1 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2 And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and humbled her.
3 And his soul fastened on Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the maiden, and spoke consolingly to the maiden.
4 And Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, Take me this girl as wife.
5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; but his sons were with his cattle in the fields, and Jacob said nothing until they came.
6 And Hamor the father of Shechem came out to Jacob, to speak to him.
7 And the sons of Jacob came from the fields when they heard [it]; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had wrought what was disgraceful in Israel, in lying with Jacob's daughter, which thing ought not to be done.
8 And Hamor spoke to them, saying, My son Shechem's soul cleaves to your daughter: I pray you, give her to him as wife.
9 And make marriages with us: give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to you.
10 And dwell with us, and the land shall be before you: dwell and trade in it, and get yourselves possessions in it.
11 And Shechem said to her father and to her brethren, Let me find favour in your eyes; and what ye shall say to me I will give.
12 Impose on me very much as dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say to me; but give me the maiden as wife.
13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and spoke -- because he had defiled Dinah their sister --
14 and said to them, We cannot do this, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that [were] a reproach to us.
15 But only in this will we consent to you, if ye will be as we, that every male of you be circumcised;
16 then will we give our daughters to you, and take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and be one people.
17 But if ye do not hearken to us, to be circumcised, then will we take our daughter and go away.
18 And their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son.
19 And the youth did not delay to do this, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter. And he was honourable above all in the house of his father.
20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke to the men of their city, saying,
21 These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade in it. And the land -- behold, it is of wide extent before them. We will take their daughters as wives, and give them our daughters.
22 But only in this will the men consent to us to dwell with us, to be one people -- if every male among us be circumcised, just as they are circumcised.
23 Their cattle, and their possessions, and every beast of theirs, shall they not be ours? only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.
24 And all that went out at the gate of his city hearkened to Hamor and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised -- all that went out at the gate of his city.
25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
26 And Hamor and Shechem his son they slew with the edge of the sword; and took Dinah out of Shechem's house; and went out.
27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.
28 Their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and what [was] in the city, and what [was] in the field they took;
29 and all their goods, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and plundered them, and all that was in the houses.
30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me, in that ye make me odious among the inhabitants of the land -- among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and I am few men in number, and they will gather themselves against me and smite me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
31 And they said, Should people deal with our sister as with a harlot?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 34
Commentary on Genesis 34 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 34
Ge 34:1-31. The Dishonor of Dinah.
1-4. Though freed from foreign troubles, Jacob met with a great domestic calamity in the fall of his only daughter. According to Josephus, she had been attending a festival; but it is highly probable that she had been often and freely mixing in the society of the place and that she, being a simple, inexperienced, and vain young woman, had been flattered by the attentions of the ruler's son. There must have been time and opportunities of acquaintance to produce the strong attachment that Shechem had for her.
5. Jacob held his peace—Jacob, as a father and a good man, must have been deeply distressed. But he could do little. In the case of a family by different wives, it is not the father, but the full brothers, on whom the protection of the daughters devolves—they are the guardians of a sister's welfare and the avengers of her wrongs. It was for this reason that Simeon and Levi, the two brothers of Dinah by Leah [Ge 34:25], appear the chief actors in this episode; and though the two fathers would have probably brought about an amicable arrangement of the affair, the hasty arrival of these enraged brothers introduced a new element into the negotiations.
6. Hamor—that is, "ass"; and it is a striking proof of the very different ideas which, in the East, are associated with that animal, which there appears sprightly, well proportioned, and of great activity. This chief is called Emmor (Ac 7:16).
7. the men were grieved, and … very wroth—Good men in such a case could not but grieve; but it would have been well if their anger had been less, or that they had known the precept "let not the sun go down upon your wrath" [Eph 4:26]. No injury can justify revenge (De 32:35; Ro 12:9); but Jacob's sons planned a scheme of revenge in the most deceitful manner.
8-10. Hamor communed with them—The prince and his son seem at first sight to have acted honestly, and our feelings are enlisted on their side. They betray no jealousy of the powerful shepherds; on the contrary, they show every desire to establish friendly intercourse. But their conduct was unjustifiable in neither expressing regret nor restoring Dinah to her family; and this great error was the true cause of the negotiations ending in so unhappy a manner.
11. Shechem said unto her father … and brethren—The consideration of the proposal for marriage belonged to Jacob, and he certainly showed great weakness in yielding so much to the fiery impetuosity of his sons. The sequel shows the unhappy consequences of that concession.
12. Ask me never so much dowry and gift—The gift refers to the presents made at betrothal, both to the bride elect and her relations (compare Ge 24:53), the dowry to a suitable settlement upon her.
13. The sons of Jacob answered—The honor of their family consisted in having the sign of the covenant. Circumcision was the external rite by which persons were admitted members of the ancient Church. But that outward rite could not make the Shechemites true Israelites; and yet it does not appear that Jacob's sons required anything more. Nothing is said of their teaching the people to worship the true God, but only of their insisting on their being circumcised; and it is evident that they did not seek to convert Shechem, but only made a show of religion—a cloak to cover their diabolical design. Hypocrisy and deceit, in all cases vicious, are infinitely more so when accompanied with a show of religion; and here the sons of Jacob, under the pretense of conscientious scruples, conceal a scheme of treachery as cruel and diabolical as was, perhaps, ever perpetrated.
20. Hamor and Shechem … came unto the gate of their city—That was the place where every public communication was made; and in the ready obsequious submission of the people to this measure we see an evidence either of the extraordinary affection for the governing family, or of the abject despotism of the East, where the will of a chief is an absolute command.
30. Jacob said … Ye have troubled me—This atrocious outrage perpetrated on the defenseless citizens and their families made the cup of Jacob's affliction overflow. We may wonder that, in speaking of it to his sons, he did not represent it as a heinous sin, an atrocious violation of the laws of God and man, but dwelt solely on the present consequences. It was probably because that was the only view likely to rouse the cold-blooded apathy, the hardened consciences of those ruffian sons. Nothing but the restraining power of God saved him and his family from the united vengeance of the people (compare Ge 35:5). All his sons had not been engaged in the massacre. Joseph was a boy, Benjamin not yet born, and the other eight not concerned in it. Simeon and Levi alone, with their retainers, had been the guilty actors in the bloody tragedy. But the Canaanites would not be discriminating in their vengeance; and if all the Shechemites were put to death for the offense of their chief's son, what wonder if the natives should extend their hatred to all the family of Jacob; and who probably equalled, in number, the inhabitants of that village.