Genesis 34

1 And Dinah, the daughter of Leah, which she gave birth unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2 And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her and defiled her.
3 And his soul was joined unto Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he fell in love with the damsel and spoke unto her heart.
4 And Shechem spoke unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.
5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; now his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Jacob remained silent until they were come.
6 And Hamor, the father of Shechem, went out unto Jacob to speak with him.
7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing which ought not to be done.
8 And Hamor spoke with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem is joined to your daughter; I pray you give her to him as wife.
9 And make ye marriages with us and give your daughters unto us and take our daughters unto you.
10 And ye shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein and take you possessions therein.
11 And Shechem also said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
12 Ask me for as much dowry and gift as ye desire, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me; but give me the damsel to wife.
13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully and talked because he had defiled Dinah their sister:
14 And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised, for among us that is a reproach.
15 But with this condition we will consent unto you: If ye will become as we are that every male of you be circumcised,
16 then we will give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
17 But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.
18 And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son.
19 And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter and he was the most honourable of all the house of his father.
20 Then Hamor and Shechem, his son, came unto the gate of their city and communed with the men of their city, saying,
21 These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.
22 Only with this condition will these men consent to dwell with us that we may be one people: if every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised.
23 Shall not their livestock and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? Only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.
24 And unto Hamor and unto Shechem, his son, hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of 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 man his sword and came upon the city boldly and slew all the males.
26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem, his son, 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 spoiled the city because they had defiled their sister.
28 They took their sheep and their oxen and their asses and that which was in the city and that which was in the field
29 and all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives they took captive and spoiled even all that was in the house.
30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
31 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?

Genesis 34 Commentary

Chapter 34

Dinah defiled by Shechem. (1-19) The Shechemites murdered by Simeon and Levi. (20-31)

Verses 1-19 Young persons, especially females, are never so safe and well off as under the care of pious parents. Their own ignorance, and the flattery and artifices of designing, wicked people, who are ever laying snares for them, expose them to great danger. They are their own enemies if they desire to go abroad, especially alone, among strangers to true religion. Those parents are very wrong who do not hinder their children from needlessly exposing themselves to danger. Indulged children, like Dinah, often become a grief and shame to their families. Her pretence was, to see the daughters of the land, to see how they dressed, and how they danced, and what was fashionable among them; she went to see, yet that was not all, she went to be seen too. She went to get acquaintance with the Canaanites, and to learn their ways. See what came of Dinah's gadding. The beginning of sin is as the letting forth of water. How great a matter does a little fire kindle! We should carefully avoid all occasions of sin and approaches to it.

Verses 20-31 The Shechemites submitted to the sacred rite, only to serve a turn, to please their prince, and to enrich themselves, and it was just with God to bring punishment upon them. As nothing secures us better than true religion, so nothing exposes us more than religion only pretended to. But Simeon and Levi were most unrighteous. Those who act wickedly, under the pretext of religion, are the worst enemies of the truth, and harden the hearts of many to destruction. The crimes of others form no excuse for us. Alas! how one sin leads on to another, and, like flames of fire, spread desolation in every direction! Foolish pleasures lead to seduction; seduction produces wrath; wrath thirsts for revenge; the thirst of revenge has recourse to treachery; treachery issues in murder; and murder is followed by other lawless actions. Were we to trace the history of unlawful commerce between the sexes, we should find it, more than any other sin, ending in blood.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 34

This chapter gives an account of the ravishment of Dinah by Shechem, Ge 34:1-5; of his father Hamor and him treating with Jacob and his sons about the marriage of her, Ge 34:6-12; of the condition proposed by Jacob's sons, circumcision of all the males in Shechem, which was agreed to by Shechem and his father, Ge 34:13-19; of the men of Shechem being persuaded to yield to it, Ge 34:20-24; and of the destruction of them on the third day by Simeon and Levi, and of the plunder of their city and field, and of the captivity of their wives and children by Jacob's sons, which gave Jacob great offence, and in which they justified themselves, Ge 34:25-31.

Who is supposed to be at this time about fourteen or fifteen years of age: for that she was but about nine or ten years old is not to be credited, as some compute it {z}: she is observed to be the daughter of Leah, partly that the following miscarriage might bring to mind her forwardness to intrude herself into Jacob's bed, and be a rebuke unto her; and partly to account for Simeon and Levi being so active in revenging her abuse, they being Leah's sons: of Dinah it is said, that she

\\went out to see the daughters of the land\\; of the land of Canaan, to visit them, and contract an acquaintance with them; and she having no sisters to converse with at home, it might be a temptation to her to go abroad. According to the Targum of Jonathan, she went to see the manners, customs, and fashions of the women of that country, to learn them, as the Septuagint version renders the word; or to see their habit and dress, and how they ornamented themselves, as Josephus {a} observes; and who also says it was a festival day at Shechem, and therefore very probably many of the young women of the country round about might come thither on that occasion; and who being dressed in their best clothes would give Dinah a good opportunity of seeing and observing their fashions; and which, with the diversions of the season, and shows to be seen, allured Dinah to go out of her mother's tent into the city, to gratify her curiosity. Aben Ezra's note is, that she went of herself, that is, without the leave of either of her parents: according to other Jewish writers {b} there was a snare laid for her by Shechem, who observing that Jacob's daughter dwelt in tents, and did not go abroad, he brought damsels out of the city dancing and playing on timbrels; and Dinah went forth to see them playing, and he took her, and lay with her, as follows.

{z} R. Ganz. Tzemach David, par. l. fol. 6. 2. {a} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 21. sect. 1. {b} Pirke Eliezer, c. 38. fol. 42. 2. 08940-950104-0921-Ge34.2

Genesis 34 Commentaries

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010