Genesis 34
34
Chapter 34
Dinah
1Dinah was the daughter of Leah and Jacob. One day she went out to visit the young women who lived near Shechem city. 2Hamor the Hivite ruled that region. When his son, Shechem, saw Dinah, he took hold of her. Dinah could not get free and Shechem had sex with her. 3He liked Dinah very much. He loved her. He spoke kind words to her so that she would love him too. 4Shechem said to his father, Hamor, ‘I want to marry this girl. Please get her for me.’ 5Jacob heard that Shechem had had sex with his daughter. At that time, Jacob's sons were taking care of his animals in the fields. So he did not do anything until his sons came home.
6Shechem's father, Hamor, went to talk to Jacob about Dinah. 7Jacob's sons now heard what had happened and they came home from the fields. They were very angry because Shechem had done such a bad thing. When he caught Dinah and had sex with her, he had brought shame on Jacob's family. It was a bad thing that nobody should ever do.
8Hamor said to Jacob and his sons, ‘My son Shechem loves your daughter. Please give her to him so that she can be his wife. 9There should be more marriages between your people and our people. Our men should marry your daughters and our daughters should become wives for your men. 10Then you can live among us. You can live anywhere you want to in this land. You should live here, buy and sell things. Buy land and houses here.’ #34:10 Hamor wanted the Hivites to have some of Jacob's riches.
11Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, ‘I would like to make you happy. So ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you. 12I will pay you the gifts that you ask for Dinah. It can be as much as you like. I will pay it all, because I want to have Dinah as my wife.’
13Because of the bad thing that Shechem had done to Dinah, Jacob's sons decided to deceive him. And they deceived his father Hamor too. 14They said, ‘We cannot give our sister to a man who has not been circumcised. We would be ashamed to do this. 15If you want to marry Dinah, you must do one thing. You must circumcise all your males. Then you will become like us and we will agree for you to marry Dinah. 16Then we will give you our daughters so that your men can marry them. And our men will marry your daughters. We will live among you, so that we become one people with you. 17But your men must agree to be circumcised. If not, we will take our sister with us and we will leave this place.’
18This idea seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19Shechem's family respected him as an important person. So Shechem and his father quickly did what Jacob's sons told them. Shechem agreed to do it because he wanted very much to marry Dinah. 20So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of the city. They spoke to their men there. 21They said, ‘Jacob's family are our friends. Let them live in our land, and buy and sell things. This land is big enough for them and us. We can marry their daughters, and they can marry our daughters. 22But we must do the one thing that they have asked us to do. We must circumcise all our males in the same way that they do. If we do that, they will agree to live among us. 23Then their things and their animals will all become our things. So we should agree to be circumcised, as they ask. Then they will live among us.’
24All the men who were at the city gate agreed with Hamor and Shechem. So every male in the city was circumcised.
25Three days after the men were circumcised, they still had a lot of pain. Then two of Jacob's sons attacked Shechem's men with their swords. None of the men were ready to fight. Jacob's two sons were Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers. They killed every male in the city. 26They killed Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah from Shechem's house and they left.
27Jacob's other sons also saw that the men of the city were dead. So they took everything that they wanted from the city. They did that because it was the place where Shechem had done a very bad thing against their sister. 28They took all the sheep, goats, cows and donkeys. They took everything that was in the city and in the fields near there. 29They carried away every valuable thing for themselves. They also took all the men's wives and their children. They took everything from the houses in the city.
30When they returned to Jacob, he said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have brought bad trouble to me! The people who live in this land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, will hate me. I will be like a bad smell to them. We do not have many men to fight for us. If the Perizzites and Canaanites join together and they attack us, they will destroy our whole family!’ 31But Simeon and Levi replied, ‘Shechem should not have had sex with our sister as if she were a prostitute.’
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Genesis 34
34
The Defiling of Dinah
1Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land. 2When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force. 3And his soul was drawn to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young girl and spoke to her tenderly. 4So Shechem told his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as a wife.”
5Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent about it until they returned. 6Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob. 7When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel #34:7 Or against Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.
8But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9Intermarry with us; give us your daughters, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10You may settle among us, and the land will be open to you. Live here, move about freely, and acquire your own property.”
11Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor, and I will give you whatever you ask. 12Demand a high dowry and an expensive gift, and I will give you whatever you ask. Only give me the girl as my wife!”
The Revenge of Dinah’s Brothers
13But because Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah, Jacob’s sons answered him and his father Hamor deceitfully. 14“We cannot do such a thing,” they said. “To give our sister to an uncircumcised man would be a disgrace to us. 15We will consent to this on one condition, that you become circumcised like us—every one of your males. 16Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We will dwell among you and become one people. 17But if you will not agree to be circumcised, then we will take our sister and go.”
18Their offer seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19The young man, who was the most respected of all his father’s household, did not hesitate to fulfill this request, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter.
20So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and addressed the men of their city: 21“These men are at peace with us. Let them live and trade in our land; indeed, it is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters in marriage and give our daughters to them. 22But only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us and be one people: if all our men are circumcised as they are. 23Will not their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell among us.”
24All the men who went out of the city gate listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male of the city was circumcised.
25Three days later, while they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons (Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi) took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and slaughtered every male. 26They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away.
27Jacob’s other sons came upon the slaughter and looted the city, because their sister had been defiled. 28They took their flocks and herds and donkeys, and everything else in the city or in the field. 29They carried off all their possessions and women and children, and they plundered everything in their houses.
30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”
31But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”
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