Chapter Thirty-Four

The Violence of Shechem Against Dinah

Genesis 34:1. Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. The event described in chapter 34 took place no earlier than eight years after the events described in chapter 33: Dinah, born at the end of Jacob’s second seven-year period of service to Laban (Gen 30:21), here appears as a grown girl of about sixteen years old (she was six or seven years old when Jacob arrived in Succoth, Jacob lived there about two years, and thus about eight years in Shechem). Similarly, Simeon and Levi appear as grown young men (verse 5, 7). Despite their prolonged stay in the vicinity of Shechem, Jacob’s family apparently had no relations with the inhabitants, and there may have even been some ill will, which in the blood vengeance of Simeon and Levi was expressed with full terrible force, finding in the dishonoring of Dinah merely a pretext. According to Josephus (Ant. 1:21), the Shechemites had a festival, during which Dinah came to the city to look at women’s clothing. The Midrash condemns Dinah (and Leah) for going out dressed like a harlot (Beresch. r. Par. 80, s. 391-392). Dinah apparently inherited this recklessness from her mother.

Genesis 34:2–3. And Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of the land, saw her, and took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. And his soul clung to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. Shechem, the ruling prince of the city, which received even its name from him (cf. Gen 4:17), was inflamed with love for the young woman, and under the influence of passion committed violence against her. But Shechem’s passion was not purely animal lust, which once satisfied turns into the opposite feeling of hatred (cf. 2 Sam 13:14-15). On the contrary, he intended to enter into marriage with her and with this thought he sought to comfort and console Dinah (“spoke tenderly,” cf. Gen 50:21; Ruth 2:13).

His Marriage Proposal to Jacob and Dinah’s Brothers

Genesis 34:4–5. And Shechem said to his father Hamor, saying: Take me this young woman as my wife. Jacob heard that his son had defiled Dinah his daughter, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, Jacob remained silent until they came. Shechem turned with a request to arrange this marriage to his father Hamor, and apparently continued to keep Dinah at his house. Jacob grieved to hear of the shame of his daughter, but out of fear of Hamor and Shechem did not dare to do anything without his sons, who as brothers with Dinah felt the shame of their sister more keenly than any (cf. Gen 24:50).

Genesis 34:7. And the sons of Jacob came from the field, and when they heard it, the men were grieved and very angry, because he had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, which ought not to be done. Even to this day among the Arabs, the rape of a sister is considered a greater shame to a brother than even the defiling of a wife is to a husband. With this characteristic of Eastern customs in mind, Hamor approaches, not Jacob, but Simeon and Levi, on behalf of Shechem with a marriage proposal—though these two fell into the most extreme agitation at the news of the shame (nebalah, foolishness, then shameful dishonor, Deut 22:21; Judg 20:10); a gross outrage of chastity above all, 2 Sam 13:12, and afterward a serious crime opposed to the foundations of theocracy Josh 7:15) of their sister, in which they saw a crying violation of moral and social right, a violation not excused by any motives (“it ought not to be done,” cf. 2 Sam 13:12). To their passion is added a righteous zeal for the honor and purity of “Israel,” that is, the chosen people, whose blood-purity was “defiled” (timme, verse 5) by the uncircumcised foreigner.

Genesis 34:8–10. And Hamor spoke to them, and said: My son Shechem’s soul is attached to your daughter; please give her to him as wife; marry with us; give us your daughters as wives, and take our daughters for yourselves. Live with us; the land is open before you, live and trade in it and acquire possessions in it. Pointing to Shechem’s strong love for Dinah (daughter, bath, here, verse 8—sister), Hamor offered Jacob’s family, besides Shechem’s marriage to Dinah (verse 8), also: a) mutual marriage unions (verse 9) between the Shechemites and Jacob’s family, and b) unobstructed settlement in Shechem’s territory with full civic rights and freedom in all occupations (verse 10). Clearly, Hamor was proposing to Jacob’s family complete fusion with his own people. Such fusion, regardless of the external motives for which it was proposed, was not in keeping with the history of salvation, and therefore in the subsequent bloody event at Shechem one can see a negative providential aspect—it prevented the fatal disappearance of God’s chosen family of Jacob into the mass of Canaanite population. But this does not justify the bloodthirsty act of Simeon and Levi.

Genesis 34:11–12. And Shechem said to her father and to her brothers: Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give whatever you say to me; name to me ever so much bride-price and gift as you request of me, and I will give them. Only give me the young woman as wife. Shechem, passionately desiring marriage with Dinah, in turn promised to give the largest bride-price (mohar) (cf. Exod 22:16; Deut 22:28-29; 1 Sam 18:25), and besides that, such a gift (mattan)—the first to the father (or in this case to the brothers) of the bride, the second to the bride herself, according to the customs of the ancient East.

The Fanatical Vengeance of Simeon and Levi Upon the Shechemites

Genesis 34:14–15. And the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, said to them: We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us; only on this condition will we agree with you and settle among you: if you will be as we are, so that every male among you is circumcised; In response to Hamor and Shechem’s words of good-natured willingness for any terms of peace, the sons of Jacob, namely those born with Dinah to Leah—Simeon and Levi—make what appears to be a reasonable proposal, but with a cunning purpose (verse 13): declaring it shameful for themselves to enter into close family relations, they demand from the Shechemites the circumcision of all males in the population—in the letter (Gen 17:10-12). In this proposal, one certainly cannot see a serious effort by Jacob’s sons to propagate the divinely instituted practice of circumcision among foreign peoples. The proposal of circumcision could neither surprise nor offend the Hivites: circumcision, according to the testimony of Herodotus, existed from ancient times among the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and others, and thus could have been known among the Canaanites, who in the Bible are not usually called uncircumcised; it is rather surprising that the Hivites remained uncircumcised when, for instance, the powerful nation of Ishmael certainly had circumcision. The sons of Jacob said nothing to Shechem and Hamor about the inner meaning and significance of circumcision.

Genesis 34:18–24. And the words pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. And the young man did not hesitate to do it, because he loved Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored in all his father’s house. And Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying: These people are peaceful with us; let them settle in the land and trade in it; the land is indeed broad before them. We will take their daughters as wives, and give them our daughters. Only on this condition will these people consent to live with us and be one people: if every male among them is circumcised as they are circumcised. Will not their livestock and their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will settle with us. And all those who went out of the city gate listened to Hamor and his son Shechem: and every male was circumcised, all those who went out of the gate of his city. Filled with desire to arrange Shechem’s marriage with Dinah, both Shechem and Hamor (the latter with the special strong love for his son, verse 19) eagerly agreed to the harsh condition of union with Jacob’s family (verse 18), and Shechem, burning with love for Dinah, was ready to immediately complete (according to the biblical text—apparently immediately did complete, verse 19) circumcision upon himself. But according to the condition (verse 15) all the males among them had to be circumcised. And so they, having gathered the citizens to their usual place for all public assemblies and business (cf. Gen 19:1), to the city gate, diplomatically conduct negotiations with them, skillfully proving to them the advantages of union with Jacob’s family—a union truly necessary for their own personal purposes and for the whole Shechem community: Jacob’s family members are peaceful people, friendly toward the Shechemites, they are inclined toward settlement and commerce; there are no obstacles to their settling near the Shechemites—the territory of Shechem is broad and unsettled; for the purpose of settling it, mutual marriages between the Shechemites and members of Jacob’s descendants could be of great importance (verse 21). Having presented the advantages of union, Hamor and Shechem finally mention the conditions of union—the wholesale bloody operation upon all the male population. But even this difficult condition they apparently try to present as quite suitable, containing nothing shameful, precisely because all members of Jacob’s family are circumcised (verse 22). Moreover, this sole condition, Hamor and Shechem continue, will bring their people all the advantages of material prosperity, placing in their hands all the wealth of Jacob’s family; and once more they urge their countrymen to agree to receive circumcision (verse 23). And so, perhaps not so much the eloquence of the princes, as the natural desire of the people to strengthen itself through union with what they believed to be a strong and wealthy family of Jacob, finally inclined the people of Shechem to circumcision—all the more so because circumcision was not an unusual or unheard of operation in the surrounding lands of that time. All those “going out of the gate”—that is, all the full citizens having the right to vote in public affairs—consented to receive circumcision, and the circumcision was performed wholesale upon them and upon all the male population of the city. This population may not have been very large, as seen from how easily Simeon and Levi subsequently carried out the bloody slaughter of all the male population. Who performed the circumcision upon the whole community? Probably the sons of Jacob, with the especially active participation of Simeon and Levi, with the help also of their servants (verse 24).

Genesis 34:25. And on the third day, when they were in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took each his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and killed all the males; Here is depicted the terrible picture of the bloody vengeance of two sons of Jacob upon the Shechemites and the wild plundering of their property by all the brothers. The third day after the performance of circumcision is characterized by the greatest inflammation of the wound after the operation (Vulg.: Die tertio, quando gravissimus vulnerum dolor est). Taking advantage of the torturous suffering and helplessness of the people of Shechem, their inability to defend and resist, Simeon and Levi (here expressly called brothers of Dinah, since they were to avenge the outrage of their sister born from the same mother) together, without doubt, with their servants, armed with swords, boldly (Hebrew betach; this word may be, by the construction of the sentence, referred both to the city and in such case gives the thought that the inhabitants of the city met the attackers peacefully and confidently, seeing in them only allies) performed the wholesale slaughter of all the male population. This bloody deed could be accomplished more easily because, according to Josephus Flavius, there was a festival at that time among the Shechemites, and the guard and inhabitants were in a state of drunkenness. The Midrash, wishing to smooth over the guilt of the two Hebrew patriarchs, says that the bloody vengeance of Simeon and Levi was a signal for arming of Jacob himself against the surrounding peoples (Beresch. r. Par. 80, s. 395), and refers to Gen 48:22. But the biblical text not only says nothing about Jacob’s participation in the crime of his two sons, but directly testifies that Jacob was extremely grieved at the deed of Simeon and Levi (verse 30) and poured out all the bitterness of condemnation and curse upon this deed on his deathbed (Gen 49:5-7).

Genesis 34:26. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and left. And the authors of their people’s misfortune—Hamor and Shechem—perished, and Dinah was returned from Shechem’s house, she who had been with him either from the day Shechem seized her (verse 2) or immediately after the circumcision (the avenging brothers may have purposely left Dinah in Shechem’s house to lull his vigilance more surely). The Midrash remarks that the shamed Dinah was in despair until Simeon comforted her with the promise of marriage to him; in Gen 46:10 the sixth son of Simeon, called the son of a Canaanite woman, according to the Midrash, was the son of Dinah, who is here called a Canaanite woman because she was defiled by a Canaanite (Beresch Par. LXXX, 396).

Genesis 34:27. And the sons of Jacob came upon those who were killed, and they plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. After the bloody vengeance upon the Shechemites came the plundering of the city by Simeon and Levi, in which the other sons of Jacob also took part with the same motive of vengeance upon the whole city for the crime of its prince. In the Book of Judith (Jdt 9:2-3) the killing of the Shechemites and the plundering of their city is presented as the work of God’s judgment upon the former for the violence against Dinah. But even if the sons of Jacob served as instruments of God’s judgment upon the Shechemites, this bloody deed in no way is justified by any efforts of national Jewish pride, because, in addition to its bloody character, it contained also: the treacherous violation of the covenant with the Shechemites; the sacrilegious use of circumcision for purposes of vengeance; and rebellion against the father, which put all his family in danger from the neighboring peoples.

Jacob’s Grief

Genesis 34:30. And Jacob said to Simeon and to Levi: You have troubled me by making me odious to the inhabitants of this land, to the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number; if they gather themselves together against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed. To this aspect of the matter Jacob at this point directs their attention, expressing his censure of their deed; a full moral evaluation of it he gave on his deathbed (Gen 49:5-6).

Genesis 34:31. And they said: Should one treat our sister as a harlot? The answer of Simeon and Levi shows an absence of repentance in them, which, apart from the character of the epoch, that sanctioned blood vengeance, speaks of their personal callousness.