Genesis 34:9

9 and (so) join we weddings together; give ye your daughters to us, and take ye our daughters (for yourselves),

Genesis 34:9 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 34:9

And make ye marriages with us
There was no objection on their side, it lay on the other; Abraham's servant was charged by him not to take a wife of the Canaanites to his son Isaac; and the same charge was given Jacob by Isaac, ( Genesis 24:3 ) ( 28:1 ) ; and therefore Jacob would never agree that his children should marry any of that nation; and marriages with them were afterwards forbidden by the law of Moses, ( Deuteronomy 7:3 ) ;

[and] give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you;
for though at present there were no other daughters in Jacob's family, yet there might be hereafter; and the request is, that for the future there might be intermarriages between them, as would be practicable in a course of time.

Genesis 34:9 In-Context

7 lo! his sons came from the field. And when this thing that befelled was heard, they were wroth greatly; for he had wrought a foul thing in Israel, and he had done a thing unleaveful in the defouling of the daughter of Jacob. (lo! his sons came in from the field. And when they heard what had befallen, they were enraged; for Shechem had done a foul, or a vile, thing in Israel, and he had done an unlawful thing in the defiling of Jacob's daughter.)
8 And so Hamor spake to them (And Hamor said to them), The soul of my son Shechem hath cleaved to your daughter; give ye her (for) a wife to him,
9 and (so) join we weddings together; give ye your daughters to us, and take ye our daughters (for yourselves),
10 and dwell ye with us; (yea,) the land is in your power; till ye, and make ye merchandise, and wield ye it (work ye it, and make ye merchandise, and possess ye it).
11 But also Shechem said to the father and brethren of her, Find I grace before you, and whatever things ye ordain I shall give; (And Shechem said to her father and her brothers, I pray that I find grace before you, and whatever things ye ask for, I shall give you;)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.