Genesis 34
A Sister Defiled, a Covenant Sign Abused
← Genesis 33 · Genesis: all chapters · Genesis 35 →
Read this chapter with the Hebrew and Greek compared →
Dinah’s Rape
34:1Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land.
34:2Shechem, son of Hamor the Horite, a ruler of the land, saw her. He seized her, lay with her, and violated her.
34:3He was attached to the soul of Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He loved the young woman and spoke to her according to her heart.
34:4So Shechem spoke to Hamor, his father, saying, “Take this young girl for me as a wife.”
34:5Now Jacob heard that the son of Hamor had defiled Dinah, his daughter; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob kept silent until they came.
34:6Then Hamor, the father of Shechem, went out to Jacob to speak to him.
34:7Jacob’s sons came from the field. When they heard, they were deeply distressed and greatly grieved, because Shechem had committed a disgraceful act in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter. Such a thing must not happen.
34:8Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has set his heart on your daughter. Give her to him as a wife.”
34:9“Intermarry with us. Give your daughters to us and take our daughters for your sons.”
34:10“And you shall dwell with us, and the land is broad before you; dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions in it.”
34:11Shechem said to her father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight; we will give whatever you ask of us.”
34:12“Make the marriage payment very great, and I will give whatever you ask. Give me this young woman as a wife.”
34:13Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, because they had defiled their sister Dinah.
34:14Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers and Leah’s sons, said to them, “We cannot do this: give our sister to an uncircumcised man, for that would be a disgrace to us.”
34:15“On this condition we will become like you and live among you: you must become like us by circumcising every male among you.”
34:16“Then we will give our daughters to you and take wives for ourselves from your daughters. We will live among you and become one family.”
34:17“If you will not listen to us and be circumcised, we will take our daughters and leave.”
34:18Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son.
34:19The young man did not delay doing this, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was the most honored in all his father’s household.
The Massacre
34:20So Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke to the men of their city, saying,
34:21“These men are peaceful with us; therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is broad enough before them. Let us take their daughters for wives, and let us give them our daughters.”
34:22“Only on this condition will the men become like us so as to dwell with us as one people: if every male among us is circumcised, just as they are circumcised.”
34:23“Shall not their livestock, their possessions, and all their four-footed animals be ours? Only let us become like them, and they will dwell with us.”
34:24All who went out through the city gate listened to Hamor and Shechem his son, and every male was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
34:25On the third day, while they were in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, entered the city unopposed, and killed every male.
34:26And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away.
34:27Jacob’s sons came upon the wounded and plundered the city where their sister Dinah had been defiled.
34:28They took their sheep, their oxen, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and whatever was in the field;
34:29They took all their people, household goods, and wives captive, and plundered everything in the city and in the houses.
34:30Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have made me hated, offensive to all who live in the land, among the Canaanites and Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather against me and cut me down, and my household and I will be utterly destroyed.”
34:31They said, “Should they treat our sister like a prostitute?”
← Genesis 33 · Genesis: all chapters · Genesis 35 →
Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.