Albert Barnes Commentary Genesis 34:1-31

"And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her; And he took her, and lay with her, and humbled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; and his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they came. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob`s daughter; which thing ought not to be done. And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you, give her unto him to wife. And make ye marriages with us; give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find favor in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife. And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with guile, and spake, because he had defiled Dinah their sister, and said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us. Only on this condition will we consent unto you: if ye will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised; 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. But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone. And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor`s son. And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob`s daughter: and he was honored above all the house of his father. And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for, behold, the land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only on this condition will the men consent unto us to dwell with us, to become one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. Shall not their cattle and their substance and all their beasts be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. 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. And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah`s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city unawares, and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem`s house, and went forth. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks and their herds and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field; and all their wealth, and all their little ones and their wives, took they captive and made a prey, even all that was in the house. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and, I being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and smite me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?" — Genesis 34:1-31 (ASV)

This chapter records the rape of Dinah and the revenge of her brothers.

(Genesis 34:1–5)

Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land. The Jewish scholars of a later period set the marriageable age of a female at twelve years and a day. It is probable that Dinah was in her thirteenth year when she went out to visit the daughters of the land. Six or seven years, therefore, must have been spent by Jacob between Sukkoth, where he stayed some time, and the neighborhood of Shechem, where he had purchased a piece of ground.

If we suppose Dinah to have been born in the same year as Joseph, who was in his seventeenth year at the time he was sold as a bondslave (Genesis 37:2), the events of this chapter must have occurred in the interval between the completion of her twelfth and that of her sixteenth year.

“Shechem.” This name is hereditary in the family and had taken hold in the locality before the time of Abraham. The Hivite was a descendant of Canaan. We find this tribe now occupying the district where the Canaanite was in possession at a former period (Genesis 12:6).

Spake to the heart of the damsel. After having robbed her of her honor, he promises to recognize her as his wife, provided he can gain the consent of her relatives. Shekem spake unto his father Hamor. He is in earnest about this matter. Jacob held his peace. He was a stranger in the land and surrounded by a flourishing tribe, who were evidently unscrupulous in their conduct.

(Genesis 34:6–17)

A conference takes place between the parties. Hamor and Jacob, the parents on both sides, are the principals in the negotiation. The sons of Jacob, being brothers of the injured damsel, are present, according to custom. Wrought folly in Israel; a standing phrase from this time forward for any deed that was contrary to the sanctity which ought to characterize God’s holy people. Israel is used here to designate the descendants of Israel, the special people.

Hamor makes his proposal. Shekem, my son—these words are a nominative pendent, for which “his soul” is substituted. He proposes a political alliance or amalgamation of the two tribes, to be sealed and actually effected by intermarriage. He offers to make them joint-possessors of the soil, and of the rights of dwelling, trading, and acquiring property. Shechem now speaks with becoming deference and earnestness.

He offers any amount of dowry, or bridal presents, and of gift to the mother and brothers of the bride. It must be acknowledged that the father and the son were disposed to make whatever amends they could for the grievous offense that had been committed.

The sons of Jacob answer with deceit. They are burning with resentment of the wrong that ought not to have been done, and that cannot now be fully repaired. Yet they are in the presence of a superior force and therefore resort to deceit. And spake—this goes along with the previous verb “answered,” and is meant to have the same qualification “with deceit.” The last clause of the verse then assigns the cause of this deceitful dealing.

Their speech, for the matter of it, is reasonable. They cannot intermarry with the uncircumcised. Only on condition that every male be circumcised will they consent. On these terms they promise to become one people with them. Otherwise they take their daughter and depart.

They here speak as a family or race, and therefore call Dinah their daughter, though her brothers are the speakers.

(Genesis 34:18–24)

Hamor and Shechem accept the terms and immediately proceed to carry them into effect. It is testified of Shechem that he delayed not to do the thing, and that he was more honorable than all his house. They bring the matter before their fellow-citizens and urge them to adopt the rite of circumcision, on the ground that the men are peaceable, well-conducted, and they and their cattle and goods would be a valuable addition to the commonwealth of their tribe.

Hence, it appears that the population was still thin, that the neighboring territory was sufficient for a much larger number than its present occupants, and that a tribe found a real benefit in an accession to its numbers. The people were persuaded to comply with the terms proposed. There is nothing said here of the religious import of the rite, or of any diversity of worship that may have existed between the two parties. But it is not improbable that the Shechemites were prepared for mutual toleration, or even for the adoption of the religion of Israel in its external forms, though not perhaps to the exclusion of their own hereditary customs.

It is also possible that the formal acknowledgment of the one true God was not yet extinct. Circumcision has been in use among the Egyptians, Colchians (Herodotus 2.104), and other eastern nations; but when and how introduced we are not informed. The present narrative points out one way in which it may have spread from nation to nation.

(Genesis 34:25–31)

Simon and Levi, at the head no doubt of all their father’s men, now fall upon the Shechemites, when feverish with the circumcision, and put them to the sword. Simon and Levi were the sons of Leah, and therefore full brothers of Dinah. If Dinah was of the same year as Joseph, they would be respectively seven and six years older than she was.

If she was in her thirteenth year, they would therefore be respectively in their twentieth and nineteenth years, and therefore suited by age and passion for such an enterprise. All the sons of Jacob joined in the sacking of the city. They seized all their cattle and goods and made captives of their wives and little ones.

Jacob is greatly distressed by this outrage, which is equally contrary to his policy and his humanity. He sets before his sons, in this expostulation, the danger attendant upon such a proceeding. The Canaanite and the Perizzite, whom Abraham found in the land on his return from Egypt (Genesis 13:7). I am a few men—men of a number that might easily be counted. “I” here denotes the family or tribe with all its dependents.

When expanded, therefore, it is, I and my house. Simon and Levi have their reply. It justifies the retribution which has fallen on the Shechemites for this and all their other crimes. But it does not justify the executioners for taking the law into their own hands, or proceeding by fraud and indiscriminate slaughter. The employment of circumcision, too, which was the sign of the covenant of grace, as a means of deception, was a heinous aggravation of their offense.