Genesis 34
34
1Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land; 2and when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humbled her. 3And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob; he loved the maiden and spoke tenderly to her. 4So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this maiden for my wife.” 5Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his cattle in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. 6And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard of it; and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had wrought folly in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.
8But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; I pray you, give her to him in marriage. 9Make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10You shall dwell with us; and the land shall be open to you; dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” 11Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12Ask of me ever so much as marriage present and gift, and I will give according as you say to me; only give me the maiden to be my wife.”
13The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. 15Only on this condition will we consent to you: that you will become as we are and every male of you be circumcised. 16Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. 17But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”
18Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. 19And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his family. 20So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21“These men are friendly with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters in marriage, and let us give them our daughters. 22Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. 23Will not their cattle, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” 24And all who went out of the gate of his city hearkened to Hamor and his son Shechem; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came upon the city unawares, and killed all the males. 26They slew Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away. 27And the sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled; 28they took their flocks and their herds, their asses, and whatever was in the city and in the field; 29all their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and made their prey. 30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites; my numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” 31But they said, “Should he treat our sister as a harlot?”
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
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?”
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