Genesis 34 · WEB
Dinah and Shechem
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Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humiliated her.
3His soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady.
4Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, "Get me this girl as my wife."
5Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came.
6Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him.
7The sons of Jacob came from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done.
8Hamor talked with them, saying, "The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.
9Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.
10You shall dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it."
11Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you tell me I will give.
12Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as my wife."
13The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit, and spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister,
14and said to them, "We can't do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us.
15Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised;
16then will we 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.
17But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone."
18Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son.
19The young man didn't wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he was honored above all the house of his father.
20Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying,
21"These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. 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.
22Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised.
23Won't their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us."
24All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25On the third day, when they were sore, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males.
26They killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away.
27Jacob's sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.
28They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,
29and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and plundered everything that was in the house.
30Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house."
31They said, "Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?"
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Summary
Dinah is violated by Shechem, the prince of the local city. Shechem then falls in love with her and asks to marry her. Jacob's sons deceive the Shechemites by demanding circumcision as a condition for intermarriage, then while the men are incapacitated, Simeon and Levi massacre the entire city and the rest of the brothers plunder it. Jacob rebukes Simeon and Levi for putting the family at risk, but they reply that their sister should not be treated like a prostitute. The chapter ends in moral ambiguity with no resolution.
Themes
- Sexual violence and its devastating consequences
- The failure of Jacob's passive leadership
- Vigilante justice versus God's justice
- Deception used in the service of (perceived) righteousness
- The complexity of sin, honor, and retaliation
Key verses
- Gen 34:2 — “Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humiliated her.”
- Gen 34:30 — “Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, 'You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land...'”
- Gen 34:31 — “They said, 'Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?'”
Context & background
Genesis 34 is one of the Bible's most difficult chapters — there are no clear heroes. Shechem commits a crime. Hamor seeks a legitimate resolution but with ulterior motives (acquiring Israel's possessions). Jacob's sons respond with deception and disproportionate violence. Jacob's primary concern is his own political safety, not his daughter's welfare — a serious failure of fatherly leadership. Simeon and Levi's righteous anger at Dinah's violation is understandable, but their response — massacring an entire city — is condemned by Jacob in his deathbed blessing (49:5-7). The chapter is included as a record of human failure, not a model to follow.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 13:1-22 — Tamar's rape by Amnon echoes Dinah's story with similar themes of family silence
- Genesis 49:5-7 — Jacob's deathbed curse on Simeon and Levi for their violence at Shechem
- Micah 6:8 — to do justice, love mercy, walk humbly — Simeon and Levi had justice without mercy
- Proverbs 6:34 — a husband's jealousy is cruel, reflecting themes of honor violence
- Romans 12:19 — vengeance belongs to God, not to us