Hamor חֲמוֹר
A Hivite prince, father of Shechem.
Biography
Hamor was a Hivite who founded the city of Shechem during the time of the patriarchs. His son was called Shechem, after whom the city was named (Gen.33.19). When Israel (or 'Jacob') and his family settled near Shechem, Hamor's son Shechem assaulted Jacob's daughter Dinah (Gen.34.2). Hamor and Shechem sought to arrange a marriage between Shechem and Dinah and proposed that their people intermarry with Jacob's family (Gen.34.8-10). Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, deceitfully agreed on the condition that all the men of Shechem be circumcised (Gen.34.13-24). However, while the men of Shechem were recovering from the circumcision, Simeon and Levi attacked the city, killed Hamor and Shechem, and rescued Dinah (Gen.34.25-29). The land that Jacob had purchased from Hamor became a possession of the Israelites and was later allocated to the tribe of Manasseh (Jos.24.32). In the time of the judges, Gaal son of Ebed challenged Abimelech's rule in Shechem, invoking the memory of Hamor as the city's ancestral leader (Jdg.9.28). In Act.7.16, Stephen mentions that Abraham bought a tomb from the sons of Hamor in Shechem, which may refer to the same transaction or a separate one.
Family
In Scripture
4 biblical books ; 3 with study contentGenesis 5 verses
- Genesis 33:19
"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."
Study Genesis → - Genesis 34:2
"Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her."
Study Genesis → - Genesis 34:4
"Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, “Get me this young lady as a wife.”"
Study Genesis → - Genesis 34:6
"Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him."
Study Genesis → - Genesis 34:8
"Hamor talked with them, saying, “The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife."
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Joshua 1 verse
- Joshua 24:32
"They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph."
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Judges 1 verse
- Judges 9:28
"Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal? Isn’t Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him?"
Acts 1 verse
- Acts 7:16
"and they were brought back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor of Shechem."
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Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script | Strong's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Named | Hebrew | חֲמוֹר | H2544 |
| Greek | Greek | Ἐμμόρ | G1697 |
Hamor
, and the burial place of Joseph when his body was removed from Egypt to Canaan (Jos 24:32). "The men of Hamor" were inhabitants of Shechem, and suffered a great loss under Abimelech, a prince over Israel (Jud 9:22-49). Dinah, Jacob's daughter, was criminally treated by Hamor, who requested her to be given to him in marriage, in which plan he had the cooperation of his father, Shechem. The sons of Jacob rejected their proposition and laid a scheme by which the inhabitants of the city were circumcised, and in the hour of helplessness slew all the males, thus wreaking special vengeance upon Hamor and his father Shechem. It is mere conjecture to claim that Hamor and Dinah were personifications of early central Palestinian clans in sharp antagonism, and that the course of Simeon and Levi was really the treachery of primitive tribes. Because the word Hamor means "an ass" and Shechem "a shoulder," there is no reason for rejecting the terms as designations of individuals and considering the titles as mere tribal appellations.
Byron H. Dement
ham'-ran.
See HEMDAN.
ham'-u-el, ha-mu'-el.
See HAMMUEL.
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