Genesis 34
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
34 And Dina the daughter of Lia went out to see the women of that country.
2 And when Sichem the son of Hemor the Hevite, the prince of that land, saw her, he was in love with her: and took her away, and lay with her, ravishing the virgin.
3 And his soul was fast knit unto her, and whereas she was sad, he comforted her with sweet words.
4 And going to Hemor his father, he said: Get me this damsel to wife.
5 But when Jacob had heard this, his sons being absent, and employed in feeding the cattle, he held his peace till they came back.
6 And when Hemor the father of Sichem was come out to speak to Jacob,
7 Behold his sons came from the field: and hearing what had passed, they were exceeding angry, because he had done a foul thing in Israel, and committed an unlawful act, in ravishing Jacob's daughter,
8 And Hemor spoke to them: The soul of my son Sichem has a longing for your daughter: give her him to wife:
9 And let us contract marriages one with another: give us your daughters and take you our daughters,
10 And dwell with us: the land is at your command, till, trade, and possess it.
11 Sichem also said to her father and to her brethren: Let me find favour in your sight: and whatsoever you shall appoint I will give.
12 Raise the dowry, and ask gifts, and I will gladly give what you shall demand: only give me this damsel to wife.
13 The sons of Jacob answered Sichem and his father deceitfully, being enraged at the deflowering of their sister:
14 We cannot do what you demand, nor give our sister to one that is uncircumcised, which with us is unlawful and abominable.
15 But in this we may be allied with you, if you will be like us, and all the male sex among you be circumcised:
16 Then will we mutually give and take your daughters, and ours: and we will dwell with you, and will be one people:
17 But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter and depart:
18 Their offer pleased Hemor, and Sichem his son:
19 And the young man made no delay, but forthwith fulfilled what was required, for he loved the damsel exceedingly, and he was the greatest man in all his father's house.
20 And going into the gate of the city they spoke to the people:
21 These men are peaceable and willing to dwell with us: let them trade in the land, and till it, which being large and wide wanteth men to till it: we shall take their daughters for wives, and we will give them ours.
22 One thing there is for which so great a good is deferred: We must circumcise every male among us, following the manner of the nation.
23 And their substance, and cattle, and all that they possess, shall be ours: only in this let us condescend, and by dwelling together, we shall make one people.
24 And they all agreed, and circumcised all the males.
25 And behold the third day, when the pain of the wound was greatest, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dina, taking their swords, entered boldly into the city, and slew all the men:
26 And they killed also Hemor and Sichem, and took away their sister Dina, out of Sichem's house.
27 And when they were gone out, the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain; and plundered the city in revenge of the rape.
28 And they took their sheep and their herds and their asses, wasting all they had in their houses and in the fields.
29 And their children and wives they took captive,
30 And when they had boldly perpetrated these things, Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: You have troubled me, and made me hateful to the Chanaanites and Pherezites, the inhabitants of this land: we are few: they will gather themselves together and kill me; and both I, and my house, shall be destroyed.
31 They answered: Should they abuse our sister as a strumpet?
Genesis 34
New King James Version
The Dinah Incident
34 Now (A)Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he (B)took her and lay with her, and violated her. 3 His soul [a]was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke [b]kindly to the young woman. 4 So Shechem (C)spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”
5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob (D)held[c] his peace until they came. 6 Then Hamor the 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 grieved and very angry, because he (E)had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, (F)a thing which 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 as a wife. 9 And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. 10 So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”
11 Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me ever so much (G)dowry[d] and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”
13 But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke (H)deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is (I)uncircumcised, for (J)that would be a reproach to us. 15 But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, 16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 17 But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”
18 And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19 So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was (K)more honorable than all the household of his father.
20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the (L)gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying: 21 “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.” 24 And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who (M)went out of the gate of his city.
25 Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, (N)Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. 26 And they (O)killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. 28 They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, 29 and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, (P)“You have (Q)troubled me (R)by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; (S)and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”
31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”
Footnotes
- Genesis 34:3 Lit. clung to
- Genesis 34:3 tenderly
- Genesis 34:5 kept silent
- Genesis 34:12 bride-price
Genesis 34
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised
The Rape of Dinah
34 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the region. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the region, saw her, he seized her and lay with her by force. 3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the girl, and spoke tenderly to her. 4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, ‘Get me this girl to be my wife.’
5 Now Jacob heard that Shechem[a] had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his cattle in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him, 7 just as the sons of Jacob came in from the field. When they heard of it, the men were indignant and very angry, because he had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.
8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, ‘The heart of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him in marriage. 9 Make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You shall live with us; and the land shall be open to you; live and trade in it, and get property in it.’ 11 Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, ‘Let me find favour with you, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Put the marriage present and gift as high as you like, and I will give whatever you ask me; only give me the girl to be my wife.’
13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 They said to them, ‘We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. 15 Only on this condition will we consent to you: that you will become as we are and every male among you be circumcised. 16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.’
18 Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. 19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honoured of all his family. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 ‘These people are friendly with us; let them live in the land and trade in it, for the land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters in marriage, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on this condition will they agree to live among us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock, their property, and all their animals be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will live among us.’ 24 And all who went out of the city gate heeded Hamor and his son Shechem; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
Dinah’s Brothers Avenge Their Sister
25 On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city unawares, and killed all the males. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. 27 And the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. 28 They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29 All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and made their prey. 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have brought trouble on me by making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites; my numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.’ 31 But they said, ‘Should our sister be treated like a whore?’
Footnotes
- Genesis 34:5 Heb he
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.