Genesis 34:2

2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her.

Genesis 34:2 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her.
New Living Translation (NLT)
2 But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her.
The Message Bible (MSG)
2 Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite who was chieftain there, saw her and raped her.
American Standard Version (ASV)
2 And Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her; And he took her, and lay with her, and humbled her.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
2 When Shechem, son of the local ruler Hamor the Hivite, saw her, he took her and raped her.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, a prince of the region, saw her, he took her and raped her.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
2 Hamor the Hivite was the ruler of that area. When his son Shechem saw Dinah, he took her and raped her.

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 ) .


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 women of the land.
2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her.
3 His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.
4 And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”
5 When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.

Cross References 4

  • 1. S Genesis 33:19
  • 2. S Genesis 33:19
  • 3. S Genesis 10:17
  • 4. Deuteronomy 21:14; 2 Samuel 13:14
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