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CHAPTER 34
Shechem defiles Dinah—Hivites seek to arrange marriage with Jacob's family—Many, being circumcised are slain by Simeon and Levi—Jacob reproves them. |
Shechem abducts and defiles Dinah to coerce Israelites into Hivite kingdom—They seek arranged inter-marriages with all of Jacob's house with indent of benefiting from Jacob's property—Simeon and Levi find a way to rescue Dinah and avoid being sucked into the Hivite nation—Simeon's and Levi's evil solution unjustified as Jacob reproves them. |
Evil Means
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1 AND
aDinah the
daughter of Leaha, which she bare
unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2 And when Shechem the son of aHamor the bHivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. 3 And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. |
1a Dinah the daughter of Leah In many cultures of this era it was not unusual for a very young girl when she reached her puberty to be considered for marriage and child bearing. The fact that Dinah was merely at age 12 or 13 only meant that she had so entered that age and phase, though young she was. By Jacob's family standards, Dinah may not have been yet set forth to marriage, but in the Hivite culture the very opposite could have prevailed. At any rate, Dinah appears not to be very obedient and quite curious and adventurous to have gone out to see the daughters of the land. In that 'peer group' Dinah found herself in the company and then bedded by the Prince of the land, Shechem. |
1a
Gen.
30:21 2a Judg. 9:28 b BD Hivites
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4 And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.
5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come. |
1a
Gen. 30:22 (22-23);
1 Sam. 2:21 b Gen. 17:19; Gen. 18:10 (10, 14) 2a Gen. 24:36 b TG Old Age c Gen. 17:21
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6 ¶ And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.
7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very awroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be donea. |
7a thing ought not be done There are two aspects of what ought not to be that are going on here. On the surface and from the perspective of the Hivites, the only question is that of the 'honor of the girl' and the fact that the Prince was offering marriage for the 'mis-deed'. Even in Israelite culture this thing could be worked around with such a proposal of marriage. The second aspect of that which ought not to be during this era and point in time was the fact that the Hivites were one of the Canaanitish races and therefore not to entered into for marriages by the promised covenant family of Israel, AKA, Jacob, Isaac and even Abraham. As the context of the scriptures unfolds note how this becomes a big issue of proposed enter marriage with Jacob's entire household with the Hivite race. | |
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8 And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.
9 And make ye marriages with usa, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. 10 And ye shall dwell with us: and the aland shall be before you; dwell and btrade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. |
9a make ye marriages with us While Dinah's brother's were incensed over Dinah's affair with the Prince, there is the further matter of the proposal which would be intolerable to Israel to agree to. Yet what is a sojourning band to do if they are being 'reeled' in by a threating established society to become a part of that society? Would rejection of the 'honorable proposal' be deemed by their Hivite hosts as cause for engagement? It will come out later that the Hivites did have designs upon the herds of Jacob. Was this normal practice for the Hivite 'royal' house to so engage in anexation of smaller groups through inter marriage. Was Dinah to be just one member of Shechem's expansionist political harem? | |
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11 And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
12 Ask me anever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife. |
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13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor
his father deceitfullya, and said,
because he had defiled Dinah their sister:
14 aAnd they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is buncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us: 15 But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as wea be, that every male of you be acircumciseda; 16 Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 17 But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone. |
13a sons of Jacob answered Shechem and
Hamor his father deceitfully This translation could have read
that they answered 'shewedly' or 'cunningly' or some form of the word which
in Hebrew did not mean 'lying in a wrong sense' but 'misdirecting with
higher purpose to avoid an entrapment' upon the part of the Hivites to
corral Jacob's party into joining the Hivite nation and becoming subject to
the Hivite prince.
15a in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we . . . circumcised The strategy here is to get the Hivites incapacitated. The proposal does not include the Hivites joining the religion of Jehovah per say, it is only to get them to become unable to fight back. This by the way is happening without Jacob's consent. Just what Jacob's design was or would have been to avoid the prescribed intermarriages is not known as it did not come up to that point. Yet one must wonder, did the sons at one point agree with intent and were they later told by Jacob that they ought not to so marry? And was the plot of Simeon and Levi a quick and dirty solution to the problem, though unapproved by Jacob, done in order to conform with Jacob's point of order? Perhaps that was Simeon's and Levi's 'out' of not being held directly for 'murder' by Jacob. Did Jacob fell partly to blame, telling his sons they were not to marry the Canaanitish Hivites, and Simeon and Levi impulsively commiting to them them what seemed a solution? |
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18 And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son.
19 And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father. |
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20 ¶ And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the
agate of their city, and communed with the men of their
city, saying,
21 These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one peoplea, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. |
22a to be one people Here the 'real' intent of the Hivites comes out. Their design is to absorb Jacob's group under Hivite rule by the ploy of marriage. |
1a
Gen. 30:22 (22-23);
1 Sam. 2:21 b Gen. 17:19; Gen. 18:10 (10, 14) 2a Gen. 24:36 b TG Old Age c Gen. 17:21
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23 Shall not their cattle and their
substance and every beast of theirs be
ours?a only let us consent unto
them, and they will dwell with us.
24 And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city. |
23a Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? This seems to be the ultimate design of the Hivites, that is to absorb and take to their own all that was the family of Jacob's. Though it was not an acceptable solution, Simeon and Levi's solution did resolve the matter of being absorbed in to the Hivite nation and becoming under their rule and control. | |
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25 ¶ And it came to pass on the third day, when
they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, aSimeon and
Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city
boldly, and slew all the males.
26 And they aslew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's housea, and went out. |
26a took Dinah out of Shechem's house In one real sense, Dinah had be abducted and held as the bargaining 'chip'. Thus Simeon's and Levi's plan was a resue mission as well as a strategy to avoid the coersion of the Hivites to become a subjected part of their kingdom. | |
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27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.
28 They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, 29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. |
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30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
31 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
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