Genesis 34
34
The Rape of Dinah
1One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the Canaanite women. 2When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who was chief of that region, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3But he found the young woman so attractive that he fell in love with her and tried to win her affection.#34.3 tried to win her affection; or comforted her. 4He said to his father, “I want you to get this woman for me as my wife.”
5Jacob learnt that his daughter had been disgraced, but because his sons were out in the fields with his livestock, he did nothing until they came back. 6Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob, 7just as Jacob's sons were coming in from the fields. When they heard about it, they were shocked and furious that Shechem had done such a thing and had insulted the people of Israel by raping Jacob's daughter. 8Hamor said to him, “My son Shechem has fallen in love with your daughter; please let him marry her. 9Let us make an agreement that there will be intermarriage between our people and yours. 10Then you may stay here in our country with us; you may live anywhere you wish, trade freely, and own property.”
11Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, “Do me this favour, and I will give you whatever you want. 12Tell me what presents you want, and set the payment for the bride as high as you wish; I will give you whatever you ask, if you will only let me marry her.”
13Because Shechem had disgraced their sister Dinah, Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor in a deceitful way. 14They said to him, “We cannot let our sister marry a man who is not circumcised; that would be a disgrace for us. 15We can agree only on the condition that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 16Then we will agree to intermarriage. We will settle among you and become one people with you. 17But if you will not accept our terms and be circumcised, we will take her and leave.”
18These terms seemed fair to Hamor and his son Shechem, 19and the young man lost no time in doing what was suggested, because he was in love with Jacob's daughter. He was the most important member of his family.
20Hamor and his son Shechem went to the meeting place at the city gate and spoke to the people of the town: 21“These men are friendly; let them live in the land with us and travel freely. The land is large enough for them also. Let us marry their daughters and give them ours in marriage. 22But these men will agree to live among us and be one people with us only on condition that we circumcise all our males, as they are circumcised. 23Won't all their livestock and everything else they own be ours? So let us agree that they can live among us.” 24All the citizens of the city agreed with what Hamor and Shechem proposed, and all the males were circumcised.
25Three days later, when the men were still sore from their circumcision, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, took their swords, went into the city without arousing suspicion, and killed all the men, 26including Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah from Shechem's house and left. 27After the slaughter Jacob's other sons looted the town to take revenge for their sister's disgrace. 28They took the flocks, the cattle, the donkeys, and everything else in the city and in the fields. 29They took everything of value, captured all the women and children, and carried off everything in the houses.
30Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me; now the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and everybody else in the land will hate me. I haven't many men; if they all band together against me and attack me, our whole family will be destroyed.”
31But they answered, “We cannot let our sister be treated like a common whore.”
Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Genesis 34
34
Dinah Is Attacked
1Dinah was the daughter of Leah and Jacob. At this time Dinah went out to visit the women of that land. 2Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that land, saw Dinah. He took her and raped her. 3Shechem fell in love with Dinah, and he spoke kindly to her. 4He told his father, Hamor, “Please get this girl for me so I can marry her.”
5Jacob learned how Shechem had disgraced his daughter. But Jacob’s sons were out in the field with the cattle. So Jacob said nothing until they came home. 6And Hamor father of Shechem went to talk with Jacob.
7When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they came in from the field. They were very angry, because Shechem had done such a wicked thing to Israel. It was wrong for him to have raped Jacob’s daughter. A thing like this should not be done.
8But Hamor talked to the brothers of Dinah. He said, “My son Shechem is deeply in love with Dinah. Please let him marry her. 9Marry our people. Give your women to our men as wives. And take our women for your men as wives. 10You can live in the same land with us. You will be free to own land and to trade here.”
11Shechem also talked to Jacob and to Dinah’s brothers. He said, “Please accept my offer. I will give anything you ask. 12Ask as much as you want for the payment for the bride. I will give it to you. Just let me marry Dinah.”
13The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father with lies. They were angry because Shechem had disgraced their sister Dinah. 14The brothers said to them, “We cannot allow you to marry our sister. You are not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 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 live in your land and become one people. 17If you refuse to be circumcised, we will take Dinah and leave.”
18What they asked seemed fair to Hamor and Shechem. 19So Shechem went quickly to be circumcised because he loved Jacob’s daughter.
Now Shechem was the most respected man in his family. 20So Hamor and Shechem went to the gate of their city. They spoke to the men of their city. They said, 21“These people want to be friends with us. So let them live in our land and trade here. There is enough land for all of us. Let us marry their women. And we can let them marry our women. 22But our men must agree to one thing. All our men must agree to be circumcised as they are. Then they will agree to live in our land. And we will be one people. 23If we do this, their cattle and their animals will belong to us. Let us do what they say, and they will stay in our land.” 24All the men who had come to the city gate heard this. And they agreed with Hamor and Shechem. And every man was circumcised.
25Three days later the men who were circumcised were still in pain. Two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi (Dinah’s brothers), took their swords. They made a surprise attack on the city. And they killed all the men there. 26Simeon and Levi killed Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and left. 27Jacob’s sons went among the dead bodies and stole everything that was in the city. This was to pay them back for what Shechem had done to their sister. 28So the brothers took the flocks, herds and donkeys. And they took everything in the city and in the fields. 29They took every valuable thing those people owned. They even took the wives and children and everything that was in the houses.
30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have caused me a lot of trouble. Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites who live in the land will hate me. There are only a few of us. If they join together to attack us, my people and I will be destroyed.”
31But the brothers said, “We will not allow our sister to be treated like a prostitute.”
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.