Genesis 34
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?”
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 34
34
Dinah Is Attacked
1At this time Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of the land, saw her, he took her and forced her to have sexual relations with him. 3Shechem fell in love with Dinah, and he spoke kindly to her. 4He told his father, Hamor, “Please get this girl for me so I can marry her.”
5Jacob learned how Shechem had disgraced his daughter, but since his sons were out in the field with the cattle, Jacob said nothing until they came home. 6While he waited, Hamor father of Shechem went to talk with Jacob.
7When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they came in from the field. They were very angry that Shechem had done such a wicked thing to Israel. It was wrong for him to have sexual relations with Jacob’s daughter; a thing like this should not be done.
8But Hamor talked to Dinah’s brothers and said, “My son Shechem is deeply in love with Dinah. Please let him marry her. 9Marry our people. Give your women to our men as wives and take our women for your men as wives. 10You can live in the same land with us. You will be free to own land and to trade here.”
11Shechem also talked to Jacob and to Dinah’s brothers and said, “Please accept my offer. I will give anything you ask. 12Ask as much as you want for the payment for the bride, and I will give it to you. Just let me marry Dinah.”
13Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father with lies, because Shechem had disgraced their sister Dinah. 14The brothers said to them, “We cannot allow you to marry our sister, because you are not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 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, and we will live in your land and become one people. 17If you refuse to be circumcised, we will take Dinah and leave.”
18What they asked seemed fair to Hamor and Shechem. 19So Shechem quickly went to be circumcised because he loved Jacob’s daughter.
Now Shechem was the most respected man in his family. 20So Hamor and Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21“These people want to be friends with us. So let them live in our land and trade here. There is enough land for all of us. Let us marry their women, and we can let them marry our women. 22But we must agree to one thing: All our men must be circumcised as they are. Then they will agree to live in our land, and we will be one people. 23If we do this, their cattle and their animals will belong to us. Let us do what they say, and they will stay in our land.” 24All the people who had come to the city gate heard this. They agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every man was circumcised.
25Three days later the men who were circumcised were still in pain. Two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi (Dinah’s brothers), took their swords and made a surprise attack on the city, killing all the men there. 26They killed Hamor and his son Shechem and then took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and left. 27Jacob’s sons came upon the dead bodies and stole everything that was in the city, to pay them back for what Shechem had done to their sister. 28So the brothers took the flocks, herds, and donkeys, and everything in the city and in the fields. 29They took every valuable thing the people owned, even their wives and children and everything in the houses.
30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have caused me a lot of trouble. Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites who live in the land will hate me. Since there are only a few of us, if they join together to attack us, my people and I will be destroyed.”
31But the brothers said, “We will not allow our sister to be treated like a prostitute.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.