Genesis 34
1 And Dina, the daughter of Lea, whom
she bore to Jacob, went forth to observe the daughters of the inhabitants.
2 And Sychem the son of Emmor the
aAlex. the Chorrhæan.Evite, the ruler of the land, saw her, and took her and lay with her, and
humbled her. 3 And he was attached to
the soul of Dina the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and he spoke
bLit. spoke according to the heart of the damsel—to her. A literal version
of the Hebrew.kindly to the damsel. 4 Sychem spoke
to Emmor his father, saying, Take for me this damsel to wife.
5 And Jacob heard that the son of
Emmor had defiled Dina his daughter (now his sons were with his cattle in the
plain). And Jacob was silent until they came.
6 And Emmor the father of Sychem went
forth to Jacob, to speak to him. 7 And
the sons of Jacob came from the plain; and when they heard, the men were
deeply pained, and it was very grievous to them, because
the man wrought folly in Israel, having lain with the
daughter of Jacob, and so it
cLit. shall not be.must not be. 8 And Emmor spoke to
them, saying, Sychem my son has chosen in his heart your daughter; give her
therefore to him for a wife, 9 and
intermarry with us. Give us your daughters, and take our daughters for your
sons. 10 And dwell in the midst of
us; and, behold, the land is spacious before you, dwell in it, and trade, and
get possessions in it. 11 And Sychem
said to her father and to her brothers, I would find grace before you, and we
will give whatever ye shall name.
12 Multiply
your demand of dowry very much, and I will give
accordingly as ye shall say to me, only ye shall give me this damsel for a
wife.
13 And the sons of Jacob answered to
Sychem and Emmor his father craftily, and spoke to them, because they had
defiled Dina their sister. 14 And
Symeon and Levi, the brothers of Dina, said to them, We shall not be able to
do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for it is a
reproach to us. 15 Only on these
terms will we conform to you, and dwell among you, if ye also will be as we
are, in that every male of you be circumcised.
16 And we will give our daughters to
you, and we will take of your daughters for wives to us, and we will dwell
with you, and we will be as one race.
17 But if ye will not hearken to us
to be circumcised, we will take our daughter and depart.
18 And the words pleased Emmor, and
Sychem the son of Emmor. 19 And the
young man delayed not to do this
dGr. word.thing, for he was much attached to Jacob's daughter, and he was the most
honourable of all in his father's house.
20 And Emmor and Sychem his son came
to the gate of their city, and spoke to the men of their city, saying,
21 These men are peaceable, let them
dwell with us upon the land, and let them trade in it, and behold the land is
extensive before them; we will take their daughters to us for wives, and we
will give them our daughters. 22 Only
on these terms will the men conform to us to dwell with us so as to be one
people, if every male of us be circumcised, as they also are circumcised.
23 And shall not their cattle and
their
eGr. quadrupeds.herds, and their possessions, be ours? only in this let us conform to them,
and they will dwell with us. 24 And
all that went in at the gate of their city hearkened to Emmor and Sychem his
son, and they were circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin every male.
25 And it came to pass on the third
day, when they were in pain, the two sons of Jacob, Symeon and Levi, Dina's
brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city securely, and slew
every male. 26 And they slew Emmor
and Sychem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dina out of the house
of Sychem, and went forth. 27 But the
sons of Jacob came upon the
fOr, slain, which seems frequently the sense in LXX.wounded, and ravaged the city wherein they had defiled Dina their sister.
28 And their sheep, and their oxen,
and their asses they took, and all things whatsoever were in the city, and
whatsoever were in the plain. 29 And
they took captive all the persons of them, and all their store, and their
wives, and plundered both whatever things there were in the city, and whatever
things there were in the houses.
30 And Jacob said to Symeon and Levi,
Ye have made me hateful so that I should be evil to all the inhabitants of the
land, both among the Chananites and the Pherezites, and I am few in number;
they will gather themselves against me and cut me in pieces, and I shall be
utterly destroyed, and my house.
31 And they said, Nay, but shall they
treat our sister as an harlot?