Genesis 34
New American Standard Bible
The Treachery of Jacob’s Sons
34 Now (A)Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to [a]visit the daughters of the land. 2 When Shechem the son of Hamor (B)the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and raped her. 3 But [b]he was deeply attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and [c]spoke tenderly to her. 4 So Shechem (C)spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.” 5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob said nothing until they came in. 6 Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard about it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry because he had done a [d](D)disgraceful thing in Israel by [e]sleeping with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.
8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him [f]in marriage. 9 And intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 So you will live with us, and (E)the land shall be [g]open to you; live and (F)trade in it and (G)acquire property in it.” 11 Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and I will give whatever you tell me. 12 Demand of me ever so much bridal payment and gift, and I will give whatever you tell me; but give me the girl [h]in marriage.”
13 But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor with deceit, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, that is, give our sister to a (H)man who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. 15 Only on this condition will we consent to you: if you will become like us, in that every male of you will be circumcised, 16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people. 17 But if you do not listen to us to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”
18 Now their words seemed [i]reasonable to Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19 The young man did not delay to do [j]this, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the (I)gate of their city and spoke to the people of their city, saying, 21 “These men are [k]friendly to us; therefore let them live in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is [l]large enough for them. We will take their daughters [m]in marriage, and give our daughters to them. 22 Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 23 Will their livestock and their property and all their animals not be ours? Let’s just consent to them, and they will live with us.” 24 (J)All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25 Now it came about on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob’s sons—(K)Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers—each took his sword and came upon the city undetected, and killed every male. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 27 Jacob’s sons came upon those killed and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks, their herds, and their donkeys, and that which was in the city and that which was in the field; 29 and they captured and looted all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives, even everything that was in the houses. 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have (L)brought trouble on me by (M)making me repulsive among the inhabitants of the land, among (N)the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and [n](O)since my men are few in number, they will band together against me and [o]attack me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household!” 31 But they said, “Should he [p]treat our sister like a prostitute?”
Footnotes
- Genesis 34:1 Lit see
- Genesis 34:3 Lit His soul clung
- Genesis 34:3 Lit spoke to the heart of the girl
- Genesis 34:7 Lit senseless
- Genesis 34:7 I.e., violating her
- Genesis 34:8 Lit for a wife
- Genesis 34:10 Lit before you
- Genesis 34:12 Lit for a wife
- Genesis 34:18 Lit good
- Genesis 34:19 Lit the thing
- Genesis 34:21 Lit peaceful
- Genesis 34:21 Lit wide of hands before them
- Genesis 34:21 Lit to us for wives
- Genesis 34:30 Lit I, few in number
- Genesis 34:30 Lit strike
- Genesis 34:31 Or make
Genesis 34
New Living Translation
Revenge against Shechem
34 One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the young women who lived in the area. 2 But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her. 3 But then he fell in love with her, and he tried to win her affection with tender words. 4 He said to his father, Hamor, “Get me this young girl. I want to marry her.”
5 Soon Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter, Dinah. But since his sons were out in the fields herding his livestock, he said nothing until they returned. 6 Hamor, Shechem’s father, came to discuss the matter with Jacob. 7 Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the field as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious that their sister had been raped. Shechem had done a disgraceful thing against Jacob’s family,[a] something that should never be done.
8 Hamor tried to speak with Jacob and his sons. “My son Shechem is truly in love with your daughter,” he said. “Please let him marry her. 9 In fact, let’s arrange other marriages, too. You give us your daughters for our sons, and we will give you our daughters for your sons. 10 And you may live among us; the land is open to you! Settle here and trade with us. And feel free to buy property in the area.”
11 Then Shechem himself spoke to Dinah’s father and brothers. “Please be kind to me, and let me marry her,” he begged. “I will give you whatever you ask. 12 No matter what dowry or gift you demand, I will gladly pay it—just give me the girl as my wife.”
13 But since Shechem had defiled their sister, Dinah, Jacob’s sons responded deceitfully to Shechem and his father, Hamor. 14 They said to them, “We couldn’t possibly allow this, because you’re not circumcised. It would be a disgrace for our sister to marry a man like you! 15 But here is a solution. If every man among you will be circumcised like we are, 16 then we will give you our daughters, and we’ll take your daughters for ourselves. We will live among you and become one people. 17 But if you don’t agree to be circumcised, we will take her and be on our way.”
18 Hamor and his son Shechem agreed to their proposal. 19 Shechem wasted no time in acting on this request, for he wanted Jacob’s daughter desperately. Shechem was a highly respected member of his family, 20 and he went with his father, Hamor, to present this proposal to the leaders at the town gate.
21 “These men are our friends,” they said. “Let’s invite them to live here among us and trade freely. Look, the land is large enough to hold them. We can take their daughters as wives and let them marry ours. 22 But they will consider staying here and becoming one people with us only if all of our men are circumcised, just as they are. 23 But if we do this, all their livestock and possessions will eventually be ours. Come, let’s agree to their terms and let them settle here among us.”
24 So all the men in the town council agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every male in the town was circumcised. 25 But three days later, when their wounds were still sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, who were Dinah’s full brothers, took their swords and entered the town without opposition. Then they slaughtered every male there, 26 including Hamor and his son Shechem. They killed them with their swords, then took Dinah from Shechem’s house and returned to their camp.
27 Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob’s sons arrived. Finding the men slaughtered, they plundered the town because their sister had been defiled there. 28 They seized all the flocks and herds and donkeys—everything they could lay their hands on, both inside the town and outside in the fields. 29 They looted all their wealth and plundered their houses. They also took all their little children and wives and led them away as captives.
30 Afterward Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have ruined me! You’ve made me stink among all the people of this land—among all the Canaanites and Perizzites. We are so few that they will join forces and crush us. I will be ruined, and my entire household will be wiped out!”
31 “But why should we let him treat our sister like a prostitute?” they retorted angrily.
Footnotes
- 34:7 Hebrew a disgraceful thing in Israel.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
