seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 34:1 Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3 His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”
5 When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.
6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. 7 Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.
8 But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9 Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it.”
11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. 12 Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.”
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.”
18 Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man, who was the most honored of all his father’s family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city. 21 “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. 22 But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. 23 Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.”
24 All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.
25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29 They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”
31 But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?
Here's the link to the commentary.
Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours: The father and son (Hamor and Shechem) had to convince the men of their community to receive the painful and possibly dangerous procedure of circumcision. They convinced them it was worth it because they could then take their daughters to us as wives and take their livestock, property, and every animal of theirs. The potential gain of wealth made it worth it.
Every male was circumcised: The men of Shechem agreed and all received the painful and potentially dangerous operation of circumcision.
When they were in pain… each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males: This was not only a brutal, deceptive act, but it also disgraced God’s covenant of circumcision. Surely, with this clever act of violent deception, Simeon and Levi showed themselves to be the children of Jacob from a bitter, competitive home environment.
In pain: “Crudely performed, circumcision could be quite incapacitating, particularly after two or three days” (Kidner).
Plundered the city… They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, and all their wealth: The sons of Jacob completely plundered the city of Shechem, including taking the surviving women and children as slaves.
“By way of making some amends for their sister’s defilement, with dastardly treachery they slay the whole of the Shechemites, and so bring the guilt of murder upon a family which ought to have been holiness unto the Lord.” (Spurgeon)
Should he treat our sister like a harlot: This was Simeon and Levi’s only reply. They were correct that their sister Dinah had been abused and treated terribly. Yet none of that justified their outrageous evils of mass murder, enslaving women and children, and theft through plunder.
The last time I read this chapter, the Nation of Israel, was at relative peace with the world. I mean there was no war going on with Hamas. The Iron Dome was all they needed. Sure, there were the occasional missile strike: but it was not all out war as it is today.
Today, it's violent in the region. Today, according to the pictures I've seen on all the news channels, Gaza is plundered and Israel's men are searching out every single man in the nation who might have been slightly involved so they can murder them. Not one member of Hamas, or anyone who knowingly shelters Hamas, is safe.
Based on the totality of the violence in Gaza, we have a sense of just how violent the massacre at Shechem was.
On top of that, the deceit Simeon and Rueben were guilty of was off the charts!!
Rueben and Simeon got all the men in Shechem to cut their own thingies!!! Now if that's not trickery... what is????
Cutting their thingies, left them unable to defend themselves. It must have been easy to go through the town with a sword, murdering all the men who were so incapacitated that they could only hold their thingies as they were put to the sword.
Jacob was upset. He knew this would not go over well with the others in the area. When word of this trickery and murder got out, there would be reprisal. Jacob was upset.
The last time I read it... I wondered if Dinah was having a teen fling. How horrific would that be, to have a teen fling that turned into a mass murder.
The topic is Rape.... there's nothing good that can come of it.
So, when you turn on the news today... will Shechem come to your mind?
Shechem came to my mind on October 7th last year.
Remember... Jacob was supposed to go back to Seir with Esau, instead... he headed north to Shechem.
Now that they've wiped out the men of Shechem, Jacob will do what he was supposed to do all along.... go to Seir.
Now his sons are murderers, his only daughter is defiled, and his neighbors will never trust Israelites.
Dinah must have been a gorgeous girl. The men of Shechem were compelled to do an unthinkable thing!
They cut their own thingies!!!!
