Genesis 34 Get Circumcised

[seekeroftruth]

Genesis 34:13 Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14 They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 15 We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We’ll settle among you and become one people with you. 17 But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.”​

This is the commentary for these verses from bible-commentaries.com.

There is no excuse for the deceit by Jacob's sons. The demand for circumcision of the bridegroom sounds reasonable. The additional demand that all the males of the clan would be circumcised gives the impression to Hamor and Shechem that in principle the brothers do not oppose the proposal of becoming one people with these Canaanites. There is no indication that Jacob was involved in all this. He would probably have objected. Simeon himself married a Canaanite woman, according to Ex. 6:15.

"The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon."​

Whether that marriage had taken place at this point, we do not know.

If it is true that taking Dinah back from Shechem's house was an option, the brothers should have done so immediately. But maybe there words in verse 17 "But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we'll take our sister and go," were an empty threat.​

See back in those days.... a woman who was not a virgin on her wedding day.... dishonored her family. Actually it was like that in the 1950's but we humans change....

What a family....

 

[PeoplesElbow]

You seem fascinated with penises as much as you post about circumcision.

 

[seekeroftruth]

You seem fascinated with penises as much as you post about circumcision.

I'm just going through the Bible from Genesis on. It talks about circumcision a lot. There are also a lot of fight stories and there's even one story about a fat man who was murdered and the bodyguards were told he was relieving himself. So the bodyguards didn't want to bother him so he was left on the toilet to die. Judges 3:12-31. In the children's version, it's called "covering his feet".

 

[SamSpade]

I'm just going through the Bible from Genesis on. It talks about circumcision a lot. There are also a lot of fight stories and there's even one story about a fat man who was murdered and the bodyguards were told he was relieving himself. So the bodyguards didn't want to bother him so he was left on the toilet to die. Judges 3:12-31. In the children's version, it's called "covering his feet".

Yes, Eglon being stabbed in the belly by Ehud. It mentions that he was so fat, the fat closed in over the hilt. And then the most disgusting line in the Bible "...and the dirt came out". He got it in the intestines, and the poop came out. Gross.

One of my favorite stories actually - Ehud was a leftie.

 

[seekeroftruth]

Yes, Eglon being stabbed in the belly by Ehud. It mentions that he was so fat, the fat closed in over the hilt. And then the most disgusting line in the Bible "...and the dirt came out". He got it in the intestines, and the poop came out. Gross.

One of my favorite stories actually - Ehud was a leftie.

Yeah.... I go back to that story a lot when I'm explaining why I get so excited over the book itself.... it's so vivid .... can't you just see the scene?