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Text -- Genesis 34:7-31 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. They were offended and very angry because Shechem had disgraced Israel by sexually assaulting Jacob’s daughter , a crime that should not be committed .
34:8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter . Please give her to him as his wife .
34:9 Intermarry with us. Let us marry your daughters , and take our daughters as wives for yourselves.
34:10 You may live among us, and the land will be open to you. Live in it, travel freely in it, and acquire property in it.”
34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers , “Let me find favor in your sight , and whatever you require of me I’ll give .
34:12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive , and I’ll give whatever you ask of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife !”
34:13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem had violated their sister Dinah .
34:14 They said to them, “We cannot give our sister to a man who is not circumcised , for it would be a disgrace to us.
34:15 We will give you our consent on this one condition : You must become like us by circumcising all your males .
34:16 Then we will give you our daughters to marry, and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people .
34:17 But if you do not agree to our terms by being circumcised , then we will take our sister and depart .”
34:18 Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem .
34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah badly. (Now he was more important than anyone in his father’s household .)
34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city ,
34:21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough for them. We will take their daughters for wives , and we will give them our daughters to marry.
34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people : They demand that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised .
34:23 If we do so, won’t their livestock , their property , and all their animals become ours? So let’s consent to their demand, so they will live among us.”
34:24 All the men who assembled at the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem . Every male who assembled at the city gate was circumcised .
34:25 In three days , when they were still in pain , two of Jacob’s sons , Simeon and Levi , Dinah’s brothers , each took his sword and went to the unsuspecting city and slaughtered every male .
34:26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword , took Dinah from Shechem’s house , and left .
34:27 Jacob’s sons killed them and looted the city because their sister had been violated .
34:28 They took their flocks , herds , and donkeys , as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields .
34:29 They captured as plunder all their wealth , all their little ones , and their wives , including everything in the houses .
34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi , “You have brought ruin on me by making me a foul odor among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites . I am few in number ; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed !”
34:31 But Simeon and Levi replied , “Should he treat our sister like a common prostitute ?”
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Dinah |
Shechem |
Levi |
Simeon |
JUDGES, PERIOD OF |
LEVI (2) |
Lies and Deceits |
Jacob |
SIMEON (1) |
JACOB (1) |
Deception |
Dishonesty |
Vengeance |
Hamor |
Homicide |
Marriage |
RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY |
Wife |
TRADE |
Foreskin |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Gen 34:7; Gen 34:7; Gen 34:7; Gen 34:7; Gen 34:7; Gen 34:7; Gen 34:7; Gen 34:8; Gen 34:9; Gen 34:9; Gen 34:9; Gen 34:10; Gen 34:10; Gen 34:10; Gen 34:11; Gen 34:11; Gen 34:11; Gen 34:12; Gen 34:12; Gen 34:12; Gen 34:13; Gen 34:14; Gen 34:14; Gen 34:15; Gen 34:15; Gen 34:16; Gen 34:16; Gen 34:17; Gen 34:17; Gen 34:17; Gen 34:18; Gen 34:19; Gen 34:19; Gen 34:19; Gen 34:19; Gen 34:20; Gen 34:21; Gen 34:21; Gen 34:22; Gen 34:23; Gen 34:24; Gen 34:24; Gen 34:24; Gen 34:25; Gen 34:25; Gen 34:27; Gen 34:27; Gen 34:28; Gen 34:29; Gen 34:30; Gen 34:30; Gen 34:30; Gen 34:31
NET Notes: Gen 34:7 Heb “and so it should not be done.” The negated imperfect has an obligatory nuance here, but there is also a generalizing tone. The narrat...
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NET Notes: Gen 34:8 Heb “Shechem my son, his soul is attached to your daughter.” The verb means “to love” in the sense of being emotionally attach...
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NET Notes: Gen 34:9 Heb “Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.” In the translation the words “let…marry” and ...
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NET Notes: Gen 34:10 The verb seems to carry the basic meaning “travel about freely,” although the substantival participial form refers to a trader (see E. A. ...
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NET Notes: Gen 34:13 Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: Gen 34:14 The Hebrew word translated “disgrace” usually means “ridicule; taunt; reproach.” It can also refer to the reason the condition...
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NET Notes: Gen 34:16 The words “to marry” (and the words “as wives” in the following clause) are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the tr...
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NET Notes: Gen 34:17 Heb “daughter.” Jacob’s sons call Dinah their daughter, even though she was their sister (see v. 8). This has been translated as ...
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NET Notes: Gen 34:18 Heb “and their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem son of Hamor.”
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NET Notes: Gen 34:19 The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).
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NET Notes: Gen 34:20 The gate. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the location for conducting important public business.
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NET Notes: Gen 34:21 The words “to marry” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: Gen 34:23 The words “If we do so” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
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NET Notes: Gen 34:25 Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace...
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NET Notes: Gen 34:27 Heb “because they violated their sister.” The plural verb is active in form, but with no expressed subject, it may be translated passive.
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NET Notes: Gen 34:29 Heb “they took captive and they plundered,” that is, “they captured as plunder.”
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NET Notes: Gen 34:30 Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.
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