After Dinah is defiled, Jacob’s house responds not with holy justice but with deceit and violent vengeance, exposing how covenant identity can be invoked with unclean hands when hearts are not governed by God.
Text Size
Genesis 34
Dinah Is Defiled, Shechem Is Deceived, and Jacob’s House Is Exposed in Violent Covenant Confusion
After Dinah is defiled, Jacob’s house responds not with holy justice but with deceit and violent vengeance, exposing how covenant identity can be invoked with unclean hands when hearts are not governed by God.
Reading a chapter
What this page is: Each chapter page shows the big idea, the argument flow, key original-language terms, doctrine connections, and passage units, all in one place.
How to use it: Start with the Overview tab to get the chapter's main point. Then move to Passages to study individual units, or Language to trace key terms.
Going deeper: The Doctrines and Motifs tabs show how this chapter connects to the broader biblical story.
Chapter Summary
After Dinah is defiled, Jacob’s house responds not with holy justice but with deceit and violent vengeance, exposing how covenant identity can be invoked with unclean hands when hearts are not governed by God.
Overview
Genesis 34 teaches that covenant identity, when severed from covenant holiness, can be weaponized in sinful ways, and that outrage over real evil does not justify deceit, revenge, and indiscriminate violence. The chapter begins with a true atrocity. Dinah is violated and humiliated, and the narrative does not soften that fact. Shechem’s later desire to marry her and His emotional attachment do not undo the moral seriousness of what He has done.
The sons of Jacob are therefore right to be grieved and enraged. The problem is not that they care about the dishonor done, but that they respond through treachery and slaughter. Their appeal to circumcision is especially horrifying, because they use a covenant sign, something belonging to God’s holy relationship with His people, as a trap for murder. In doing so, they do not uphold covenant holiness, they desecrate it.
Hamor and Shechem, on the other side, also expose the danger of assimilation. Their proposal of intermarriage, trade, and common life is not framed around repentance before God or covenant truth, but around merger, possession, and gain. The men of the city are persuaded by economic self-interest, not moral transformation. Jacob’s role in the chapter is troubling for a different reason.
He is initially silent, and when He finally speaks at the end, His protest is focused on danger and reputation more than on moral outrage or covenant defilement. Thus the chapter is morally bleak on every side. Yet this very darkness serves a theological purpose. It shows that the covenant family is in desperate need of purification, that proximity to the sign does not equal holiness, and that divine election does not excuse moral corruption.
Thus Genesis 34 argues that real sin must be named as sin, but human vengeance and covenantal hypocrisy only multiply defilement rather than cleanse it.
Genesis 34 follows Jacob’s peaceful arrival in the land and His altar-building in Genesis 33, and it shocks the reader by immediately revealing how unstable and morally dangerous the setting still is. Jacob has returned to Canaan under divine preservation, but covenant return does not mean the household is yet spiritually ordered or safe from corruption. This chapter centers on Dinah, the daughter of Leah, and recounts her violation by Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite.
The event becomes the catalyst for a broader crisis involving sexual sin, proposed assimilation, deceit, and bloodshed. Within the flow of Genesis, this chapter is deeply disturbing because no one emerges as morally exemplary. Shechem’s desire does not erase His violence. Hamor’s diplomacy is tied to self-interest and merger. Jacob’s sons respond with deceit and massacre.
Jacob Himself appears passive at first and then fearful of the fallout. The chapter therefore exposes the covenant family as morally compromised even after return to the land. At the same time, it raises urgent questions about covenant identity, intermarriage, holiness, vengeance, and the difference between true zeal and fleshly violence. It is one of the darkest family chapters in Genesis and prepares for the purification movement that will follow in Genesis 35.
Structural Flow
Dinah goes out to see the daughters of the land. Shechem son of Hamor sees her, takes her, lies with her, and humiliates her. Yet His soul is drawn to Dinah, He loves the young woman, speaks tenderly to her, and asks His father to get her for Him as wife.
Jacob hears that Dinah has been defiled, but remains silent until His sons come in from the field. Hamor comes to speak with Jacob. Jacob’s sons are grieved and very angry because Shechem has done an outrageous thing in Israel. Hamor proposes marriage alliance, mutual dwelling, and economic integration. Shechem offers bride-price and gifts if He may have Dinah as wife.
Jacob’s sons answer deceitfully because Shechem had defiled Dinah. They say they cannot give their sister to an uncircumcised man, but if all the males of the city are circumcised, then they will intermarry, dwell together, and become one people.
Hamor and Shechem agree to the proposal and persuade the men of their city, emphasizing the economic gain that will come if Jacob’s household joins them. The men of the city are circumcised.
On the third day, when the men are in pain, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, take swords, kill all the males, slay Hamor and Shechem, take Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and leave. Jacob’s sons then plunder the city, taking flocks, herds, donkeys, wealth, children, and wives because their sister had been defiled.
Jacob rebukes Simeon and Levi for bringing trouble on Him and making Him stink among the inhabitants of the land, fearing retaliation. They answer, 'Should He treat our sister like a prostitute?'
Chapter Outline
- 34:1–4: Dinah goes out to see the daughters of the land. Shechem son of Hamor sees her, takes her, lies with her, and humiliates her. Yet His soul is drawn to Dinah, He loves the young woman, speaks tenderly to her, and asks His father to get her for Him as wife.
- 34:5–12: Jacob hears that Dinah has been defiled, but remains silent until His sons come in from the field. Hamor comes to speak with Jacob. Jacob’s sons are grieved and very angry because Shechem has done an outrageous thing in Israel. Hamor proposes marriage alliance, mutual dwelling, and economic integration. Shechem offers bride-price and gifts if He may have Dinah as wife.
- 34:13–17: Jacob’s sons answer deceitfully because Shechem had defiled Dinah. They say they cannot give their sister to an uncircumcised man, but if all the males of the city are circumcised, then they will intermarry, dwell together, and become one people.
- 34:18–24: Hamor and Shechem agree to the proposal and persuade the men of their city, emphasizing the economic gain that will come if Jacob’s household joins them. The men of the city are circumcised.
- 34:25–29: On the third day, when the men are in pain, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, take swords, kill all the males, slay Hamor and Shechem, take Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and leave. Jacob’s sons then plunder the city, taking flocks, herds, donkeys, wealth, children, and wives because their sister had been defiled.
- 34:30–31: Jacob rebukes Simeon and Levi for bringing trouble on Him and making Him stink among the inhabitants of the land, fearing retaliation. They answer, 'Should He treat our sister like a prostitute?'
Theological Focus
- Covenant Holiness
- Defilement
- Violence and Vengeance
- Misuse of Sacred Signs
- Assimilation Threat
- Household Corruption
- Moral Outrage
- Need for Purification
- Covenant Theology
- Hamartiology
- Holiness
- Justice and Vengeance
- Family Ethics
- Biblical Theology
- Christology Preparation
Covenant Significance
Genesis 34 is covenantally significant because it exposes how fragile and compromised Jacob’s household still is after returning to the land. The chapter reveals that covenant separation from the peoples of the land is a real concern, but it also shows that covenant distinctiveness can be perverted when pursued through deceit and bloodshed. Most strikingly, circumcision, the sign of covenant belonging, is turned into an instrument of ambush.
This is a profound desecration of what God had appointed as holy. The chapter therefore functions as a negative covenant chapter. It does not advance the promise through visible blessing, but exposes the moral pollution that must be addressed if the covenant people are to dwell rightly before God. It prepares directly for the cleansing, burial of foreign gods, and renewed movement to Bethel in Genesis 35.
Canonical Connections
Genesis 34 is covenantally significant because it exposes how fragile and compromised Jacob’s household still is after returning to the land. The chapter reveals that covenant separation from the peoples of the land is a real concern, but it also shows that covenant distinctiveness can be perverted when pursued through deceit and bloodshed. Most strikingly, circumcision, the sign of covenant belonging, is turned into an instrument of ambush.
This is a profound desecration of what God had appointed as holy. The chapter therefore functions as a negative covenant chapter. It does not advance the promise through visible blessing, but exposes the moral pollution that must be addressed if the covenant people are to dwell rightly before God. It prepares directly for the cleansing, burial of foreign gods, and renewed movement to Bethel in Genesis 35.
Genesis 17:9-14
Genesis 33:18-20
Genesis 35:1-5
Deuteronomy 7:1-6
Genesis 49:5-7
Genesis 33:18-20
Genesis 35:1-5
2 Samuel 13:1-29
Genesis 49:5-7
Cross References
Clarifies how the passage points to the gospel of Christ.
Clarifies how the passage points to the gospel of Christ.
Clarifies how the passage points to the gospel of Christ.
Shows Old Testament grounding that frames or supports this passage.
But if the man finds the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die; but to the lady you shall do nothing. There is in the lady no sin worthy of...
Shows Old Testament grounding that frames or supports this passage.
God said to Abraham, “As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male among you...
Shows Old Testament grounding that frames or supports this passage.
“ ‘Don’t defile yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled. The land was defiled. Therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out her inhabitants. You...
Shows Old Testament grounding that frames or supports this passage.
He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly.
Shows Old Testament grounding that frames or supports this passage.
Develops the same theological theme in another location.
Develops the same theological theme in another location.
Develops the same theological theme in another location.
Gospel Clarity
Genesis 34 sharpens the gospel framework by exposing how badly human beings handle both sin and justice. A real atrocity is committed, but the response of the covenant family only multiplies evil through deceit, bloodshed, and desecration of what is holy. The chapter therefore presses the reader to long for a holy Redeemer and a righteous Judge who can confront evil without becoming defiled by it.
In the fullness of Scripture, that righteous one is Jesus Christ, who bears sin, judges truly, and sanctifies His people without deceit, vengeance, or corruption.
Gospel Cross References
Primary Emphasis
Genesis 34 contributes to Christology indirectly by showing the deep need for a righteous covenant representative and a holy form of justice that Jacob’s sons do not possess. The chapter intensifies the Bible’s witness that fallen human beings cannot be trusted to wield holiness, covenant signs, or zeal rightly on their own. Even when they react against real evil, they become agents of greater corruption.
This deepens the longing for the true Israelite, the true Son, who will embody holiness without deceit and justice without sinful vengeance. In the fullness of Scripture, Christ is that righteous representative, the one who confronts evil without uncleanness and who secures holiness for His people without defiling the covenant in the process.
Chapter Contribution
Genesis 34 teaches that covenant identity, when severed from covenant holiness, can be weaponized in sinful ways, and that outrage over real evil does not justify deceit, revenge, and indiscriminate violence. The chapter begins with a true atrocity. Dinah is violated and humiliated, and the narrative does not soften that fact. Shechem’s later desire to marry her and His emotional attachment do not undo the moral seriousness of what He has done.
The sons of Jacob are therefore right to be grieved and enraged. The problem is not that they care about the dishonor done, but that they respond through treachery and slaughter. Their appeal to circumcision is especially horrifying, because they use a covenant sign, something belonging to God’s holy relationship with His people, as a trap for murder. In doing so, they do not uphold covenant holiness, they desecrate it.
Hamor and Shechem, on the other side, also expose the danger of assimilation. Their proposal of intermarriage, trade, and common life is not framed around repentance before God or covenant truth, but around merger, possession, and gain. The men of the city are persuaded by economic self-interest, not moral transformation. Jacob’s role in the chapter is troubling for a different reason.
He is initially silent, and when He finally speaks at the end, His protest is focused on danger and reputation more than on moral outrage or covenant defilement. Thus the chapter is morally bleak on every side. Yet this very darkness serves a theological purpose. It shows that the covenant family is in desperate need of purification, that proximity to the sign does not equal holiness, and that divine election does not excuse moral corruption.
Thus Genesis 34 argues that real sin must be named as sin, but human vengeance and covenantal hypocrisy only multiply defilement rather than cleanse it.
Doctrines in This Chapter
God’s people are not to lose their distinctiveness through assimilation with the surrounding nations.
Human vengeance often exceeds righteousness and becomes its own form of wickedness.
Sexual violence, deceit, revenge, and greed all reveal the pervasive corruption of the human heart.
Passive and fearful leadership leaves space for disorder, rage, and sinful escalation.
Sacred covenant signs must not be misused for manipulation, violence, or self-serving ends.
Reading Lenses
4 Imperatives
- Be circumcised
- Give me the girl as wife
- Become one people with us
- The chapter’s moral force warns instead against using covenant demands deceitfully and against answering sin with corrupt zeal
Key Hebrew Terms
Sense humble, afflict, violate
Definition humble, afflict, violate
Why it matters The verb used of Dinah underscores that what happened to her was not romantic confusion but degrading violation and humiliation.
Sense cling, be attached
Definition cling, be attached
Why it matters Shechem’s soul being attached to Dinah does not erase His prior sin, but it highlights the disturbing moral tension of desire mixed with violence.
Sense outrage, disgraceful thing, folly
Definition outrage, disgraceful thing, folly
Why it matters The sons of Jacob rightly identify Shechem’s act as an outrageous thing in Israel, signaling that the offense is morally and covenantally intolerable.
Sense defile, make unclean
Definition defile, make unclean
Why it matters Though the exact lexeme is not the chapter’s dominant noun, the whole narrative operates under the category of defilement, both sexual and covenantal.
Sense deceit, treachery
Definition deceit, treachery
Why it matters The sons’ answer is explicitly deceitful, exposing that their concern for honor is pursued through morally polluted means.
Sense circumcise
Definition circumcise
Why it matters Circumcision, the covenant sign, is cynically used as a trap in this chapter, revealing a horrifying misuse of what God made holy.
Sense uncircumcised
Definition uncircumcised
Why it matters The sons invoke uncircumcision as a boundary marker, but they do so not reverently but manipulatively, deepening the chapter’s covenant hypocrisy.
Sense one
Definition one
Why it matters The proposal to become 'one people' raises the issue of assimilation and merger with the peoples of the land apart from true covenant holiness.
Sense spoil, plunder
Definition spoil, plunder
Why it matters The plundering of the city reveals that the violence of Simeon and Levi is not limited to avenging Dinah but expands into predatory seizure.
Cross-language bridge 1 link · View in lexicon
Sense trouble, bring ruin, make odious
Definition trouble, bring ruin, make odious
Why it matters Jacob’s rebuke that Simeon and Levi have brought trouble on Him shows His recognition that their vengeance has endangered the covenant household among the peoples of the land.
Sense act as prostitute, treat as sexually disposable
Definition act as prostitute, treat as sexually disposable
Why it matters The brothers’ final rhetorical question expresses their outrage, but it also shows how moral truth can be spoken from hearts already corrupted by revenge.
Lexicon data: MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML (CC0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (CC BY 4.0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon (CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible Data (CC BY 4.0) · Full details
Commentary (Keil & Delitzsch)
C.F. Keil & F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–91) — public domain
Warnings and Misreadings
- Genesis 34 warns that real injustice can become the occasion for even greater wickedness when people use holy identity, holy signs, and moral outrage as cover for deceit, revenge, and violence.
- Treating Shechem’s later affection and marriage proposal as though they lessen the evil of Dinah’s violation, when the text clearly presents the act as disgraceful and defiling.
- Reading Simeon and Levi as heroes of honor rather than seeing that their deceit and massacre are morally condemned later in Genesis and are already exposed here as disproportionate and corrupt.
- Assuming the chapter endorses the use of circumcision as a test of sincerity, when in fact the sign is being cynically weaponized for murder.
- Reducing Jacob’s final concern to prudence alone and missing how little moral leadership He displays throughout the chapter.
- Treating the issue only as one of intermarriage while ignoring sexual violence, vengeance, plunder, and covenant hypocrisy.
- Ignoring the connection to Genesis 35, where the need for purification becomes explicit after the uncleanness exposed here.
Discipleship Questions
- How do You respond when You witness real evil, and where are You tempted to justify sinful methods because the original wrong was serious?
- Have You ever used something holy, biblical language, spiritual identity, or righteous anger, as a cover for pride, control, or revenge?
- What does this chapter expose about the danger of being covenant-marked outwardly while remaining morally ungoverned inwardly?
- Where might silence, passivity, or delayed leadership be allowing corruption to spread in a family, church, or community setting?
- How does this chapter deepen Your sense that God’s people need cleansing, not merely zeal?
Pastoral Applications
- Preach Genesis 34 with moral clarity, naming both Dinah’s defilement and the sinful vengeance of Jacob’s sons without collapsing one into the other.
- Use the chapter to teach that righteous indignation is not the same as righteous action, and that zeal can become defiled when it is not governed by God.
- Warn the church against weaponizing covenant signs, sacred language, or theological truth for partisan, personal, or violent ends.
- Address leadership passivity through Jacob’s silence and limited final response, showing that failures of timely shepherding can deepen household disorder.
- Help believers recognize the danger of assimilation to the surrounding world, especially when the lure comes through gain, merger, and social advantage.
- Use the chapter to prepare hearts for the necessity of repentance and cleansing, because the people of God are not merely threatened from outside but corrupted from within.
- Offer pastoral space for lament over violated justice while insisting that vengeance without holiness never restores what sin has broken.
Pastoral Trajectories
Genesis 34 sharpens the gospel framework by exposing how badly human beings handle both sin and justice. A real atrocity is committed, but the response of the covenant family only multiplies evil through deceit, bloodshed, and desecration of what is holy. The chapter therefore presses the reader to long for a holy Redeemer and a righteous Judge who can confront evil without becoming defiled by it.
In the fullness of Scripture, that righteous one is Jesus Christ, who bears sin, judges truly, and sanctifies His people without deceit, vengeance, or corruption.
Genesis 34 sharpens the gospel framework by exposing how badly human beings handle both sin and justice. A real atrocity is committed, but the response of the covenant family only multiplies evil through deceit, bloodshed, and desecration of what is holy. The chapter therefore presses the reader to long for a holy Redeemer and a righteous Judge who can confront evil without becoming defiled by it.
In the fullness of Scripture, that righteous one is Jesus Christ, who bears sin, judges truly, and sanctifies His people without deceit, vengeance, or corruption.
Genesis 34 sharpens the gospel framework by exposing how badly human beings handle both sin and justice. A real atrocity is committed, but the response of the covenant family only multiplies evil through deceit, bloodshed, and desecration of what is holy. The chapter therefore presses the reader to long for a holy Redeemer and a righteous Judge who can confront evil without becoming defiled by it.
In the fullness of Scripture, that righteous one is Jesus Christ, who bears sin, judges truly, and sanctifies His people without deceit, vengeance, or corruption.
Genesis 34 sharpens the gospel framework by exposing how badly human beings handle both sin and justice. A real atrocity is committed, but the response of the covenant family only multiplies evil through deceit, bloodshed, and desecration of what is holy. The chapter therefore presses the reader to long for a holy Redeemer and a righteous Judge who can confront evil without becoming defiled by it.
In the fullness of Scripture, that righteous one is Jesus Christ, who bears sin, judges truly, and sanctifies His people without deceit, vengeance, or corruption.
Genesis 34 sharpens the gospel framework by exposing how badly human beings handle both sin and justice. A real atrocity is committed, but the response of the covenant family only multiplies evil through deceit, bloodshed, and desecration of what is holy. The chapter therefore presses the reader to long for a holy Redeemer and a righteous Judge who can confront evil without becoming defiled by it.
In the fullness of Scripture, that righteous one is Jesus Christ, who bears sin, judges truly, and sanctifies His people without deceit, vengeance, or corruption.
Imperatives
4
High
Imperative Themes
- Be circumcised
- Give me the girl as wife
- Become one people with us
- The chapter’s moral force warns instead against using covenant demands deceitfully and against answering sin with corrupt zeal
Motifs in This Chapter
The Biblical World
Chapter At A Glance
Genesis 34 is covenantally significant because it exposes how fragile and compromised Jacob’s household still is after returning to the land. The chapter reveals that covenant separation from the peoples of the land is a real concern, but it also shows that covenant distinctiveness can be perverted when pursued through deceit and bloodshed. Most strikingly, circumcision, the sign of covenant belonging, is turned into an instrument of ambush.
This is a profound desecration of what God had appointed as holy. The chapter therefore functions as a negative covenant chapter. It does not advance the promise through visible blessing, but exposes the moral pollution that must be addressed if the covenant people are to dwell rightly before God. It prepares directly for the cleansing, burial of foreign gods, and renewed movement to Bethel in Genesis 35.
Genesis 34 sharpens the gospel framework by exposing how badly human beings handle both sin and justice. A real atrocity is committed, but the response of the covenant family only multiplies evil through deceit, bloodshed, and desecration of what is holy. The chapter therefore presses the reader to long for a holy Redeemer and a righteous Judge who can confront evil without becoming defiled by it.
In the fullness of Scripture, that righteous one is Jesus Christ, who bears sin, judges truly, and sanctifies His people without deceit, vengeance, or corruption.
Focus Points
- Covenant Holiness
- Defilement
- Violence and Vengeance
- Misuse of Sacred Signs
- Assimilation Threat
- Household Corruption
- Moral Outrage
- Need for Purification
- Covenant Theology
- Hamartiology
- Holiness
- Justice and Vengeance
- Family Ethics
- Biblical Theology
- Christology Preparation
Cross References
God said to Abraham, “As for You, You will keep my covenant, You and Your offspring after You throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which You shall keep, between me and You and Your offspring after You. Every male among You shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of Your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between...
Old Testament foundation
Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when He came from Paddan Aram; and encamped before the city. He bought the parcel of ground where He had spread His tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.
Old Testament foundation
God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to You when You fled from the face of Esau Your brother.” Then Jacob said to His household, and to all who were with Him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among You, purify Yourselves, change Your garments. Let’s arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make...
Old Testament foundation
When Yahweh Your God brings You into the land where You go to possess it, and casts out many nations before You—the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—seven nations greater and mightier than You; and when Yahweh Your God delivers them up before You, and You strike them, then You shall utterly...
Old Testament foundation
“Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence. My soul, don’t come into their council. My glory, don’t be united to their assembly; for in their anger they killed men. In their self-will they hamstrung cattle. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in...
Old Testament foundation
For the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.
Gospel resolution
For circumcision indeed profits, if You are a doer of the law, but if You are a transgressor of the law, Your circumcision has become uncircumcision. If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t His uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision? Won’t the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfills the law, judge You, who with...
Gospel resolution
Therefore remember that once You, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision” (in the flesh, made by hands), that You were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in...
Gospel resolution
Who didn’t sin, “neither was deceit found in His mouth.” When He was cursed, He didn’t curse back. When He suffered, He didn’t threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by His wounds.
Gospel resolution
I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but He Himself. He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called “The Word...
Gospel resolution
Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when He came from Paddan Aram; and encamped before the city. He bought the parcel of ground where He had spread His tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.
Thematic parallel
God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to You when You fled from the face of Esau Your brother.” Then Jacob said to His household, and to all who were with Him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among You, purify Yourselves, change Your garments. Let’s arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make...
Thematic parallel
After this, Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. Amnon was so troubled that He became sick because of His sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her. But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother; and...
Thematic parallel
“Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence. My soul, don’t come into their council. My glory, don’t be united to their assembly; for in their anger they killed men. In their self-will they hamstrung cattle. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in...
Thematic parallel
Passages
Chapter opening: Genesis 34:1-31
Gen 34:1-2 During their stay at Shechem, Dinah , Jacob’s daughter by Leah, went out one day to see, i. e. , to make the acquaintance of the daughters of the land; when Shechem the Hivite, the son of the prince, took her with him and seduced her. Dinah was probably between 13 and 15 at the time, and had attained perfect maturity; for this is often the case in the East at the age of 12, and sometimes earlier.
There is no ground for supposing her to have been younger. Even if she was born after Joseph, and not till the end of Jacob’s 14 years’ service with Laban, and therefore was only five years old when they left Mesopotamia, eight or ten years may have passed since then, as Jacob may easily have spent from eight to eleven years in Succoth, where he had built a house, and Shechem, where he had bought “a parcel of a field.
” But she cannot have been older; for, according to Gen 37:2, Joseph was sold by his brethren when he was 17 years old, i. e. , in the 11th year after Jacob’s return from Mesopotamia, as he was born in the 14th year of Jacob’s service with Laban (cf. Gen 30:24). In the interim between Dinah’s seduction and the sale of Joseph there occurred nothing but Jacob’s journey from Shechem to Bethel and thence to Ephratah, in the neighbourhood of which Benjamin was born and Rachel died, and his arrival in Hebron (Gen 35).
This may all have taken place within a single year. Jacob was till at Hebron, when Joseph was sent to Shechem and sold by his brethren (Gen 37:14); and Isaac’s death did not happen for 12 years afterwards, although it is mentioned in connection with the account of Jacob’s arrival at Hebron (Gen 35:27.)
Gen 34:1-2 During their stay at Shechem, Dinah , Jacob’s daughter by Leah, went out one day to see, i. e. , to make the acquaintance of the daughters of the land; when Shechem the Hivite, the son of the prince, took her with him and seduced her. Dinah was probably between 13 and 15 at the time, and had attained perfect maturity; for this is often the case in the East at the age of 12, and sometimes earlier.
There is no ground for supposing her to have been younger. Even if she was born after Joseph, and not till the end of Jacob’s 14 years’ service with Laban, and therefore was only five years old when they left Mesopotamia, eight or ten years may have passed since then, as Jacob may easily have spent from eight to eleven years in Succoth, where he had built a house, and Shechem, where he had bought “a parcel of a field.
” But she cannot have been older; for, according to Gen 37:2, Joseph was sold by his brethren when he was 17 years old, i. e. , in the 11th year after Jacob’s return from Mesopotamia, as he was born in the 14th year of Jacob’s service with Laban (cf. Gen 30:24). In the interim between Dinah’s seduction and the sale of Joseph there occurred nothing but Jacob’s journey from Shechem to Bethel and thence to Ephratah, in the neighbourhood of which Benjamin was born and Rachel died, and his arrival in Hebron (Gen 35).
This may all have taken place within a single year. Jacob was till at Hebron, when Joseph was sent to Shechem and sold by his brethren (Gen 37:14); and Isaac’s death did not happen for 12 years afterwards, although it is mentioned in connection with the account of Jacob’s arrival at Hebron (Gen 35:27.)
Gen 34:3-4 Shechem “ loved the girl, and spoke to her heart; ” i.e., he sought to comfort her by the promise of a happy marriage, and asked his father to obtain her for him as a wife.
Gen 34:3-4 Shechem “ loved the girl, and spoke to her heart; ” i.e., he sought to comfort her by the promise of a happy marriage, and asked his father to obtain her for him as a wife.
Gen 34:5-12 When Jacob heard of the seduction of his daughter, “ he was silent, ” i. e. , he remained quiet, without taking any active proceedings (ex. Gen 14:14; 2Sa 19:11) until his sons came from the field. When they heard of it, they were grieved and burned with wrath at the disgrace. טמּא to defile = to dishonour, disgrace, because it was an uncircumcised man who had seduced her.
“ Because he had wrought folly in Israel, by lying with Jacob’s daughter . ” “To work folly” was a standing phrase for crimes against the honour and calling of Israel as the people of God, especially for shameful sins of the flesh (Deu 22:21; Jdg 20:10; 2Sa 13:2, etc.) ; but it was also applied to other great sins (Jos 7:15). As Jacob had become Israel, the seduction of his daughter was a crime against Israel, which is called folly, inasmuch as the relation of Israel to God was thereby ignored (Psa 14:1).
“ And this ought not to be done: ” יעשׂה potentialis as in Gen 20:9. - Hamor went to Jacob to ask for his daughter (Gen 34:6); but Jacob’s sons reached home at the same time (Gen 34:7), so that Hamor spoke to them (Jacob and his sons). To attain his object Hamor proposed a further intermarriage, unrestricted movement on their part in the land, and that they should dwell there, trade (ἐμπορεύεσθαι), and secure possessions (נאחז settle down securely, as in Gen 47:27).
Shechem also offered (Gen 34:11, Gen 34:12) to give anything they might ask in the form of dowry (מהר not purchase-money, but the usual gift made to the bride, vid. , Gen 24:53) and presents (for the brothers and mother), if they would only give him the damsel.
Gen 34:5-12 When Jacob heard of the seduction of his daughter, “ he was silent, ” i. e. , he remained quiet, without taking any active proceedings (ex. Gen 14:14; 2Sa 19:11) until his sons came from the field. When they heard of it, they were grieved and burned with wrath at the disgrace. טמּא to defile = to dishonour, disgrace, because it was an uncircumcised man who had seduced her.
“ Because he had wrought folly in Israel, by lying with Jacob’s daughter . ” “To work folly” was a standing phrase for crimes against the honour and calling of Israel as the people of God, especially for shameful sins of the flesh (Deu 22:21; Jdg 20:10; 2Sa 13:2, etc.) ; but it was also applied to other great sins (Jos 7:15). As Jacob had become Israel, the seduction of his daughter was a crime against Israel, which is called folly, inasmuch as the relation of Israel to God was thereby ignored (Psa 14:1).
“ And this ought not to be done: ” יעשׂה potentialis as in Gen 20:9. - Hamor went to Jacob to ask for his daughter (Gen 34:6); but Jacob’s sons reached home at the same time (Gen 34:7), so that Hamor spoke to them (Jacob and his sons). To attain his object Hamor proposed a further intermarriage, unrestricted movement on their part in the land, and that they should dwell there, trade (ἐμπορεύεσθαι), and secure possessions (נאחז settle down securely, as in Gen 47:27).
Shechem also offered (Gen 34:11, Gen 34:12) to give anything they might ask in the form of dowry (מהר not purchase-money, but the usual gift made to the bride, vid. , Gen 24:53) and presents (for the brothers and mother), if they would only give him the damsel.
Gen 34:5-12 When Jacob heard of the seduction of his daughter, “ he was silent, ” i. e. , he remained quiet, without taking any active proceedings (ex. Gen 14:14; 2Sa 19:11) until his sons came from the field. When they heard of it, they were grieved and burned with wrath at the disgrace. טמּא to defile = to dishonour, disgrace, because it was an uncircumcised man who had seduced her.
“ Because he had wrought folly in Israel, by lying with Jacob’s daughter . ” “To work folly” was a standing phrase for crimes against the honour and calling of Israel as the people of God, especially for shameful sins of the flesh (Deu 22:21; Jdg 20:10; 2Sa 13:2, etc.) ; but it was also applied to other great sins (Jos 7:15). As Jacob had become Israel, the seduction of his daughter was a crime against Israel, which is called folly, inasmuch as the relation of Israel to God was thereby ignored (Psa 14:1).
“ And this ought not to be done: ” יעשׂה potentialis as in Gen 20:9. - Hamor went to Jacob to ask for his daughter (Gen 34:6); but Jacob’s sons reached home at the same time (Gen 34:7), so that Hamor spoke to them (Jacob and his sons). To attain his object Hamor proposed a further intermarriage, unrestricted movement on their part in the land, and that they should dwell there, trade (ἐμπορεύεσθαι), and secure possessions (נאחז settle down securely, as in Gen 47:27).
Shechem also offered (Gen 34:11, Gen 34:12) to give anything they might ask in the form of dowry (מהר not purchase-money, but the usual gift made to the bride, vid. , Gen 24:53) and presents (for the brothers and mother), if they would only give him the damsel.
Gen 34:5-12 When Jacob heard of the seduction of his daughter, “ he was silent, ” i. e. , he remained quiet, without taking any active proceedings (ex. Gen 14:14; 2Sa 19:11) until his sons came from the field. When they heard of it, they were grieved and burned with wrath at the disgrace. טמּא to defile = to dishonour, disgrace, because it was an uncircumcised man who had seduced her.
“ Because he had wrought folly in Israel, by lying with Jacob’s daughter . ” “To work folly” was a standing phrase for crimes against the honour and calling of Israel as the people of God, especially for shameful sins of the flesh (Deu 22:21; Jdg 20:10; 2Sa 13:2, etc.) ; but it was also applied to other great sins (Jos 7:15). As Jacob had become Israel, the seduction of his daughter was a crime against Israel, which is called folly, inasmuch as the relation of Israel to God was thereby ignored (Psa 14:1).
“ And this ought not to be done: ” יעשׂה potentialis as in Gen 20:9. - Hamor went to Jacob to ask for his daughter (Gen 34:6); but Jacob’s sons reached home at the same time (Gen 34:7), so that Hamor spoke to them (Jacob and his sons). To attain his object Hamor proposed a further intermarriage, unrestricted movement on their part in the land, and that they should dwell there, trade (ἐμπορεύεσθαι), and secure possessions (נאחז settle down securely, as in Gen 47:27).
Shechem also offered (Gen 34:11, Gen 34:12) to give anything they might ask in the form of dowry (מהר not purchase-money, but the usual gift made to the bride, vid. , Gen 24:53) and presents (for the brothers and mother), if they would only give him the damsel.
Gen 34:5-12 When Jacob heard of the seduction of his daughter, “ he was silent, ” i. e. , he remained quiet, without taking any active proceedings (ex. Gen 14:14; 2Sa 19:11) until his sons came from the field. When they heard of it, they were grieved and burned with wrath at the disgrace. טמּא to defile = to dishonour, disgrace, because it was an uncircumcised man who had seduced her.
“ Because he had wrought folly in Israel, by lying with Jacob’s daughter . ” “To work folly” was a standing phrase for crimes against the honour and calling of Israel as the people of God, especially for shameful sins of the flesh (Deu 22:21; Jdg 20:10; 2Sa 13:2, etc.) ; but it was also applied to other great sins (Jos 7:15). As Jacob had become Israel, the seduction of his daughter was a crime against Israel, which is called folly, inasmuch as the relation of Israel to God was thereby ignored (Psa 14:1).
“ And this ought not to be done: ” יעשׂה potentialis as in Gen 20:9. - Hamor went to Jacob to ask for his daughter (Gen 34:6); but Jacob’s sons reached home at the same time (Gen 34:7), so that Hamor spoke to them (Jacob and his sons). To attain his object Hamor proposed a further intermarriage, unrestricted movement on their part in the land, and that they should dwell there, trade (ἐμπορεύεσθαι), and secure possessions (נאחז settle down securely, as in Gen 47:27).
Shechem also offered (Gen 34:11, Gen 34:12) to give anything they might ask in the form of dowry (מהר not purchase-money, but the usual gift made to the bride, vid. , Gen 24:53) and presents (for the brothers and mother), if they would only give him the damsel.
Gen 34:5-12 When Jacob heard of the seduction of his daughter, “ he was silent, ” i. e. , he remained quiet, without taking any active proceedings (ex. Gen 14:14; 2Sa 19:11) until his sons came from the field. When they heard of it, they were grieved and burned with wrath at the disgrace. טמּא to defile = to dishonour, disgrace, because it was an uncircumcised man who had seduced her.
“ Because he had wrought folly in Israel, by lying with Jacob’s daughter . ” “To work folly” was a standing phrase for crimes against the honour and calling of Israel as the people of God, especially for shameful sins of the flesh (Deu 22:21; Jdg 20:10; 2Sa 13:2, etc.) ; but it was also applied to other great sins (Jos 7:15). As Jacob had become Israel, the seduction of his daughter was a crime against Israel, which is called folly, inasmuch as the relation of Israel to God was thereby ignored (Psa 14:1).
“ And this ought not to be done: ” יעשׂה potentialis as in Gen 20:9. - Hamor went to Jacob to ask for his daughter (Gen 34:6); but Jacob’s sons reached home at the same time (Gen 34:7), so that Hamor spoke to them (Jacob and his sons). To attain his object Hamor proposed a further intermarriage, unrestricted movement on their part in the land, and that they should dwell there, trade (ἐμπορεύεσθαι), and secure possessions (נאחז settle down securely, as in Gen 47:27).
Shechem also offered (Gen 34:11, Gen 34:12) to give anything they might ask in the form of dowry (מהר not purchase-money, but the usual gift made to the bride, vid. , Gen 24:53) and presents (for the brothers and mother), if they would only give him the damsel.
Gen 34:5-12 When Jacob heard of the seduction of his daughter, “ he was silent, ” i. e. , he remained quiet, without taking any active proceedings (ex. Gen 14:14; 2Sa 19:11) until his sons came from the field. When they heard of it, they were grieved and burned with wrath at the disgrace. טמּא to defile = to dishonour, disgrace, because it was an uncircumcised man who had seduced her.
“ Because he had wrought folly in Israel, by lying with Jacob’s daughter . ” “To work folly” was a standing phrase for crimes against the honour and calling of Israel as the people of God, especially for shameful sins of the flesh (Deu 22:21; Jdg 20:10; 2Sa 13:2, etc.) ; but it was also applied to other great sins (Jos 7:15). As Jacob had become Israel, the seduction of his daughter was a crime against Israel, which is called folly, inasmuch as the relation of Israel to God was thereby ignored (Psa 14:1).
“ And this ought not to be done: ” יעשׂה potentialis as in Gen 20:9. - Hamor went to Jacob to ask for his daughter (Gen 34:6); but Jacob’s sons reached home at the same time (Gen 34:7), so that Hamor spoke to them (Jacob and his sons). To attain his object Hamor proposed a further intermarriage, unrestricted movement on their part in the land, and that they should dwell there, trade (ἐμπορεύεσθαι), and secure possessions (נאחז settle down securely, as in Gen 47:27).
Shechem also offered (Gen 34:11, Gen 34:12) to give anything they might ask in the form of dowry (מהר not purchase-money, but the usual gift made to the bride, vid. , Gen 24:53) and presents (for the brothers and mother), if they would only give him the damsel.
Gen 34:5-12 When Jacob heard of the seduction of his daughter, “ he was silent, ” i. e. , he remained quiet, without taking any active proceedings (ex. Gen 14:14; 2Sa 19:11) until his sons came from the field. When they heard of it, they were grieved and burned with wrath at the disgrace. טמּא to defile = to dishonour, disgrace, because it was an uncircumcised man who had seduced her.
“ Because he had wrought folly in Israel, by lying with Jacob’s daughter . ” “To work folly” was a standing phrase for crimes against the honour and calling of Israel as the people of God, especially for shameful sins of the flesh (Deu 22:21; Jdg 20:10; 2Sa 13:2, etc.) ; but it was also applied to other great sins (Jos 7:15). As Jacob had become Israel, the seduction of his daughter was a crime against Israel, which is called folly, inasmuch as the relation of Israel to God was thereby ignored (Psa 14:1).
“ And this ought not to be done: ” יעשׂה potentialis as in Gen 20:9. - Hamor went to Jacob to ask for his daughter (Gen 34:6); but Jacob’s sons reached home at the same time (Gen 34:7), so that Hamor spoke to them (Jacob and his sons). To attain his object Hamor proposed a further intermarriage, unrestricted movement on their part in the land, and that they should dwell there, trade (ἐμπορεύεσθαι), and secure possessions (נאחז settle down securely, as in Gen 47:27).
Shechem also offered (Gen 34:11, Gen 34:12) to give anything they might ask in the form of dowry (מהר not purchase-money, but the usual gift made to the bride, vid. , Gen 24:53) and presents (for the brothers and mother), if they would only give him the damsel.
Gen 34:13-17 Attractive as these offers of the Hivite prince and his son were, they were declined by Jacob’s sons, who had the chief voice in the question of their sister’s marriage (vid. , Gen 24:50). And they were quite right; for, by accepting them, they would have violated the sacred call of Israel and his seed, and sacrificed the promises of Jehovah to Mammon.
But they did it in a wrong way; for “ they answered with deceit and acted from behind ” (וידבּרוּ בּמרמה: דּבּר) is to be rendered dolos struxit; דּברים דּבּר would be the expression for “giving mere words,” Hos 10:4; vid. , Ges. thes .) , “ because he had defiled Dinah their sister . ” They told him that they could not give their sister to an uncircumcised man, because this would be a reproach to them; and the only condition upon which they would consent (נאות imperf.
Niph. of אוּת) was, that the Shechemites should all be circumcised; otherwise they would take their sister and go.
Gen 34:13-17 Attractive as these offers of the Hivite prince and his son were, they were declined by Jacob’s sons, who had the chief voice in the question of their sister’s marriage (vid. , Gen 24:50). And they were quite right; for, by accepting them, they would have violated the sacred call of Israel and his seed, and sacrificed the promises of Jehovah to Mammon.
But they did it in a wrong way; for “ they answered with deceit and acted from behind ” (וידבּרוּ בּמרמה: דּבּר) is to be rendered dolos struxit; דּברים דּבּר would be the expression for “giving mere words,” Hos 10:4; vid. , Ges. thes .) , “ because he had defiled Dinah their sister . ” They told him that they could not give their sister to an uncircumcised man, because this would be a reproach to them; and the only condition upon which they would consent (נאות imperf.
Niph. of אוּת) was, that the Shechemites should all be circumcised; otherwise they would take their sister and go.
Gen 34:13-17 Attractive as these offers of the Hivite prince and his son were, they were declined by Jacob’s sons, who had the chief voice in the question of their sister’s marriage (vid. , Gen 24:50). And they were quite right; for, by accepting them, they would have violated the sacred call of Israel and his seed, and sacrificed the promises of Jehovah to Mammon.
But they did it in a wrong way; for “ they answered with deceit and acted from behind ” (וידבּרוּ בּמרמה: דּבּר) is to be rendered dolos struxit; דּברים דּבּר would be the expression for “giving mere words,” Hos 10:4; vid. , Ges. thes .) , “ because he had defiled Dinah their sister . ” They told him that they could not give their sister to an uncircumcised man, because this would be a reproach to them; and the only condition upon which they would consent (נאות imperf.
Niph. of אוּת) was, that the Shechemites should all be circumcised; otherwise they would take their sister and go.
Gen 34:13-17 Attractive as these offers of the Hivite prince and his son were, they were declined by Jacob’s sons, who had the chief voice in the question of their sister’s marriage (vid. , Gen 24:50). And they were quite right; for, by accepting them, they would have violated the sacred call of Israel and his seed, and sacrificed the promises of Jehovah to Mammon.
But they did it in a wrong way; for “ they answered with deceit and acted from behind ” (וידבּרוּ בּמרמה: דּבּר) is to be rendered dolos struxit; דּברים דּבּר would be the expression for “giving mere words,” Hos 10:4; vid. , Ges. thes .) , “ because he had defiled Dinah their sister . ” They told him that they could not give their sister to an uncircumcised man, because this would be a reproach to them; and the only condition upon which they would consent (נאות imperf.
Niph. of אוּת) was, that the Shechemites should all be circumcised; otherwise they would take their sister and go.
Gen 34:13-17 Attractive as these offers of the Hivite prince and his son were, they were declined by Jacob’s sons, who had the chief voice in the question of their sister’s marriage (vid. , Gen 24:50). And they were quite right; for, by accepting them, they would have violated the sacred call of Israel and his seed, and sacrificed the promises of Jehovah to Mammon.
But they did it in a wrong way; for “ they answered with deceit and acted from behind ” (וידבּרוּ בּמרמה: דּבּר) is to be rendered dolos struxit; דּברים דּבּר would be the expression for “giving mere words,” Hos 10:4; vid. , Ges. thes .) , “ because he had defiled Dinah their sister . ” They told him that they could not give their sister to an uncircumcised man, because this would be a reproach to them; and the only condition upon which they would consent (נאות imperf.
Niph. of אוּת) was, that the Shechemites should all be circumcised; otherwise they would take their sister and go.
Gen 34:18-24 The condition seemed reasonable to the two suitors, and by way of setting a good example, “ the young man did not delay to do this word, ” i. e. , to submit to circumcision, “ as he was honoured before all his father’s house . ” This is stated by anticipation in Gen 34:19; but before submitting to the operation, he went with his father to the gate, the place of public assembly, to lay the matter before the citizens of the town.
They knew so well how to make the condition palatable, by a graphic description of the wealth of Jacob and his family, and by expatiating upon the advantages of being united with them, that the Shechemites consented to the proposal. שׁלמים: integri , people whose bearing is unexceptionable. “ And the land, behold broad on both sides it is before them, ” i. e.
, it offers space enough in every direction for them to wander about with their flocks. And then the gain: “ Their cattle, and their possessions, and their beasts of burden... shall they not be ours? ” מקנה is used here for flocks and herds, בּהמה for beasts of burden, viz. , camels and asses (cf. Num 32:26). But notwithstanding the advantages here pointed out, the readiness of all the citizens of Shechem (vid.
, Gen 23:10) to consent to be circumcised, could only be satisfactorily explained from the fact that this religious rite was already customary in different nations (according to Herod . 2, 104, among the Egyptians and Colchians), as an act of religious or priestly consecration.
Gen 34:18-24 The condition seemed reasonable to the two suitors, and by way of setting a good example, “ the young man did not delay to do this word, ” i. e. , to submit to circumcision, “ as he was honoured before all his father’s house . ” This is stated by anticipation in Gen 34:19; but before submitting to the operation, he went with his father to the gate, the place of public assembly, to lay the matter before the citizens of the town.
They knew so well how to make the condition palatable, by a graphic description of the wealth of Jacob and his family, and by expatiating upon the advantages of being united with them, that the Shechemites consented to the proposal. שׁלמים: integri , people whose bearing is unexceptionable. “ And the land, behold broad on both sides it is before them, ” i. e.
, it offers space enough in every direction for them to wander about with their flocks. And then the gain: “ Their cattle, and their possessions, and their beasts of burden... shall they not be ours? ” מקנה is used here for flocks and herds, בּהמה for beasts of burden, viz. , camels and asses (cf. Num 32:26). But notwithstanding the advantages here pointed out, the readiness of all the citizens of Shechem (vid.
, Gen 23:10) to consent to be circumcised, could only be satisfactorily explained from the fact that this religious rite was already customary in different nations (according to Herod . 2, 104, among the Egyptians and Colchians), as an act of religious or priestly consecration.
Gen 34:18-24 The condition seemed reasonable to the two suitors, and by way of setting a good example, “ the young man did not delay to do this word, ” i. e. , to submit to circumcision, “ as he was honoured before all his father’s house . ” This is stated by anticipation in Gen 34:19; but before submitting to the operation, he went with his father to the gate, the place of public assembly, to lay the matter before the citizens of the town.
They knew so well how to make the condition palatable, by a graphic description of the wealth of Jacob and his family, and by expatiating upon the advantages of being united with them, that the Shechemites consented to the proposal. שׁלמים: integri , people whose bearing is unexceptionable. “ And the land, behold broad on both sides it is before them, ” i. e.
, it offers space enough in every direction for them to wander about with their flocks. And then the gain: “ Their cattle, and their possessions, and their beasts of burden... shall they not be ours? ” מקנה is used here for flocks and herds, בּהמה for beasts of burden, viz. , camels and asses (cf. Num 32:26). But notwithstanding the advantages here pointed out, the readiness of all the citizens of Shechem (vid.
, Gen 23:10) to consent to be circumcised, could only be satisfactorily explained from the fact that this religious rite was already customary in different nations (according to Herod . 2, 104, among the Egyptians and Colchians), as an act of religious or priestly consecration.
Gen 34:18-24 The condition seemed reasonable to the two suitors, and by way of setting a good example, “ the young man did not delay to do this word, ” i. e. , to submit to circumcision, “ as he was honoured before all his father’s house . ” This is stated by anticipation in Gen 34:19; but before submitting to the operation, he went with his father to the gate, the place of public assembly, to lay the matter before the citizens of the town.
They knew so well how to make the condition palatable, by a graphic description of the wealth of Jacob and his family, and by expatiating upon the advantages of being united with them, that the Shechemites consented to the proposal. שׁלמים: integri , people whose bearing is unexceptionable. “ And the land, behold broad on both sides it is before them, ” i. e.
, it offers space enough in every direction for them to wander about with their flocks. And then the gain: “ Their cattle, and their possessions, and their beasts of burden... shall they not be ours? ” מקנה is used here for flocks and herds, בּהמה for beasts of burden, viz. , camels and asses (cf. Num 32:26). But notwithstanding the advantages here pointed out, the readiness of all the citizens of Shechem (vid.
, Gen 23:10) to consent to be circumcised, could only be satisfactorily explained from the fact that this religious rite was already customary in different nations (according to Herod . 2, 104, among the Egyptians and Colchians), as an act of religious or priestly consecration.
Gen 34:18-24 The condition seemed reasonable to the two suitors, and by way of setting a good example, “ the young man did not delay to do this word, ” i. e. , to submit to circumcision, “ as he was honoured before all his father’s house . ” This is stated by anticipation in Gen 34:19; but before submitting to the operation, he went with his father to the gate, the place of public assembly, to lay the matter before the citizens of the town.
They knew so well how to make the condition palatable, by a graphic description of the wealth of Jacob and his family, and by expatiating upon the advantages of being united with them, that the Shechemites consented to the proposal. שׁלמים: integri , people whose bearing is unexceptionable. “ And the land, behold broad on both sides it is before them, ” i. e.
, it offers space enough in every direction for them to wander about with their flocks. And then the gain: “ Their cattle, and their possessions, and their beasts of burden... shall they not be ours? ” מקנה is used here for flocks and herds, בּהמה for beasts of burden, viz. , camels and asses (cf. Num 32:26). But notwithstanding the advantages here pointed out, the readiness of all the citizens of Shechem (vid.
, Gen 23:10) to consent to be circumcised, could only be satisfactorily explained from the fact that this religious rite was already customary in different nations (according to Herod . 2, 104, among the Egyptians and Colchians), as an act of religious or priestly consecration.
Gen 34:18-24 The condition seemed reasonable to the two suitors, and by way of setting a good example, “ the young man did not delay to do this word, ” i. e. , to submit to circumcision, “ as he was honoured before all his father’s house . ” This is stated by anticipation in Gen 34:19; but before submitting to the operation, he went with his father to the gate, the place of public assembly, to lay the matter before the citizens of the town.
They knew so well how to make the condition palatable, by a graphic description of the wealth of Jacob and his family, and by expatiating upon the advantages of being united with them, that the Shechemites consented to the proposal. שׁלמים: integri , people whose bearing is unexceptionable. “ And the land, behold broad on both sides it is before them, ” i. e.
, it offers space enough in every direction for them to wander about with their flocks. And then the gain: “ Their cattle, and their possessions, and their beasts of burden... shall they not be ours? ” מקנה is used here for flocks and herds, בּהמה for beasts of burden, viz. , camels and asses (cf. Num 32:26). But notwithstanding the advantages here pointed out, the readiness of all the citizens of Shechem (vid.
, Gen 23:10) to consent to be circumcised, could only be satisfactorily explained from the fact that this religious rite was already customary in different nations (according to Herod . 2, 104, among the Egyptians and Colchians), as an act of religious or priestly consecration.
Gen 34:18-24 The condition seemed reasonable to the two suitors, and by way of setting a good example, “ the young man did not delay to do this word, ” i. e. , to submit to circumcision, “ as he was honoured before all his father’s house . ” This is stated by anticipation in Gen 34:19; but before submitting to the operation, he went with his father to the gate, the place of public assembly, to lay the matter before the citizens of the town.
They knew so well how to make the condition palatable, by a graphic description of the wealth of Jacob and his family, and by expatiating upon the advantages of being united with them, that the Shechemites consented to the proposal. שׁלמים: integri , people whose bearing is unexceptionable. “ And the land, behold broad on both sides it is before them, ” i. e.
, it offers space enough in every direction for them to wander about with their flocks. And then the gain: “ Their cattle, and their possessions, and their beasts of burden... shall they not be ours? ” מקנה is used here for flocks and herds, בּהמה for beasts of burden, viz. , camels and asses (cf. Num 32:26). But notwithstanding the advantages here pointed out, the readiness of all the citizens of Shechem (vid.
, Gen 23:10) to consent to be circumcised, could only be satisfactorily explained from the fact that this religious rite was already customary in different nations (according to Herod . 2, 104, among the Egyptians and Colchians), as an act of religious or priestly consecration.
Gen 34:25-29 But on the third day, when the Shechemites were thoroughly prostrated by the painful effects of the operation, Simeon and Levi (with their servants of course) fell upon the town בּטח (i. e. , while the people were off their guard, as in Eze 30:9), slew all the males, including Hamor and Shechem, with the edge of the sword, i. e. , without quarter (Num 21:24; Jos 10:28, etc.)
, and brought back their sister. The sons of Jacob then plundered the town, and carried off all the cattle in the town and in the fields, and all their possessions, including the women and the children in their houses. By the sons of Jacob (Gen 34:27) we are not to understand the rest of his sons to the exclusion of Simeon, Levi, and even Reuben, as Delitzsch supposes, but all his sons.
For the supposition, that Simeon and Levi were content with taking their murderous revenge, and had no share in the plunder, is neither probable in itself nor reconcilable with what Jacob said on his death-bed (Gen 49:5-7, observe שׁור עקּרוּ) about this very crime; nor can it be inferred from ויּצאוּ in Gen 34:26, for this relates merely to their going away from the house of the two princes, not to their leaving Shechem altogether. The abrupt way in which the plundering is linked on to the slaughter of all the males, without any copulative Vav , gives to the account the character of indignation at so revolting a crime; and this is also shown in the verbosity of the description.
The absence of the copula is not to be accounted for by the hypothesis that Gen 34:27-29 are interpolated; for an interpolator might have supplied the missing link by a vav, just as well as the lxx and other ancient translators.
Gen 34:25-29 But on the third day, when the Shechemites were thoroughly prostrated by the painful effects of the operation, Simeon and Levi (with their servants of course) fell upon the town בּטח (i. e. , while the people were off their guard, as in Eze 30:9), slew all the males, including Hamor and Shechem, with the edge of the sword, i. e. , without quarter (Num 21:24; Jos 10:28, etc.)
, and brought back their sister. The sons of Jacob then plundered the town, and carried off all the cattle in the town and in the fields, and all their possessions, including the women and the children in their houses. By the sons of Jacob (Gen 34:27) we are not to understand the rest of his sons to the exclusion of Simeon, Levi, and even Reuben, as Delitzsch supposes, but all his sons.
For the supposition, that Simeon and Levi were content with taking their murderous revenge, and had no share in the plunder, is neither probable in itself nor reconcilable with what Jacob said on his death-bed (Gen 49:5-7, observe שׁור עקּרוּ) about this very crime; nor can it be inferred from ויּצאוּ in Gen 34:26, for this relates merely to their going away from the house of the two princes, not to their leaving Shechem altogether. The abrupt way in which the plundering is linked on to the slaughter of all the males, without any copulative Vav , gives to the account the character of indignation at so revolting a crime; and this is also shown in the verbosity of the description.
The absence of the copula is not to be accounted for by the hypothesis that Gen 34:27-29 are interpolated; for an interpolator might have supplied the missing link by a vav, just as well as the lxx and other ancient translators.
Gen 34:25-29 But on the third day, when the Shechemites were thoroughly prostrated by the painful effects of the operation, Simeon and Levi (with their servants of course) fell upon the town בּטח (i. e. , while the people were off their guard, as in Eze 30:9), slew all the males, including Hamor and Shechem, with the edge of the sword, i. e. , without quarter (Num 21:24; Jos 10:28, etc.)
, and brought back their sister. The sons of Jacob then plundered the town, and carried off all the cattle in the town and in the fields, and all their possessions, including the women and the children in their houses. By the sons of Jacob (Gen 34:27) we are not to understand the rest of his sons to the exclusion of Simeon, Levi, and even Reuben, as Delitzsch supposes, but all his sons.
For the supposition, that Simeon and Levi were content with taking their murderous revenge, and had no share in the plunder, is neither probable in itself nor reconcilable with what Jacob said on his death-bed (Gen 49:5-7, observe שׁור עקּרוּ) about this very crime; nor can it be inferred from ויּצאוּ in Gen 34:26, for this relates merely to their going away from the house of the two princes, not to their leaving Shechem altogether. The abrupt way in which the plundering is linked on to the slaughter of all the males, without any copulative Vav , gives to the account the character of indignation at so revolting a crime; and this is also shown in the verbosity of the description.
The absence of the copula is not to be accounted for by the hypothesis that Gen 34:27-29 are interpolated; for an interpolator might have supplied the missing link by a vav, just as well as the lxx and other ancient translators.
Gen 34:25-29 But on the third day, when the Shechemites were thoroughly prostrated by the painful effects of the operation, Simeon and Levi (with their servants of course) fell upon the town בּטח (i. e. , while the people were off their guard, as in Eze 30:9), slew all the males, including Hamor and Shechem, with the edge of the sword, i. e. , without quarter (Num 21:24; Jos 10:28, etc.)
, and brought back their sister. The sons of Jacob then plundered the town, and carried off all the cattle in the town and in the fields, and all their possessions, including the women and the children in their houses. By the sons of Jacob (Gen 34:27) we are not to understand the rest of his sons to the exclusion of Simeon, Levi, and even Reuben, as Delitzsch supposes, but all his sons.
For the supposition, that Simeon and Levi were content with taking their murderous revenge, and had no share in the plunder, is neither probable in itself nor reconcilable with what Jacob said on his death-bed (Gen 49:5-7, observe שׁור עקּרוּ) about this very crime; nor can it be inferred from ויּצאוּ in Gen 34:26, for this relates merely to their going away from the house of the two princes, not to their leaving Shechem altogether. The abrupt way in which the plundering is linked on to the slaughter of all the males, without any copulative Vav , gives to the account the character of indignation at so revolting a crime; and this is also shown in the verbosity of the description.
The absence of the copula is not to be accounted for by the hypothesis that Gen 34:27-29 are interpolated; for an interpolator might have supplied the missing link by a vav, just as well as the lxx and other ancient translators.
Gen 34:25-29 But on the third day, when the Shechemites were thoroughly prostrated by the painful effects of the operation, Simeon and Levi (with their servants of course) fell upon the town בּטח (i. e. , while the people were off their guard, as in Eze 30:9), slew all the males, including Hamor and Shechem, with the edge of the sword, i. e. , without quarter (Num 21:24; Jos 10:28, etc.)
, and brought back their sister. The sons of Jacob then plundered the town, and carried off all the cattle in the town and in the fields, and all their possessions, including the women and the children in their houses. By the sons of Jacob (Gen 34:27) we are not to understand the rest of his sons to the exclusion of Simeon, Levi, and even Reuben, as Delitzsch supposes, but all his sons.
For the supposition, that Simeon and Levi were content with taking their murderous revenge, and had no share in the plunder, is neither probable in itself nor reconcilable with what Jacob said on his death-bed (Gen 49:5-7, observe שׁור עקּרוּ) about this very crime; nor can it be inferred from ויּצאוּ in Gen 34:26, for this relates merely to their going away from the house of the two princes, not to their leaving Shechem altogether. The abrupt way in which the plundering is linked on to the slaughter of all the males, without any copulative Vav , gives to the account the character of indignation at so revolting a crime; and this is also shown in the verbosity of the description.
The absence of the copula is not to be accounted for by the hypothesis that Gen 34:27-29 are interpolated; for an interpolator might have supplied the missing link by a vav, just as well as the lxx and other ancient translators.
Gen 34:30-31 Jacob reproved the originators of this act most severely for their wickedness: “ Ye have brought me into trouble ( conturbare ), to make me stink (an abomination) among the inhabitants of the land;... and yet I (with my attendants) am a company that can be numbered (lit. , people of number, easily numbered, a small band, Deu 4:27, cf. Isa 10:19); and if they gather together against me, they will slay me, ” etc.
If Jacob laid stress simply upon the consequences which this crime was likely to bring upon himself and his house, the reason was, that this was the view most adapted to make an impression upon his sons. For his last words concerning Simeon and Levi (Gen 49:5-7) are a sufficient proof that the wickedness of their conduct was also an object of deep abhorrence.
And his fear was not groundless. Only God in His mercy averted all the evil consequences from Jacob and his house (Gen 35:5-6). But his sons answered, “ Are they to treat our sister like a harlot? ” עשׂה: as in Lev 16:15, etc. Their indignation was justifiable enough; and their seeking revenge, as Absalom avenged the violation of his sister on Amnon (2Sa 13:22.)
, was in accordance with the habits of nomadic tribes. In this way, for example, seduction is still punished by death among the Arabs, and the punishment is generally inflicted by the brothers (cf. Niebuhr, Arab . p. 39; Burckhardt, Syr . p. 361, and Beduinen, p. 89, 224-5). In addition to this, Jacob’s sons looked upon the matter not merely as a violation of their sister’s chastity, but as a crime against the peculiar vocation of their tribe.
But for all that, the deception they practised, the abuse of the covenant sign of circumcision as a means of gratifying their revenge, and the extension of that revenge to the whole town, together with the plundering of the slain, were crimes deserving of the strongest reprobation. The crafty character of Jacob degenerated into malicious cunning in Simeon and Levi; and jealousy for the exalted vocation of their family, into actual sin.
This event “shows us in type all the errors into which the belief in the pre-eminence of Israel was sure to lead in the course of history, whenever that belief was rudely held by men of carnal minds” ( O. v. Gerlach ).