Genesis 34:25

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 ¹  and went to the unsuspecting city ²  and slaughtered every male.

Genesis 34:30

34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin ³  on me by making me a foul odor ⁴  among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I ⁵  am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”

[34:25]  ¹ tn Heb “a man his sword.”

[34:25]  ² 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.

[34:30]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.