FRAMEWORKS:
Genesis 34: Dinah and the Shechemites
v.1-4
Dinah in trouble with the Shechemites
v.5-7
Jacob's sons are outraged
v.8-12
Hamor seeks to set the situation right
v.13-17
The Sons persuade the Shechemites they need to be circumcised
v.18-24
All the males of the city conform
v.25-29
Simeon & Levi kill off all the males of the city
v.30-31
Jacob is distressed
v.1-4
Dinah in trouble with the Shechemites
v.1
Now
Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit
the women of the land.
v.2
When
Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her,
he took her and raped her.
v.3
His
heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young
woman and spoke tenderly to her.
v.4
And
Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”
[Notes:
Having
settled near Shechem it is perhaps not surprising that Dinah,
the only daughter of Jacob, goes visiting. She attracts the attention
of the son of the ruler of that area, who is also known as Shechem,
and he ends up raping her. He asks his father, the ruler, for
her as his wife.]
v.5-7
Jacob's sons are outraged
v.5
When
Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons
were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about
it until they came home.
v.6
Then
Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.
v.7
Meanwhile,
Jacob's sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard
what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem
had done an outrageous thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob's
daughter—a thing that should not be done.
[Notes:
Hamor
visits Jacob but some of the sons are outraged when they hear
what has happened to their sister.]
v.8-12
Hamor seeks to set the situation right
v.8
But
Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your
daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.
v.9
Intermarry
with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.
v.10
You
can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade
in it, and acquire property in it.”
v.11
Then
Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, “Let me find favor
in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask.
v.12
Make
the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as
you like, and I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young
woman as my wife.”
[Notes:
Hamor
asks that Dinah might be given to his son as his wife.]
v.13-17
The Sons persuade the Shechemites they need to be circumcised
v.13
Because
their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob's sons replied deceitfully
as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor.
v.14
They
said to them, “We can't do such a thing; we can't give our sister
to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us.
v.15
We
will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that
you become like us by circumcising all your males.
v.16
Then
we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves.
We'll settle among you and become one people with you.
v.17
But
if you will not agree to be circumcised, we'll take our sister
and go.”
[Notes:
The
sons plot revenge and say that the requirement of circumcision
separates them so if there is to be a coming together of the two
peoples, the men of Shechem would need to be circumcised.]
v.18-24
All the males of the city conform
v.18
Their
proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem.
v.19
The
young man, who was the most honored of all his father's family,
lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted
with Jacob's daughter.
v.20
So
Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak
to the men of their city.
v.21
“These
men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our
land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We
can marry their daughters and they can marry ours.
v.22
But
the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition
that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are.
v.23
Won't
their livestock, their property and all their other animals become
ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among
us.”
v.24
All
the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his
son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.
[Notes:
This
seems no doubt strange but acceptable and so the ruler and his
son communicate this to their people who agree to this.]
v.25-29
Simeon & Levi kill off all the males of the city
v.25
Three
days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's
sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and
attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male.
v.26
They
put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from
Shechem's house and left.
v.27
The
sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where
their sister had been defiled.
v.28
They
seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else
of theirs in the city and out in the fields.
v.29
They
carried off all their wealth and all their women and children,
taking as plunder everything in the houses.
[Notes:
Having
been circumcised in later ages, the men of Shechem are naturally
feeling sore and somewhat weak. It is at this point of their vulnerability
that Simeon and Levi sneak into the city and butcher all the men,
looting the city and its occupants.]
v.30-31
Jacob is distressed
v.30
Then
Jacob said 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 and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”
v.31
But
they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”
[Notes:
Jacob
rebukes his two sons but they are not repentant.]
Lessons
or Challenges to Ponder from Genesis Chapter 34
1.
Rape is a horrible thing, yet one where justice should be applied,
not revenge. If in doubt, pray against perpetrators that they
will be exposed and dealt with by the law.
2.
Rough justice in their day, in the absence of the means of law
being applied, may be understandable but, as Jacob pointed out,
only opens the way for ongoing feuds. As weak as it may appear,
committing it to God, is indeed the answer. (Consider Rom 12:19)
Continue to Chapter 35