Genesis 34:1-23

One day, Jacob and Leah’s daughter, Dinah, went out to visit the neighborhood girls. Now Hamor, the tribal chief of the Hivites, had a son named Shechem, who was the prince. When he saw how attractive Dinah was, he seized her and sexually assaulted her. His heart was drawn to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, so he sought to win her affection and spoke tenderly to her. Shechem went to his father Hamor and said, “Get me this girl to be my wife.” Now Jacob heard that Shechem had violated his daughter Dinah; but his sons were in the fields with his livestock, so he waited to act until his sons returned home. Shechem’s father Hamor brought his son to speak with Jacob about marriage arrangements. During their conversation, Jacob’s sons came in from the field, and they heard the report of what Shechem had done to their sister Dinah. They were shocked and furious over the shameful act Shechem committed against Israel —a criminal act of sexual assault that never should have happened. But Hamor tried to defuse the situation, saying, “Listen, my son Shechem is in love with your daughter. Please, give her to him in marriage. Let’s allow our people to intermarry. Let your daughters marry our sons, and we will let our daughters marry your sons. You may settle here among us, live anywhere you wish, move about freely, and acquire property.” Then Shechem spoke up and said to Dinah’s family, “Please, let me find favor in your eyes. Whatever you require of me, I’ll pay. Set the bride-price as high as you wish, no matter how expensive it is; I’ll pay whatever you ask. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.” The sons of Jacob concocted a devious plan. Because of the rape of their sister Dinah, they answered Shechem and Hamor deceitfully, saying, “Our culture will not allow us to consent to our sister Dinah marrying someone who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. We would only approve of the marriage on one condition: you must circumcise every male among you and become as we are. Then we will allow our daughters to marry your sons and your daughters to marry our sons. And we will live among you and become one people. But if you refuse to be circumcised, then we will take our sister and be gone.” The offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. And the young man lost no time in doing what they asked, because Shechem really wanted to marry Jacob’s daughter! Now Shechem was the most honored in all his family, so Hamor and his son went to the gate of the city and spoke to the men, saying, “These people are our friends. Let them settle in our land and make themselves at home; there’s plenty of room in the country for them. And, let’s agree to exchange our daughters in marriage to them and to unite us as one people. They only have one condition in order to live among us and to unite with us as one people: every male among us must be circumcised as they are circumcised. Won’t all of their livestock and property become ours? Let us agree to their request, so they will live among us.”