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 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?”
GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.