Genesis 34
34
Dinah Defiled by Shechem
1Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore for Jacob, went out to look at the daughters of the land.
2When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and raped her.
3But his soul clung to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, and he loved the young woman and spoke reassuringly to the young woman.
4So Shechem said to his father Hamor saying, “Get me this girl for a wife.”
5Now Jacob had heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah while his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob kept quiet until they came in.
6Meanwhile Shechem’s father Hamor went out to Jacob in order to speak with him.
7Jacob’s sons had already come in from the field when they heard, and the men were deeply grieved and furious, because he had committed a vile deed in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, which ought never to be done.
8But Hamor spoke with them saying, “My son Shechem—he’s very attached to your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife.
9Intermarry with us. You can give your daughters to us, and you can take our daughters for yourselves.
10You can live with us, and the land will be open to you: live in it, move about freely in it, and settle down in it.”
11Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Would that I find favor in your eyes! Whatever you say to me I’ll give.
12Set the dowry and the presents as high as you like and I’ll give whatever you say to me. But give me the young woman as a wife.”
13But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully as they spoke, because he had defiled their sister Dinah.
14They said to them, “We can’t do this thing—give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised—for this is a disgrace to us.
15Only by this will we consent to you: if you will become like us, by circumcising every male.
16Then we’ll give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves, and live with you, and become one people.
17But if you don’t listen to us and be circumcised, we’ll take our daughter and leave.”
18Now their words seemed good to Hamor as well as Hamor’s son Shechem.
19So the young man did not hesitate to do it, since he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was honored above everyone else in his father’s house.
20So Hamor and his son Shechem came into the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying:
21“These men are enjoying a peaceful relationship with us and they are living in the land and moving about freely in it. As for the land, look, it’s spread out on both sides before us. We can take their daughters to be our wives, and we can give our daughters to them.
22But by this did these men consent to us, to live with us and to become one people—when all our males are circumcised as they are circumcised.
23Their livestock and their possessions: won’t they be ours? Only let us consent to them so that they’ll live with us.”
24Now everyone who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, every one who went out the gate of his city.
25Then on the third day while they were in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came against the city undisturbed and killed every male.
26Hamor and his son Shechem they killed with the sword, then took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.
27Jacob’s sons came upon the slain and plundered the city because they defiled their sister.
28They took their flocks, their cattle and their donkeys, those that were in the city as well as those that were in the field.
29All their wealth, their little children, and their wives they captured and plundered, as well as everything that was in the houses.
30But Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You’ve brought trouble on me, making me a stench among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am but a few men—they’ll gather against me and strike me—then I’ll be destroyed, my household and I.”
31But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”
Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
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