Gen 34 | EE | STEP | Dinah was the daughter of Leah and Jacob. One day she went out to visit the women who lived in the land.

Genesis 34

Dinah

1 Dinah was the daughter of Leah and Jacob. One day she went out to visit the women who lived in the land. 2 Shechem was the son of Hamor the Hivite. Hamor was the ruler of the land. When Shechem saw Dinah, he took her. And he had sex with her. Dinah did not want this to happen. 3 He liked Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, very much. And he loved her. He spoke kind words to her. 4 And Shechem said to Hamor his father ‘Get me this girl. I want her for my wife.’ 5 Jacob heard what had happened to his daughter. But his sons were out in the fields with his animals. So, Jacob did not do anything until his sons came home. And he did not say anything.

6 Shechem’s father Hamor went to talk to Jacob. 7 Now Jacob’s sons heard what had happened. And they came in from the fields at once. They were very angry. They were angry because Shechem had done a very bad thing by having sex with Dinah. It was so bad that the whole of Jacob’s family were ashamed because of it. Shechem should not have done this.

8 Hamor said to them, ‘My son Shechem loves your daughter. Please give her to him so that she can be his wife. 9 And make marriages with our people. Give your daughter to us. And take our daughters for wives for your people. 10 You can live among us. You can live anywhere you want to in this land. Live here. And buy and sell things here. Buy land and houses here.’ ^{▼▼34:10 Hamor wanted the Hivites to have some of Jacob’s riches.}

11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers ‘Perhaps what I say will make you happy. Then I will give you whatever you ask. 12 Tell me what you want me to pay for your daughter. Tell me the gift that I should bring. It can be as large as you want it to be. I will pay whatever you ask me. But give me the girl as my wife.’

13 Because of what Shechem did to Dinah, Jacob’s sons planned to deceive Shechem. And they deceived his father Hamor too. 14 They said ‘We cannot do what you want. We cannot give our sister to an uncircumcised man. We would be ashamed to do this. 15 You must do one thing. Then we will agree to what you want. You must circumcise all your males. Then you will become like us. 16 Then we will give you our daughters so that your people can marry them. And we will marry your daughters. We will live among you. And we will be like one people with you. 17 But you must agree to circumcision. Or we will take our sister and leave this place.’

18 What Jacob’s sons suggested seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 Shechem’s people liked him very much. So, he and his father agreed at once to do what Jacob’s sons told them. Shechem agreed with them because he loved Dinah. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the city gate. And they spoke to their people. 21 They said ‘These men are our friends. Let them live in our land. And they can sell things to us, and buy things from us. This land is big enough for them. We can marry their daughters. And they can marry our daughters. 22 But we must do what the men say. If we do not, then they will not agree to live among us. They say that we have to circumcise all our males. This is because their men are circumcised. 23 If they live among us, their things and animals will become ours. So let us agree to be circumcised. And then they will live among us.’ 24 All the men who were at the city gate agreed with Hamor and Shechem. And they circumcised every male in the city.

25 And 3 days after the men were circumcised, they were still all in a lot of pain. And at this time, 2 of Jacob’s sons, Dinah’s brothers, attacked the men with their swords. The 2 brothers were Simeon and Levi. And they killed every male in the city. ^{▼▼34:25 For ‘swords’ see 3:24.} ^{▼▼34:25 The men in the city could not fight Simeon and Levi. They were in too much pain.}

26 Simeon and Levi killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords. And they took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. 27 All Jacob’s sons saw that the men of the city were dead. So they took everything from the city. It was the city where Shechem had sex with their sister. 28 They took all the animals and everything in the city. And they took everything that was out in the fields. 29 They carried away everything valuable. And they took all the women and children, and everything from the houses in the city. 30 When they returned to Jacob, he said, ‘You have brought trouble on me. You have made me like a bad smell to the Canaanites and Perizzites, by what you have done. These people also live in this land. We do not have many men. If the Perizzites and Canaanites attack, they will destroy us all.’ 31 But Levi and Simeon replied ‘Shechem should not have used our sister as if she were a prostitute.’