren't many of us, and if they attack, they'll kill everyone in my household.”

31They answered, “Was it right to let our own sister be treated that way?”

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