Genesis 34:23

23 Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals [be] ours? Only let us give consent to them so they will live among us."

Genesis 34:23 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 34:23

Shall not their cattle, and their substance, and every beast
of theirs, [be] ours?
&c.] Which would in course come into their families in process of time, by intermarrying with them, or, being more numerous and powerful than they, could seize upon them when they pleased, and take all they had: thus they argue from the profit and advantage that would accrue to them by admitting them among them, upon their terms; and this argument, taken from worldly interest, they knew would have great influence upon them: only let us consent unto them;
in the affair of circumcision: and they will dwell with us;
and what by trading with them, and marrying among them, all their wealth and riches will come into our hands.

Genesis 34:23 In-Context

21 "These men [are] at peace with us. Let them dwell in the land and let them trade in it. Now, behold, the land is {broad enough for them}. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give our daughters to them.
22 Only on this [condition] will they give consent to us, to live with us [and] to become one family--when every male among us [is] circumcised as they are circumcised.
23 Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals [be] ours? Only let us give consent to them so they will live among us."
24 And all those who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and Shechem. Every male was circumcised, all those who went out of the gate of his city.
25 And it happened [that] on the third day, while they were in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, each took his sword and came against the unsuspecting city and killed all the males.
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