- Book: [[Genesis]]
- Next chapter: [[Genesis 35]]
> [!summary] Summary
> - [[Jacob]]'s family are plunged into danger again after [[Simeon]] and [[Levi]] avenge their sister's rape
> - [[Jacob]] is now under threat from the local tribes
> [!info] Why is this here?
> Beginning of strife and trouble for the [[Israel]]ites with the people in the [[Promised Land]]
# Overview
## v. 1-5: [[Dinah]] raped by [[Shechem]]
- [[Dinah]], daughter of [[Jacob]] and [[Leah]], goes out to “see the women of the land”
- [[Shechem]], son of [[Hamor]] the [[Hivite]], seizes and lies with her -- called “a disgraceful thing done against [[Israel]]”
- Nevertheless, he “loves” [[Dinah]] and speaks tenderly to her
- [[Jacob]] hears but waits for his sons before responding
## v. 6-12: Bride-price negotiations
- [[Hamor]] proposes to arrange marriage, and for broad inter-marriage and shared land
- [[Shechem]] offers any dowry or gift, pressing for [[Dinah]] as wife
> [!note] Is this a good offer?
> - On the one hand, marriage sorts things out for [[Dinah]] and on a nation level
> - On the other, means intermarrying with [[Canaan]]ites and misjustice for [[Dinah]]
## v. 13-17: Deceptive [[Circumcision]]
- [[Simeon]] and [[Levi]] answer deceitfully “because he had defiled their sister”
- They condition marriage on every male of [[Shechem]] being circumcised
- They would "become like us" (verse 15)
- If the city refuses, they will “take our sister and go”
> [!note] Does circumcision make them "like us"?
> Not really -- the [[Hivite]]s aren't even thinking about any convenant, and only care about the riches. It's the convenant that makes the people, not the cutting
## v. 18-24: City-wide compliance
- The proposal “pleased” [[Hamor]] and [[Shechem]]
- They persuade the townsmen with promises of shared wealth and livestock
- All males of the city are circumcised
## v. 25-29: Massacre and plunder
- On the third day, while the men are in pain, [[Simeon]] and [[Levi]] slaughter every male
- They take [[Dinah]] from [[Shechem]]’s house
- The other sons join in looting: flocks, herds, wealth, women, and children
## v. 30-31: Fallout within the family
- [[Jacob]] rebukes Simeon and Levi: “You have brought trouble on me... my numbers are few, and they will gather against me”
- Their retort: “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”
# Details
- Second mention of native [[Perizzite]] in [[Canaan]], after [[Genesis 13]]
## Enemies in [[Canaan]]
- There is an entire nation of [[Shechem]] in the [[Promised Land]] that we now have to deal with
## Seeds of future judgment
- [[Genesis 49]]:5-7 records [[Jacob]]’s dying curse on [[Simeon]] and [[Levi]] for this violence
- [[Shechem]] becomes a [[Levi]]tical city of refuge
# Diagrams
```dot
digraph Genesis34Family {
rankdir=TB;
node [shape=box];
// ─── Line of Shem to Jacob (Shem … Terah abbreviated) ────────────────────
subgraph clusterShemHam {
style=invis;
{rank=same; Shem; Ham;}
}
Noah -> {Shem Ham};
Shem -> Terah [style=dashed,label="..."]; // skipped generations
Terah -> {Abraham Nahor};
Abraham -> Isaac;
Isaac -> Jacob;
// ─── Nahor → Leah branch ────────────────────────────────────────────────
Nahor -> Laban [style=dashed,label=" Bethuel"];
Laban -> Leah;
// ─── Ham → Hivites branch to Shechem ────────────────────────────────────
Ham -> Canaan;
Canaan -> Hamor [style=dashed,label=" Hivites"];
Hamor -> Shechem;
// ─── Jacob × Leah (cluster) and children ────────────────────────────────
Jacob -> Leah [style=dashed,arrowhead=None];
{rank=same; Jacob; Leah;}
// draw each child once, tail clipped to the marriage cluster
Leah -> {Simeon Levi Dinah} [ltail=clusterJacobLeah];
// ─── Dinah × Shechem (cluster) ──────────────────────────────────────────
subgraph clusterDinahShechem {
style=invis;
{rank=same; Dinah; Shechem;}
}
Dinah -> Shechem [style=dashed,arrowhead=None];
// ─── Graph label ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
label="Familial Relations in Genesis 34 (traced back to Noah)";
}
```
```mermaid
%% Title
%%{init: {'flowchart': {'title': 'Familial Relations in Genesis 34 (traced back to Noah)'}}}%%
graph TB
%% ─── Line of Shem to Jacob ───────────────────────────────────────────────
Noah --> Shem
Noah --> Ham
Shem -.->|...| Terah
Terah --> Abraham
Terah --> Nahor
Abraham --> Isaac
%% ─── Nahor → Leah branch ────────────────────────────────────────────────
Nahor -.->|Bethuel| Laban
subgraph Dinah_Shechem["Shechem + Dinah"]
Shechem
Dinah
end
%% ─── Ham → Hivites branch to Shechem ────────────────────────────────────
Ham --> Canaan
Canaan -.->|Hivites| Hamor
Hamor --> Shechem
%% ─── Jacob × Leah (marriage) ────────────────────────────────────────────
subgraph Jacob_Leah["Jacob + Leah"]
Jacob
Leah
end
Isaac --> Jacob
Laban --> Leah
%% Children of Jacob × Leah
Jacob_Leah --> Simeon
Jacob_Leah --> Levi
Jacob_Leah --> Dinah
%% ─── Dinah × Shechem (marriage) ─────────────────────────────────────────
```
# Questions
- Is it significant that [[Dinah]] is separately called [[Leah]]'s daughter and [[Jacob]]'s daughter?
- (rhetorical) How is [[Jacob]] supposed to grow into a great nation, like [[God]] promised, when there is no safe place to do it?