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The Torah · Old Testament

Genesis 34

Dinah is assaulted, and her brothers attack the city

General context

Shechem takes and rapes Dinah, Leah and Jacob's daughter. The account then describes his attachment to her and his request to marry her. Jacob waits for his sons, who return grieved and angry. Hamor proposes intermarriage and shared settlement, and Shechem offers payment. Jacob's sons answer deceitfully, making circumcision of every male a condition of agreement. Hamor and Shechem persuade the city to accept. On the third day, while the men are in pain, Simeon and Levi kill all the males, including Hamor and Shechem, and take Dinah out of Shechem's house. Jacob's sons plunder the city and take women and children captive. Jacob fears that surrounding peoples will destroy his household in retaliation; the brothers answer by asking whether their sister should be treated as a prostitute.

Cited passages: Genesis 34:1, Genesis 34:2, Genesis 34:3, Genesis 34:4, Genesis 34:5, Genesis 34:6, Genesis 34:7, Genesis 34:8, Genesis 34:9, Genesis 34:10, Genesis 34:11, Genesis 34:12, Genesis 34:13, Genesis 34:14, Genesis 34:15, Genesis 34:16, Genesis 34:17, Genesis 34:18, Genesis 34:19, Genesis 34:20, Genesis 34:21, Genesis 34:22, Genesis 34:23, Genesis 34:24, Genesis 34:25, Genesis 34:26, Genesis 34:27, Genesis 34:28, Genesis 34:29, Genesis 34:30, Genesis 34:31

Genesis 34 (KJV)

1And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

2And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.

3And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.

4And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.

5And 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.

6And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.

7And the sons of Jacob came out of 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.

8And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.

9And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

10And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.

11And 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.

12Ask 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.

13And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:

14And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:

15But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;

16Then 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.

17But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.

18And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor’s son.

19And 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.

20And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,

21These 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.

22Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised.

23Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.

24And 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.

25And 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 boldly, and slew all the males.

26And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.

27The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.

28They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,

29And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.

30And 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.

31And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

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Historical context

Dinah is identified as Leah's daughter, and Shechem as Hamor's son, from the Hivite ruling household. The marriage negotiation includes proposed exchange of daughters, trade and property, with an offer of dowry and gifts. At the city gate, Hamor and Shechem also appeal to the prospect of gaining Jacob's livestock and possessions. The narrator calls the brothers' answer deceitful before the agreement is carried out. Simeon and Levi are named as the killers; the subsequent plunder is attributed to Jacob's sons. The chapter records no words from Dinah and no agreement by her to the proposed marriage. Shechem's later attachment does not establish her consent to the assault.

Cited passages: Genesis 34:1, Genesis 34:2, Genesis 34:3, Genesis 34:4, Genesis 34:7, Genesis 34:8, Genesis 34:9, Genesis 34:10, Genesis 34:11, Genesis 34:12, Genesis 34:13, Genesis 34:15, Genesis 34:16, Genesis 34:20, Genesis 34:21, Genesis 34:22, Genesis 34:23, Genesis 34:24, Genesis 34:25, Genesis 34:26, Genesis 34:27, Genesis 34:28, Genesis 34:29, Genesis 34:30, Genesis 34:31

Literary context

The narrator's descriptions of violation and deceit interrupt the negotiators' language of marriage and peace. What Hamor and Shechem present publicly as a shared future becomes the setting for an attack. The account moves from harm against Dinah to the killing of the city's males and the captivity of women and children. Its final exchange does not supply a settled verdict from Jacob's family: Jacob speaks of the danger to his household, while the brothers return to the dishonor done to their sister. Dinah herself is not given a speaking part in the chapter.

Cited passages: Genesis 34:2, Genesis 34:3, Genesis 34:7, Genesis 34:8, Genesis 34:9, Genesis 34:10, Genesis 34:13, Genesis 34:16, Genesis 34:20, Genesis 34:21, Genesis 34:22, Genesis 34:23, Genesis 34:24, Genesis 34:25, Genesis 34:26, Genesis 34:27, Genesis 34:28, Genesis 34:29, Genesis 34:30, Genesis 34:31

Key moments

  1. Dinah is assaulted (Genesis 34:2). Shechem takes Dinah and sexually violates her.
  2. The brothers answer deceitfully (Genesis 34:13). The narrator identifies deceit in the brothers' response to Shechem and Hamor.
  3. Dinah is taken out of Shechem's house (Genesis 34:26). Simeon and Levi kill Hamor and Shechem and take Dinah out of the house.
  4. Jacob fears retaliation (Genesis 34:30). Jacob tells Simeon and Levi that their actions have endangered his household among the surrounding peoples.

For reflection

How do the narrator's descriptions of the assault, deception and wider violence shape your reading of the family's final exchange?

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