Genesis 34:6-31

34:6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went to speak with Jacob about Dinah. ¹  34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. ²  They ³  were offended ⁴  and very angry because Shechem ⁵  had disgraced Israel ⁶  by sexually assaulting ⁷  Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. ⁸ 

34:8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. ⁹  Please give her to him as his wife. 34:9 Intermarry with us. ¹⁰  Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves. ¹¹  34:10 You may live ¹²  among us, and the land will be open to you. ¹³  Live in it, travel freely in it, ¹⁴  and acquire property in it.”

34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s ¹⁵  father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me ¹⁶  I’ll give. ¹⁷  34:12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, ¹⁸  and I’ll give ¹⁹  whatever you ask ²⁰  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 ²¹  had violated their sister Dinah. 34:14 They said to them, “We cannot give ²²  our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace ²³  to us. 34:15 We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become ²⁴  like us by circumcising ²⁵  all your males. 34:16 Then we will give ²⁶  you our daughters to marry, ²⁷  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 ²⁸  by being circumcised, then we will take ²⁹  our sister ³⁰  and depart.”

34:18 Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. ³¹  34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked ³²  because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah ³³  badly. (Now he was more important ³⁴  than anyone in his father’s household.) ³⁵  34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate ³⁶  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 ³⁷  for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry. ³⁸  34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand ³⁹  that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 34:23 If we do so, ⁴⁰  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 ⁴¹  agreed with ⁴²  Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate ⁴³  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 ⁴⁴  and went to the unsuspecting city ⁴⁵  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 ⁴⁶  and looted the city because their sister had been violated. ⁴⁷  34:28 They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields. ⁴⁸  34:29 They captured as plunder ⁴⁹  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 ⁵⁰  on me by making me a foul odor ⁵¹  among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I ⁵²  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, ⁵³  “Should he treat our sister like a common prostitute?”

[34:6]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “when they heard.” The words “the news” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:7]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “a disgraceful thing he did against Israel.”

[34:7]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “form marriage alliances with us.”

[34:9]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.

[34:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “before you.”

[34:10]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Dinah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “whatever you say.”

[34:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “pay.”

[34:12]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn The cohortative expresses Shechem’s resolve to have Dinah as his wife.

[34:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “say.”

[34:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:14]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Heb “if you are like us.”

[34:15]  ²⁵ tn The infinitive here explains how they would become like them.

[34:16]  ²⁶ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.

[34:16]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Heb “listen to us.”

[34:17]  ²⁹ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.

[34:17]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Heb “and their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem son of Hamor.”

[34:19]  ³² tn Heb “doing the thing.”

[34:19]  ³³ tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[34:19]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).

[34:20]  ³⁶ sn The gate. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the location for conducting important public business.

[34:21]  ³⁷ tn Heb “wide on both hands,” that is, in both directions.

[34:21]  ³⁸ tn The words “to marry” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[34:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “when every one of our males is circumcised.”

[34:23]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”

[34:24]  ⁴² tn Heb “listened to.”

[34:24]  ⁴³ tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”

[34:25]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “a man his sword.”

[34:25]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and what was in the city and what was in the field they took.”

[34:29]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “they took captive and they plundered,” that is, “they captured as plunder.”

[34:30]  ⁵⁰ 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]  ⁵¹ 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]  ⁵² tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.

[34:31]  ⁵³ tn Heb “but they said.” The referent of “they” (Simeon and Levi) have been specified in the translation for clarity.