New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Genesis 34
1
Dinah was the daughter Leah had by Jacob. Dinah went out to visit the women of the land.
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 30:21
2
Hamor the Hivite was the ruler of that area. When his son Shechem saw Dinah, he took her and raped her.
Reference
People
3
Then his heart longed for Jacob's daughter Dinah. He fell in love with her and spoke tenderly to her.
4
Shechem said to his father Hamor, "Get me that woman. I want her to be my wife."
Reference
Parallel theme
Judges 14:2
5
Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been made "unclean." His sons were in the fields with his livestock. So he kept quiet about it until they came home.
6
Then Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.
7
Jacob's sons had come in from the fields. They came as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with sadness and anger. Shechem had done a very terrible thing. He had forced Jacob's daughter to have sex with him. He had done something that should never be done in Israel.
Reference
8
But Hamor said to them, "My son Shechem wants your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife.
9
"Let your people and ours get married to each other. Give us your daughters as our wives. You can have our daughters as your wives.
Reference
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 7:3
10
You can settle among us. Here is the land. Live in it. Trade in it. Buy property in it."
Reference
11
Then Shechem spoke to Dinah's father and brothers. He said, "I want to please you. I'll give you anything you ask.
Reference
Grace
Genesis 33:15
12
Make the price for the bride as high as you want to. I'll pay anything you ask me. Just give me the woman. I want to get married to her."
13
Their sister Dinah had been made "unclean." So Jacob's sons lied to Shechem and his father Hamor.
14
They said to them, "We can't do it. We can't give our sister to a man who isn't circumcised. That would bring shame on us.
15
We'll agree, but only on one condition. You will have to become like us. You will have to circumcise all of your males.
16
"Then we'll give you our daughters as your wives. And we'll take your daughters as our wives. We'll settle among you and become one people with you.
17
But if you won't agree to it, then we'll take our sister and go."
18
Their offer seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem.
19
The young man was the most honored of all of the men in his father's family. He didn't lose any time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter.
20
Hamor and his son Shechem went to the city gate. They spoke to the other men in town.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ruth 4:1
21
"These men are friendly toward us," they said. "Let them live in our land. Let them trade in it. The land has plenty of room for them. We can get married to their daughters. And they can marry ours.
22
"But they will agree to live with us as one people only on one condition. All of our males must be circumcised, just as they are.
23
"Won't their livestock and their property belong to us? Won't all of their animals become ours? So let's say yes to them. Then they'll settle among us."
24
All of the men who went out through the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem. So every male in the city was circumcised.
Reference
25
Three days later, all of them were still in pain. Then Simeon and Levi took their swords. They were Jacob's sons and Dinah's brothers. They attacked the city when the people didn't expect it. They killed every male.
26
They also killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords. Then they took Dinah from Shechem's house and left.
27
Jacob's other sons found the dead bodies. They robbed the city where their sister had been made "unclean."
28
They took the flocks and herds and donkeys. They took everything that was in the city and out in the fields.
29
They carried everything away. And they took all of the women and children. They took away everything that was in the houses.
30
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me. Now I'm like a very bad smell to the Canaanites and Perizzites who live in this land. There aren't many of us. They may join together against me and attack me. Then I and my family will be destroyed."
Reference
31
But they replied, "Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?"
Reference
Parallel theme
Proverbs 6:34
Summary of Genesis 34
Genesis chapter thirty-four is one of the darkest, most difficult chapters in Genesis, and a turning point in how the sons of Jacob start asserting themselves, for the better or, in this case, much worse.
The chapter opens with Dinah, Leah's daughter going out to visit the women of the land where they are now living, near Shechem. While she is out on her own, Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, who is the ruler of this area, takes notice of her, and takes her, brutally violating her. This is a brutal, violent episode depicted with blunt bluntness by the text, and is the catalyst for the events of the chapter.
What follows is strange and difficult in its own way. The text tells us that Shechem's heart was drawn to Dinah, that he loved her, spoke tenderly to her, and she asked her father to get her for him as a wife. It is a jarring switch from the abuse to the professed affection, and a demonstration of how different this culture's perspective on marriage and consent was compared to the way we would understand it today. Whatever Shechem's feelings, the damage to Dinah, and her family's sense of honor has already been done.
Jacob hears of what has happened to his daughter, but his sons are out in the fields with the livestock, so he waits until they return before speaking with them. When they return back to the home, and hear the news, they are filled with grief and rage, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in Israel, the text tells us, lying with Jacob's daughter, a thing that should not be done.
Hamor comes to speak to Jacob, and lays out a proposal to smooth over the situation on a far greater scale than just this single marriage. He suggests that his son Shechem is deeply attached to Dinah, and asks that she be given to him as a wife, and that they propose intermarriage between their peoples, stating that he will allow them to settle, trade and acquire property throughout the land. Shechem himself speaks, saying that he would pay any bride price and gift, no matter how high, if he could have Dinah as his wife.
But Jacob's sons answer deceitfully to the text, because Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah. They tell Hamor and Shechem that they cannot give their sister to a man who is uncircumcised, as it would be a disgrace to them. There is one condition, however, that they would agree to this: every male in the city must be circumcised, as Jacob's own family is. Then, they say, they will give their daughters in marriage and take Shechem's daughters for themselves, in order to become one people. If the men refuse this, they will take Dinah home.
Hamor and Shechem find this proposal agreeable, and Shechem, clearly eager to make things right and marry Dinah, makes no hesitation in carrying it out. The two of them go to the gate of their city and persuade the other men there to accept the terms, saying that these newcomers are peaceful, that the land is large enough for everyone and that intermarrying will bring them great economic benefit, since Jacob's livestock, property and animals will effectively become theirs too. Every man who goes out through the city gate agrees, and they are all circumcised.
Then comes the devastating turn. On the third day, when the men of the city are still in pain from the circumcision, two of Dinah's full brothers, Simeon and Levi, take their swords and attack the city without warning, killing every male, including Hamor and Shechem specifically. They take Dinah out of Shechem's house and leave. The rest of Jacob's sons follow, and plunder the whole city in retaliation for what has been done to their sister, taking flocks, herds, donkeys, everything in the city and fields, taking all the wealth, along with the women and children, and looting every house.
Jacob's reaction to all this is one of alarm, although it is framed around danger rather than moral outrage at the killing itself. He says to Simeon and Levi, you have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me, I and my household will be destroyed.
Simeon and Levi's response closes out the chapter, unapologetic and pointed: should he have treated our sister like a prostitute? It is a question that sticks with them throughout the chapter's conclusion, a moral dilemma that is left unanswered within the text itself. Their anger at what has happened to Dinah is entirely understandable, but the scale and deception of their revenge, the use of the sacred sign of circumcision as a trap, and the slaughter of an entire city, go far beyond anything resembling the proportional justice that would seem to be required here.
Chapter thirty-four doesn't offer easy resolution or moral clarity, leaving us to ponder the complexities and contradictions of a family growing more complicated and dangerous. It is a story about violation, grief, deception and vengeance, stacked upon each other without the narrative taking sides on which character's actions deserve more condemnation. What it does demonstrate is that a family is capable of, a set of brothers who are capable of real loyalty to their sister, but also of ruthless, calculated violence, foreshadowing tensions that will continue to surface among Jacob's sons in the rest of Genesis.
The chapter opens with Dinah, Leah's daughter going out to visit the women of the land where they are now living, near Shechem. While she is out on her own, Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, who is the ruler of this area, takes notice of her, and takes her, brutally violating her. This is a brutal, violent episode depicted with blunt bluntness by the text, and is the catalyst for the events of the chapter.
What follows is strange and difficult in its own way. The text tells us that Shechem's heart was drawn to Dinah, that he loved her, spoke tenderly to her, and she asked her father to get her for him as a wife. It is a jarring switch from the abuse to the professed affection, and a demonstration of how different this culture's perspective on marriage and consent was compared to the way we would understand it today. Whatever Shechem's feelings, the damage to Dinah, and her family's sense of honor has already been done.
Jacob hears of what has happened to his daughter, but his sons are out in the fields with the livestock, so he waits until they return before speaking with them. When they return back to the home, and hear the news, they are filled with grief and rage, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in Israel, the text tells us, lying with Jacob's daughter, a thing that should not be done.
Hamor comes to speak to Jacob, and lays out a proposal to smooth over the situation on a far greater scale than just this single marriage. He suggests that his son Shechem is deeply attached to Dinah, and asks that she be given to him as a wife, and that they propose intermarriage between their peoples, stating that he will allow them to settle, trade and acquire property throughout the land. Shechem himself speaks, saying that he would pay any bride price and gift, no matter how high, if he could have Dinah as his wife.
But Jacob's sons answer deceitfully to the text, because Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah. They tell Hamor and Shechem that they cannot give their sister to a man who is uncircumcised, as it would be a disgrace to them. There is one condition, however, that they would agree to this: every male in the city must be circumcised, as Jacob's own family is. Then, they say, they will give their daughters in marriage and take Shechem's daughters for themselves, in order to become one people. If the men refuse this, they will take Dinah home.
Hamor and Shechem find this proposal agreeable, and Shechem, clearly eager to make things right and marry Dinah, makes no hesitation in carrying it out. The two of them go to the gate of their city and persuade the other men there to accept the terms, saying that these newcomers are peaceful, that the land is large enough for everyone and that intermarrying will bring them great economic benefit, since Jacob's livestock, property and animals will effectively become theirs too. Every man who goes out through the city gate agrees, and they are all circumcised.
Then comes the devastating turn. On the third day, when the men of the city are still in pain from the circumcision, two of Dinah's full brothers, Simeon and Levi, take their swords and attack the city without warning, killing every male, including Hamor and Shechem specifically. They take Dinah out of Shechem's house and leave. The rest of Jacob's sons follow, and plunder the whole city in retaliation for what has been done to their sister, taking flocks, herds, donkeys, everything in the city and fields, taking all the wealth, along with the women and children, and looting every house.
Jacob's reaction to all this is one of alarm, although it is framed around danger rather than moral outrage at the killing itself. He says to Simeon and Levi, you have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me, I and my household will be destroyed.
Simeon and Levi's response closes out the chapter, unapologetic and pointed: should he have treated our sister like a prostitute? It is a question that sticks with them throughout the chapter's conclusion, a moral dilemma that is left unanswered within the text itself. Their anger at what has happened to Dinah is entirely understandable, but the scale and deception of their revenge, the use of the sacred sign of circumcision as a trap, and the slaughter of an entire city, go far beyond anything resembling the proportional justice that would seem to be required here.
Chapter thirty-four doesn't offer easy resolution or moral clarity, leaving us to ponder the complexities and contradictions of a family growing more complicated and dangerous. It is a story about violation, grief, deception and vengeance, stacked upon each other without the narrative taking sides on which character's actions deserve more condemnation. What it does demonstrate is that a family is capable of, a set of brothers who are capable of real loyalty to their sister, but also of ruthless, calculated violence, foreshadowing tensions that will continue to surface among Jacob's sons in the rest of Genesis.