Discovery BoxGenesis 34:1-31
Context34:1 Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet 1 the young women 2 of the land. 34:2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her, 3 and sexually assaulted her. 4 34:3 Then he became very attached 5 to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her. 6 34:4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Acquire this young girl as my wife.” 7 34:5 When 8 Jacob heard that Shechem 9 had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent 10 until they came in.
34:6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went to speak with Jacob about Dinah. 11 34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. 12 They 13 were offended 14 and very angry because Shechem 15 had disgraced Israel 16 by sexually assaulting 17 Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. 18
34:8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. 19 Please give her to him as his wife. 34:9 Intermarry with us. 20 Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves. 21 34:10 You may live 22 among us, and the land will be open to you. 23 Live in it, travel freely in it, 24 and acquire property in it.”
34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s 25 father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me 26 I’ll give. 27 34:12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, 28 and I’ll give 29 whatever you ask 30 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 31 had violated their sister Dinah. 34:14 They said to them, “We cannot give 32 our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace 33 to us. 34:15 We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become 34 like us by circumcising 35 all your males. 34:16 Then we will give 36 you our daughters to marry, 37 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 38 by being circumcised, then we will take 39 our sister 40 and depart.”
34:18 Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. 41 34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked 42 because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah 43 badly. (Now he was more important 44 than anyone in his father’s household.) 45 34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate 46 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 47 for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry. 48 34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand 49 that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 34:23 If we do so, 50 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 51 agreed with 52 Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate 53 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 54 and went to the unsuspecting city 55 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 56 and looted the city because their sister had been violated. 57 34:28 They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields. 58 34:29 They captured as plunder 59 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 60 on me by making me a foul odor 61 among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I 62 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, 63 “Should he treat our sister like a common prostitute?”
Genesis 3:10
Context3:10 The man replied, 64 “I heard you moving about 65 in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
Genesis 3:1
Context3:1 Now 66 the serpent 67 was more shrewd 68
than any of the wild animals 69 that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that 70 God 71 said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” 72
Genesis 8:1
Context8:1 But God remembered 73 Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over 74 the earth and the waters receded.
Luke 7:21
Context7:21 At that very time 75 Jesus 76 cured many people of diseases, sicknesses, 77 and evil spirits, and granted 78 sight to many who were blind.
[34:1] 1 tn Heb “went out to see.” The verb “to see,” followed by the preposition בְּ (bÿ), here has the idea of “look over.” The young girl wanted to meet these women and see what they were like.
[34:2] 3 tn Heb “and he took her and lay with her.” The suffixed form following the verb appears to be the sign of the accusative instead of the preposition, but see BDB 1012 s.v. שָׁכַב.
[34:2] 4 tn The verb עָנָה (’anah) in the Piel stem can have various shades of meaning, depending on the context: “to defile; to mistreat; to violate; to rape; to shame; to afflict.” Here it means that Shechem violated or humiliated Dinah by raping her.
[34:3] 5 tn Heb “his soul stuck to [or “joined with”],” meaning Shechem became very attached to Dinah emotionally.
[34:3] 6 tn Heb “and he spoke to the heart of the young woman,” which apparently refers in this context to tender, romantic speech (Hos 2:14). Another option is to translate the expression “he reassured the young woman” (see Judg 19:3, 2 Sam 19:7; cf. NEB “comforted her”).
[34:4] 7 tn Heb “Take for me this young woman for a wife.”
[34:5] 8 tn The two disjunctive clauses in this verse (“Now Jacob heard…and his sons were”) are juxtaposed to indicate synchronic action.
[34:5] 9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:5] 10 sn The expected response would be anger or rage; but Jacob remained silent. He appears too indifferent or confused to act decisively. When the leader does not act decisively, the younger zealots will, and often with disastrous results.
[34:6] 11 tn Heb “went out to Jacob to speak with him.” The words “about Dinah” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:7] 12 tn Heb “when they heard.” The words “the news” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:7] 13 tn Heb “the men.” This sounds as if a new group has been introduced into the narrative, so it has been translated as “they” to indicate that it refers to Jacob’s sons, mentioned in the first part of the verse.
[34:7] 14 tn The Hebrew verb עָצַב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic nuances depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain; to be depressed emotionally; to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed; to be insulted; to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself; Gen 6:6; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 6:6). The third category fits best in Gen 34:7 because Jacob’s sons were not merely wounded emotionally. On the contrary, Shechem’s action prompted them to strike out in judgment against the source of their distress.
[34:7] 15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:7] 16 tn Heb “a disgraceful thing he did against Israel.”
[34:7] 17 tn Heb “by lying with the daughter of Jacob.” The infinitive here explains the preceding verb, indicating exactly how he had disgraced Jacob. The expression “to lie with” is a euphemism for sexual relations, or in this case, sexual assault.
[34:7] 18 tn Heb “and so it should not be done.” The negated imperfect has an obligatory nuance here, but there is also a generalizing tone. The narrator emphasizes that this particular type of crime (sexual assault) is especially reprehensible.
[34:8] 19 tn Heb “Shechem my son, his soul is attached to your daughter.” The verb means “to love” in the sense of being emotionally attached to or drawn to someone. This is a slightly different way of saying what was reported earlier (v. 3). However, there is no mention here of the offense. Even though Hamor is speaking to Dinah’s brothers, he refers to her as their daughter (see v. 17).
[34:9] 20 tn Heb “form marriage alliances with us.”
[34:9] 21 tn Heb “Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.” In the translation the words “let…marry” and “as wives” are supplied for clarity.
[34:10] 22 tn The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.
[34:10] 23 tn Heb “before you.”
[34:10] 24 tn The verb seems to carry the basic meaning “travel about freely,” although the substantival participial form refers to a trader (see E. A. Speiser, “The Verb sh£r in Genesis and Early Hebrew Movements,” BASOR 164 [1961]: 23-28); cf. NIV, NRSV “trade in it.”
[34:11] 25 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Dinah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:11] 26 tn Heb “whatever you say.”
[34:12] 28 tn Heb “Make very great upon me the bride price and gift.” The imperatives are used in a rhetorical manner. Shechem’s point is that he will pay the price, no matter how expensive it might be.
[34:12] 29 tn The cohortative expresses Shechem’s resolve to have Dinah as his wife.
[34:13] 31 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:14] 32 tn Heb “we are not able to do this thing, to give.” The second infinitive is in apposition to the first, explaining what they are not able to do.
[34:14] 33 tn The Hebrew word translated “disgrace” usually means “ridicule; taunt; reproach.” It can also refer to the reason the condition of shame or disgrace causes ridicule or a reproach.
[34:15] 34 tn Heb “if you are like us.”
[34:15] 35 tn The infinitive here explains how they would become like them.
[34:16] 36 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
[34:16] 37 tn The words “to marry” (and the words “as wives” in the following clause) are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:17] 38 tn Heb “listen to us.”
[34:17] 39 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
[34:17] 40 tn Heb “daughter.” Jacob’s sons call Dinah their daughter, even though she was their sister (see v. 8). This has been translated as “sister” for clarity.
[34:18] 41 tn Heb “and their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem son of Hamor.”
[34:19] 42 tn Heb “doing the thing.”
[34:19] 43 tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:19] 44 tn The Hebrew verb כָּבֵד (kaved), translated “was…important,” has the primary meaning “to be heavy,” but here carries a secondary sense of “to be important” (that is, “heavy” in honor or respect).
[34:19] 45 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).
[34:20] 46 sn The gate. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the location for conducting important public business.
[34:21] 47 tn Heb “wide on both hands,” that is, in both directions.
[34:21] 48 tn The words “to marry” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:22] 49 tn Heb “when every one of our males is circumcised.”
[34:23] 50 tn The words “If we do so” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[34:24] 51 tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”
[34:24] 52 tn Heb “listened to.”
[34:24] 53 tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”
[34:25] 54 tn Heb “a man his sword.”
[34:25] 55 tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.
[34:27] 56 tn Heb “came upon the slain.” Because of this statement the preceding phrase “Jacob’s sons” is frequently taken to mean the other sons of Jacob besides Simeon and Levi, but the text does not clearly affirm this.
[34:27] 57 tn Heb “because they violated their sister.” The plural verb is active in form, but with no expressed subject, it may be translated passive.
[34:28] 58 tn Heb “and what was in the city and what was in the field they took.”
[34:29] 59 tn Heb “they took captive and they plundered,” that is, “they captured as plunder.”
[34:30] 60 tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.
[34:30] 61 tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.
[34:30] 62 tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.
[34:31] 63 tn Heb “but they said.” The referent of “they” (Simeon and Levi) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:10] 64 tn Heb “and he said.”
[3:10] 65 tn Heb “your sound.” If one sees a storm theophany here (see the note on the word “time” in v. 8), then one could translate, “your powerful voice.”
[3:1] 66 tn The chapter begins with a disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate) that introduces a new character and a new scene in the story.
[3:1] 67 sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent’s capacity to speak. While later passages in the Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, “On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26].” Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent’s actions to jealousy. He writes that “the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God’s behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom.”
[3:1] 68 tn The Hebrew word עָרוּם (’arum) basically means “clever.” This idea then polarizes into the nuances “cunning” (in a negative sense, see Job 5:12; 15:5), and “prudent” in a positive sense (Prov 12:16, 23; 13:16; 14:8, 15, 18; 22:3; 27:12). This same polarization of meaning can be detected in related words derived from the same root (see Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; 1 Sam 23:22; Job 5:13; Ps 83:3). The negative nuance obviously applies in Gen 3, where the snake attempts to talk the woman into disobeying God by using half-truths and lies.
[3:1] 69 tn Heb “animals of the field.”
[3:1] 70 tn Heb “Indeed that God said.” The beginning of the quotation is elliptical and therefore difficult to translate. One must supply a phrase like “is it true”: “Indeed, [is it true] that God said.”
[3:1] 71 sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [
[3:1] 72 tn Heb “you must not eat from all the tree[s] of the orchard.” After the negated prohibitive verb, מִכֹּל (mikkol, “from all”) has the meaning “from any.” Note the construction in Lev 18:26, where the statement “you must not do from all these abominable things” means “you must not do any of these abominable things.” See Lev 22:25 and Deut 28:14 as well.
[8:1] 73 tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).
[8:1] 74 tn Heb “to pass over.”
[7:21] 75 tn Grk “In that hour.”
[7:21] 76 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:21] 77 tn Grk “and sicknesses,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
