Genesis 34
34
Dinah Defiled
1Leah’s daughter#Gn 30:21 Dinah, whom Leah bore to Jacob, went out to see some of the young women of the area. 2When Shechem — son of Hamor the Hivite, who was the region’s chieftain — saw her, he took her and raped her. 3He became infatuated with Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He loved the young girl and spoke tenderly to her.#34:3 Lit spoke to her heart 4“Get me this girl as a wife,”#Jdg 14:2 he told his father.
5Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent until they returned. 6Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob. 7Jacob’s sons returned from the field when they heard about the incident. They were deeply grieved and very angry, for Shechem had committed an outrage against Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter,#Dt 22:20–30; Jdg 20:6; 2Sm 13:12 and such a thing should not be done.
8Hamor said to Jacob’s sons, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your#34:8 The Hb word for your is pl, showing that Hamor is speaking to Jacob and his sons. daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10Live with us. The land is before you. Settle here, move about, and acquire property in it.”
11Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor,#34:11 Lit “May I find favor in your eyes and I’ll give you whatever you say. 12Demand of me a high compensation#34:12 Or bride-price, or betrothal present and gift; I’ll give you whatever you ask me. Just give the girl to be my wife!”
13But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14“We cannot do this thing,” they said to them. “Giving our sister to an uncircumcised man is a disgrace to us. 15We will agree with you only on this condition: if all your males are circumcised as we are.#Gn 17:23–27 16Then we will give you our daughters, take your daughters for ourselves, live with you, and become one people. 17But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”
18Their words seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19The young man did not delay doing this, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most important in all his father’s family. 20So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city#Ru 4:1; 2Sm 15:2 and spoke to the men of their city.
21“These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about in it, for indeed, the region is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters as our wives and give our daughters to them. 22But the men will agree to live with us and be one people only on this condition: if all our men are circumcised as they are. 23Won’t their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let’s agree with them, and they will live with us.”
24All the men#Gn 23:10 who had come to the city gates listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all those men were circumcised. 25On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi,#Gn 49:5–7 Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and killed every male. 26They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went away. 27Jacob’s sons came to the slaughter and plundered the city because their sister had been defiled. 28They took their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29They captured all their possessions, dependents, and wives and plundered everything in the houses.
30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me,#Jos 7:25 making me odious to the inhabitants of the land,#Ex 5:21; 1Sm 13:4; 2Sm 10:6 the Canaanites and the Perizzites.#Gn 13:7; 34:2 We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”#Gn 46:26–27; Dt 4:27; 1Ch 16:19; Ps 105:12
31But they answered, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
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!”
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International