2 and Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, a prince of the land, seeth her, and taketh her, and lieth with her, and humbleth her;
3 and his soul cleaveth to Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and he loveth the young person, and speaketh unto the heart of the young person.
4 And Shechem speaketh unto Hamor his father, saying, `Take for me this damsel for a wife.'
5 And Jacob hath heard that he hath defiled Dinah his daughter, and his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Jacob kept silent till their coming.
6 And Hamor, father of Shechem, goeth out unto Jacob to speak with him;
7 and the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard, and the men grieve themselves, and it `is' very displeasing to them, for folly he hath done against Israel, to lie with the daughter of Jacob -- and so it is not done.
8 And Hamor speaketh with them, saying, `Shechem, my son, his soul hath cleaved to your daughter; give her, I pray you, to him for a wife,
9 and join ye in marriage with us; your daughters ye give to us, and our daughters ye take to yourselves,
10 and with us ye dwell, and the land is before you; dwell ye and trade `in' it, and have possessions in it.'
11 And Shechem saith unto her father, and unto her brethren, `Let me find grace in your eyes, and that which ye say unto me, I give;
12 multiply on me exceedingly dowry and gift, and I give as ye say unto me, and give to me the young person for a wife.'
13 And the sons of Jacob answer Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and they speak (because he defiled Dinah their sister),
14 and say unto them, `We are not able to do this thing, to give our sister to one who hath a foreskin: for it `is' a reproach to us.
15 `Only for this we consent to you; if ye be as we, to have every male of you circumcised,
16 then we have given our daughters to you, and your daughters we take to ourselves, and we have dwelt with you, and have become one people;
17 and if ye hearken not unto us to be circumcised, then we have taken our daughter, and have gone.'
18 And their words are good in the eyes of Hamor, and in the eyes of Shechem, Hamor's son;
19 and the young man delayed not to do the thing, for he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he is honourable above all the house of his father.
20 And Hamor cometh -- Shechem his son also -- unto the gate of their city, and they speak unto the men of their city, saying,
21 `These men are peaceable with us; then let them dwell in the land, and trade `in' it; and the land, lo, `is' wide before them; their daughters let us take to ourselves for wives, and our daughters give to them.
22 `Only for this do the men consent to us, to dwell with us, to become one people, in every male of us being circumcised, as they are circumcised;
23 their cattle, and their substance, and all their beasts -- are they not ours? only let us consent to them, and they dwell with us.'
24 And unto Hamor, and unto Shechem his son, hearken do all those going out of the gate of his city, and every male is circumcised, all those going out of the gate of his city.
25 And it cometh to pass, on the third day, in their being pained, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, take each his sword, and come in against the city confidently, and slay every male;
26 and Hamor, and Shechem his son, they have slain by the mouth of the sword, and they take Dinah out of Shechem's house, and go out.
27 Jacob's sons have come in upon the wounded, and they spoil the city, because they had defiled their sister;
28 their flock and their herd, and their asses, and that which `is' in the city, and that which `is' in the field, have they taken;
29 and all their wealth, and all their infants, and their wives they have taken captive, and they spoil also all that `is' in the house.
30 And Jacob saith unto Simeon and unto Levi, `Ye have troubled me, by causing me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanite, and among the Perizzite: and I `am' few in number, and they have been gathered against me, and have smitten me, and I have been destroyed, I and my house.'
31 And they say, `As a harlot doth he make our sister?'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 34
Commentary on Genesis 34 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 34
At this chapter begins the story of Jacob's afflictions in his children, which were very great, and are recorded to show,
Gen 34:1-5
Dinah was, for aught that appears, Jacob's only daughter, and we may suppose her therefore the mother's fondling and the darling of the family, and yet she proves neither a joy nor a credit to them; for those children seldom prove either the best or the happiest that are most indulged. She is reckoned now but fifteen or sixteen years of age when she here occasioned so much mischief. Observe,
Gen 34:6-17
Jacob's sons, when they heard of the injury done to Dinah, showed a very great resentment of it, influenced perhaps rather by jealousy for the honour of their family than by a sense of virtue. Many are concerned at the shamefulness of sin that never lay to heart the sinfulness of it. It is here called folly in Israel (v. 7), according to the language of after-times; for Israel was not yet a people, but a family only. Note,
Hamor came to treat with Jacob himself, but he turns him over to his sons; and here we have a particular account of the treaty, in which, it is a shame to say, the Canaanites were more honest than the Israelites.
Gen 34:18-24
Here,
Gen 34:25-31
Here, we have Simeon and Levi, two of Jacob's sons, young men not much above twenty years old, cutting the throats of the Shechemites, and thereby breaking the heart of their good father.