Genesis 34
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 34
The Rape of Dinah. 1 [a]Dinah, the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit some of the women of the land. 2 When Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite,[b] the leader of the region, saw her, he seized her and lay with her by force. 3 He was strongly attracted to Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and was in love with the young woman. So he spoke affectionately to her. 4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this young woman for a wife.”
5 Meanwhile, Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah; but since his sons were out in the field with his livestock, Jacob kept quiet until they came home. 6 Now Hamor, the father of Shechem, went out to discuss the matter with Jacob, 7 just as Jacob’s sons were coming in from the field. When they heard the news, the men were indignant and extremely angry. Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter; such a thing is not done.(A) 8 Hamor appealed to them, saying: “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 Thus you can live among us. The land is open before you. Settle and move about freely in it and acquire holdings here.”[c] 11 Then Shechem appealed to Dinah’s father and brothers: “Do me this favor, and whatever you ask from me, I will give. 12 No matter how high you set the bridal price and gift, I will give you whatever you ask from me; only give me the young woman as a wife.”
Revenge of Jacob’s Sons. 13 Jacob’s sons replied to Shechem and his father Hamor with guile, speaking as they did because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 They said to them, “We are not able to do this thing: to give our sister to an uncircumcised man. For that would be a disgrace for us. 15 Only on this condition will we agree to that: that you become like us by having every male among you circumcised. 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters in marriage; we will settle among you and become one people. 17 But if you do not listen to us and be circumcised, we will take our daughter and go.”
18 Their proposal pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man lost no time in acting on the proposal, since he wanted Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more highly regarded than anyone else in his father’s house. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and said to the men of their city: 21 “These men are friendly toward us. Let them settle in the land and move about in it freely; there is ample room in the land for them. We can take their daughters in marriage and give our daughters to them. 22 But only on this condition will the men agree to live with us and form one people with us: that every male among us be circumcised as they themselves are. 23 Would not their livestock, their property, and all their animals then be ours? Let us just agree with them, so that they will settle among us.”
24 All who went out of the gate of the city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all the males, all those who went out of the gate of the city,[d] were circumcised. 25 On the third day, while they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, brothers of Dinah, each took his sword, advanced against the unsuspecting city and massacred all the males.(B) 26 After they had killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, they took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.(C) 27 Then the other sons of Jacob followed up the slaughter and sacked the city because their sister had been defiled. 28 They took their sheep, cattle and donkeys, whatever was in the city and in the surrounding country. 29 They carried off all their wealth, their children, and their women, and looted whatever was in the houses.(D)
30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: “You have brought trouble upon me by making me repugnant to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I have so few men that, if these people unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be wiped out.” 31 But they retorted, “Should our sister be treated like a prostitute?”
Footnotes
- 34:1–31 The story of the rape of Dinah and the revenge of Jacob’s sons on the men of the city of Shechem may reflect the relations of the tribes of Simeon and Levi to their Canaanite neighbors around Shechem; the tribes are represented by their eponymous ancestors. Jacob’s farewell testament (49:5–7) cites this incident as the reason for the decline of the tribes of Simeon and Levi. Ominously, vv. 30–31 leave the situation unresolved, with Jacob concerned about the welfare of the whole family, and Simeon and Levi concerned only about the honor of their full sister. The danger to the family from narrow self-interest will continue in the Joseph story.
- 34:2 Hivite: the Greek text has “Horite”; the terms were apparently used indiscriminately to designate the Hurrian or other non-Semitic elements in Palestine.
- 34:10 Hamor seems to be making concessions to Jacob’s family in the hope of avoiding warfare between the two families.
- 34:24 All those who went out of the gate of the city: apparently meaning all the residents. By temporarily crippling the men through circumcision, Jacob’s sons deprived the city of its defenders.
1 Mosebok 34
Det Norsk Bibelselskap 1930
34 Dina, Jakobs datter med Lea, gikk engang ut for å se på landets døtre.
2 Og Sikem, som var sønn av hevitten Hemor, høvdingen i landet, så henne; og han tok henne og lå hos henne og krenket henne.
3 Men hans hjerte hang ved Dina, Jakobs datter, og han elsket piken og talte kjærlig til henne.
4 Så sa Sikem til Hemor, sin far: La mig få denne pike til hustru!
5 Og Jakob fikk høre at han hadde vanæret Dina, hans datter; men hans sønner var med buskapen ute på marken, og Jakob tidde med det til de kom hjem.
6 Men Hemor, Sikems far, gikk ut til Jakob for å tale med ham.
7 Jakobs sønner kom hjem fra marken da de fikk høre om dette; og mennene gremmet sig og var harmfulle; for han[a] hadde gjort en skammelig gjerning mot Israel ved å ligge hos Jakobs datter. Slikt burde ikke skje.
8 Da talte Hemor med dem og sa: Min sønn Sikems hjerte henger ved eders datter; kjære, la ham få henne til hustru,
9 og inngå svogerskap med oss, gi oss eders døtre og ta I våre døtre!
10 Bli boende hos oss! Landet skal stå åpent for eder; bo her og dra omkring og få eder eiendommer her!
11 Og Sikem sa til hennes far og hennes brødre: La mig finne nåde for eders øine! Det I krever av mig, vil jeg gi eder.
12 Krev så meget I vil av mig i morgengave og andre gaver! Jeg skal gi det I vil ha; la mig bare få piken til hustru!
13 Da svarte Jakobs sønner Sikem og Hemor, hans far, med svikefulle ord, fordi han hadde vanæret deres søster Dina,
14 og sa til dem: Det kan vi ikke gjøre, å gi vår søster til en mann som har forhud; det vilde være en skam for oss.
15 Bare på det vilkår vil vi være eder til vilje, at I blir som vi, og alt mannkjønn hos eder lar sig omskjære.
16 Da vil vi gi eder våre døtre og gifte oss med eders døtre og bo hos eder, så vi blir ett folk.
17 Men dersom I ikke vil høre på oss og la eder omskjære, da tar vi vår søster og drar bort.
18 Og de syntes godt om deres ord, både Hemor og Sikem, Hemors sønn.
19 Og den unge mann drygde ikke med å gjøre dette, for han var glad i Jakobs datter, og han var den som hadde mest å si i sin fars hus.
20 Så gikk Hemor og hans sønn Sikem til porten i sin by, og de talte til mennene i byen og sa:
21 Disse menn vil gjerne være venner med oss og vil bo her i landet og dra omkring her, og landet er jo vidt nok for dem; vi vil gifte oss med deres døtre og gi dem våre døtre.
22 Men bare på det vilkår vil mennene være oss til vilje og bo hos oss og bli til ett folk med oss, at alt mannkjønn iblandt oss lar sig omskjære, likesom de selv er omskåret.
23 Deres buskap og deres gods og alle deres kløvdyr, blir ikke alt det vårt når vi bare er dem til vilje, så de blir boende hos oss?
24 Og de gjorde som Hemor og hans sønn Sikem vilde, alle som hørte hjemme i hans by; og alt mannkjønn, alle som hørte hjemme i hans by, blev omskåret.
25 Men på den tredje dag, da de var syke av sine sår, da tok Jakobs to sønner, Simeon og Levi, Dinas brødre, hver sitt sverd, og de kom uforvarende over byen og slo alt mannkjønn ihjel.
26 Også Hemor og Sikem, hans sønn, slo de ihjel med sverdets egg, og de tok Dina ut av Sikems hus og drog bort.
27 Jakobs sønner kom over de drepte og plyndret byen, fordi deres søster var blitt vanæret.
28 De tok deres småfe og storfe og deres asener, både det som var i byen, og det som var på marken.
29 Og alt deres gods og alle deres barn og deres kvinner førte de bort som bytte, og alt annet som var i husene.
30 Da sa Jakob til Simeon og Levi: I har gjort mig en stor sorg! I har ført mig i vanrykte hos landets innbyggere, Kana'anittene og ferisittene; jeg råder jo bare over en liten flokk, og samler de sig imot mig, kommer de til å slå mig ihjel, sa både jeg og mitt hus går til grunne.
31 Men de svarte: Skulde han da få gjøre med vår søster som med en skjøge?
Footnotes
- 1 Mosebok 34:7 Sikem.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.