Genesis 34
Lexham English Bible
The Rape of Dinah and the Massacre at Shechem
34 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 And Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. And he took her and lay with her and raped her. 3 And his soul clung to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly[a] to the girl. 4 So Shechem said to Hamor his father, saying, “Get this girl for me as a wife.”
5 And Jacob heard that Dinah his daughter had been defiled, but his sons were with his flocks in the field. And Jacob kept silent until they came. 6 And Hamor, father of Shechem, went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. And the men were distressed and very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by having sexual relations with the daughter of Jacob—something that[b] should not be done. 8 And Hamor spoke with them saying, “Shechem my son is in love with[c] your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife. 9 Make marriages with us. Give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You shall dwell with us and the land shall be before you; settle and trade in it, and acquire property in it.” 11 Then Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will do. 12 Make the bride price and gift as high as you like;[d] I will give what you say to me. But give me the girl as a wife.” 13 Then the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor speaking deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for that is a disgrace for us. 15 Only on this condition will we give consent to you; if you will become like us—every male among you to be circumcised. 16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take for ourselves your daughters, and we will live with you and become one family. 17 But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our daughters and we will go.” 18 And their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem, the son of Hamor. 19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, for he wanted the daughter of Jacob. Now he was the most honored of his father’s house. 20 Then Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are at peace with us. Let them dwell in the land and let them trade in it. Now, behold, the land is broad enough for them.[e] Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give our daughters to them. 22 Only on this condition will they give consent to us, to live with us and to become one family—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals be ours? Only let us give consent to them so they will live among us.” 24 And all those who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and Shechem. Every male was circumcised, all those who went out of the gate of his city. 25 And it happened that on the third day, while they were in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, each took his sword and came against the unsuspecting city and killed all the males. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and they took Dinah from the house of Shechem and went out. 27 The other sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks and their cattle and their donkeys, and whatever was in the field. 29 They captured and plundered all that was in the houses—all their wealth, their little ones, and their women. 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me, making me stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites! I am few in number! If they gather against me and attack me, I will be destroyed—I and my household!” 31 But they said, “Shall he treat our sister like a prostitute?”
Footnotes
- Genesis 34:3 Literally “to the heart”
- Genesis 34:7 Literally “and thus”
- Genesis 34:8 Literally “his soul longs for”
- Genesis 34:12 Literally “Increase upon me very bride price and gift”
- Genesis 34:21 Literally “broad on sides before them”
Genesis 34
Common English Bible
34 Dinah, the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to meet the women of that country. 2 When Shechem the son of the Hivite Hamor and the country’s prince saw her, he took her, slept with her, and humiliated her. 3 He was drawn to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He loved the young woman and tried to win her heart. 4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get this girl for me as my wife.” 5 Now Jacob heard that Shechem defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with the animals in the countryside, so he decided to keep quiet until they got back. 6 Meanwhile, Hamor, Shechem’s father, went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 Just then, Jacob’s sons got back from the countryside. When they heard what had happened, they were deeply offended and very angry, because Shechem had disgraced Israel by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter. Such things are simply not done.
8 Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem’s heart is set on your daughter. Please let him marry her. 9 Arrange marriages with us: give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 Live with us. The land is available to you: settle down, travel through it, and buy property in it.”
11 Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “If you approve of me, tell me what you want, and I will give it to you. 12 Make the bride price and marriage gifts as large as you like, and I will pay whatever you tell me. Then let me marry the young woman.”
13 Jacob’s sons responded deviously to Shechem and his father Hamor because Shechem defiled their sister Dinah. 14 They said to them, “We can’t do this, allowing our sisters to marry uncircumcised men, because it’s disgraceful to us. 15 We can only agree to do this if you circumcise every male as we do. 16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves. We will live with you and be one people. 17 But if you don’t listen to us and become circumcised, we will take our daughter and leave.”
18 Their idea seemed like a good one to Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. 19 The young man didn’t waste any time doing this because he liked Jacob’s daughter so much. He was more respected than anyone else in his father’s household. 20 Hamor and his son Shechem went to their city’s gate and spoke to the men of their city: 21 “These men want peace with us. Let them live in the land and travel through it; there’s plenty of land for them. We will marry their daughters and give them our daughters. 22 But the men will agree to live with us and become one people only if we circumcise every male just as they do. 23 Their livestock, their property, and all of their animals—won’t they be ours? Let’s agree with them and let them live with us.” 24 Everyone at the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, so every able-bodied male in the city was circumcised.
25 On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons and Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi took their swords, came into the city, which suspected nothing, and killed every male. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem’s household, and left. 27 When Jacob’s other sons discovered the dead, they looted the city that had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks, their cattle, and their donkeys, whether in the city or in the fields nearby. 29 They carried off their property, their children, and their wives. They looted the entire place. 30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You’ve put me in danger by making me offensive to those who live here in the land, to the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I have only a few men. They may join forces, attack me, and destroy me, me and my household.”
31 They said, “But didn’t he treat our sister like a prostitute?”
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