Genesis 34:2

2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.

Genesis 34:2 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 34:2

And when Shechem the son of Hamor
From whom the city had its name, near which Jacob and his family now were:

the Hivite, prince of the country;
Hamor was an Hivite, which was one of the nations of the land of Canaan, and this man was the prince or a principal man of that nation, as well as of Shechem. Josephus ^F3 calls him a king: when the son of this man

saw her;
that is, Dinah, what a beautiful person she was, and was enamoured with her:

he took her:
by force, as the Targum of Jonathan:

and lay with her, and defiled her;
or "humbled" or "afflicted her" ^F4; and it is a rule with the Jews, that every such act, which is done by force, is called an humiliation and affliction ^F5: the child begotten in this act of fornication is said ^F6 by them to be Asenath, who was had into Egypt, and brought up by Potipherah's wife as her daughter, and afterwards married to Joseph, ( Genesis 41:45 Genesis 41:50 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 21. sect. 1.)
F4 (hneyw) , (kai etapeinwsen authn) , Sept. & afflixit eam, Pagninus, Montanus.
F5 Gerundensis apud Munster, & Drusium in loc.
F6 Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 33. fol. 42. 2.)

Genesis 34:2 In-Context

1 Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land.

2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.

3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young girl and spoke to her tenderly.

4 So Shechem told his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as a wife.”

5 Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent about it until they returned.