Genesis 34

Dinah was the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob. She went out to see the women of the land.

1And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

NoteDinah is the only daughter of Jacob named in Genesis. "Went out to see the women of the land" means she went visiting among the local Canaanite women, an ordinary social visit, but Jacob's household were newcomers and outsiders in the region.

2Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite was the ruler of that region. When he saw her, he took her and lay with her and violated her.

2And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.

Note"Hivite" is one of the names Genesis uses for the pre-Israelite peoples of Canaan. Shechem is both the man's name and the name of the town he rules, a common pattern, where a ruling family and its city share a name. The Hebrew verb behind "violated" (also translated "defiled" or "humiliated") means to force down or degrade someone; the text does not spell out the degree of physical force, and translators divide over how strongly to render it, but it clearly marks what happened as a wrong done to Dinah.

3He was deeply drawn to Dinah, Jacob's daughter. He loved the young woman, and he spoke kindly to her.

3And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.

4Shechem said to his father Hamor, "Get me this young woman as my wife."

4And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.

5Jacob heard that Shechem had violated his daughter Dinah. His sons were out in the field with his livestock, so Jacob said nothing about it until they came home.

5And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.

6Hamor, the father of Shechem, went out to Jacob to talk with him.

6And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.

7When Jacob's sons heard what had happened, they came in from the field. The men were filled with grief and were very angry, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter. Such a thing should not be done.

7And 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; which thing ought not to be done.

Note"In Israel" is striking this early: Israel is at this point one man's household, Jacob having just been renamed Israel. "A disgraceful thing" translates a set Hebrew phrase (nebalah) used for sexual outrages that violate the whole community's sense of order, not merely a private offense.

8Hamor talked with them and said, "My son Shechem longs for your daughter with his whole heart. Please give her to him as his wife.

8And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.

9Marry among us. Give us your daughters, and take our daughters for yourselves.

9And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

NoteMarriage between groups was how two peoples merged into one. Hamor is proposing not a single wedding but a permanent alliance in which the two households become a single people, with the smaller newcomer group absorbed.

10You may live with us, and the land will be open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and get property of your own here."

10And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.

NoteResident foreigners normally could not own land; they grazed and traded at the locals' sufferance. Hamor is offering Jacob's family the right to buy property and trade freely, a substantial concession.

11Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor with you, and I will give whatever you tell me to give.

11And Shechem 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.

12Ask me for as large a bride-price and gift as you like, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman as my wife."

12Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.

NoteThe bride-price was a payment from the groom or his family to the bride's father, standard in marriage arrangements; a separate "gift" could go to the bride or her family on top of it. Shechem is offering to name no limit.

13Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor with deceit, and they spoke this way because Shechem had violated their sister Dinah.

13And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:

14They said to them, "We cannot do this. We cannot give our sister to a man who is not circumcised, because that would be a disgrace to us.

14And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:

NoteCircumcision was the physical mark of the covenant God made with Abraham, identifying his descendants. Some neighboring peoples practiced it and some did not; the brothers' objection treats it as the boundary line between their family and outsiders. The word rendered "disgrace" means a public reproach, something that would shame them in others' eyes.

15We will agree to you only on this condition: that you become like us, and that every male among you be circumcised.

15But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;

16Then we will give you our daughters, and we will take your daughters for ourselves. We will live with you, and we will become one people.

16Then will we 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.

17But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go."

17But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.

18Their words seemed good to Hamor and to Hamor's son Shechem.

18And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor’s son.

19The young man did not put off doing what they asked, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter. He was the most respected of everyone in his father's household.

19And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.

20So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke with the men of their city. They said,

20And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,

NoteThe open space at the city gate was where public business was done: legal cases, contracts and civic decisions. "The men of their city" means the adult males who held standing there.

21"These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and trade in it, for look, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters.

21These 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.

22The men will agree to live with us and be one people on only one condition: that every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised.

22Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised.

23Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals become ours? Let us only agree to them, and they will live with us."

23Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.

NoteHamor and Shechem do not repeat their sons' argument to the townsmen; they sell the deal as a way to absorb Jacob's flocks and wealth into the town's own holdings.

24All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem. Every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

24And 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.

Note"All who went out of the gate of his city" is an idiom for the city's full body of citizens, the men entitled to take part in public decisions.

25On the third day, while they were in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, who were Dinah's brothers, each took his sword. They came against the city, which felt safe, and killed every male.

25And 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.

NoteSimeon and Levi were, like Dinah, children of Leah, so they were her full brothers among Jacob's sons by four different mothers, the ones on whom the duty to answer for her fell most directly. Adult circumcision left men incapacitated for several days, with the third day traditionally the worst. "The city, which felt safe" translates a word meaning unsuspecting or off guard.

26They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword. Then they took Dinah out of Shechem's house and left.

26And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.

27Jacob's sons came to the dead bodies and looted the city, because their sister had been violated.

27The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.

28They took the sheep, the oxen, and the donkeys, and whatever was in the city and whatever was in the field.

28They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,

29They carried off all their goods, all their children, and their wives, and they looted everything in the houses.

29And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.

NoteCaptured women and children became dependants or slaves of the captors' household. This was the standard outcome of a raid, not an incidental detail.

30Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the people who live in this land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I have only a few people, and they will join together against me and attack me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household."

30And 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.

Note"A stench" is a Hebrew idiom for becoming repulsive or hateful to others, the reputational equivalent of a bad smell. "Canaanites and Perizzites" is a standard pairing for the settled peoples among whom Jacob was living; his complaint is practical, that his small household cannot survive their combined reprisal.

31They said, "Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?"

31And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

NoteThe comparison is to a woman with no family standing behind her, who could be used and then paid off; the brothers' argument is that Shechem treated Dinah as if no one would answer for her.