Kejadian 34:1-31
Konteks34:1 Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet 1 the young women 2 of the land. 34:2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her, 3 and sexually assaulted her. 4 34:3 Then he became very attached 5 to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her. 6 34:4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Acquire this young girl as my wife.” 7 34:5 When 8 Jacob heard that Shechem 9 had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent 10 until they came in.
34:6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went to speak with Jacob about Dinah. 11 34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. 12 They 13 were offended 14 and very angry because Shechem 15 had disgraced Israel 16 by sexually assaulting 17 Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. 18
34:8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. 19 Please give her to him as his wife. 34:9 Intermarry with us. 20 Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves. 21 34:10 You may live 22 among us, and the land will be open to you. 23 Live in it, travel freely in it, 24 and acquire property in it.”
34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s 25 father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me 26 I’ll give. 27 34:12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, 28 and I’ll give 29 whatever you ask 30 of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!”
34:13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem 31 had violated their sister Dinah. 34:14 They said to them, “We cannot give 32 our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace 33 to us. 34:15 We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become 34 like us by circumcising 35 all your males. 34:16 Then we will give 36 you our daughters to marry, 37 and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people. 34:17 But if you do not agree to our terms 38 by being circumcised, then we will take 39 our sister 40 and depart.”
34:18 Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. 41 34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked 42 because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah 43 badly. (Now he was more important 44 than anyone in his father’s household.) 45 34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate 46 of their city and spoke to the men of their city, 34:21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough 47 for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry. 48 34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand 49 that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 34:23 If we do so, 50 won’t their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? So let’s consent to their demand, so they will live among us.”
34:24 All the men who assembled at the city gate 51 agreed with 52 Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate 53 was circumcised. 34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword 54 and went to the unsuspecting city 55 and slaughtered every male. 34:26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 34:27 Jacob’s sons killed them 56 and looted the city because their sister had been violated. 57 34:28 They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields. 58 34:29 They captured as plunder 59 all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, including everything in the houses.
34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin 60 on me by making me a foul odor 61 among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I 62 am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!” 34:31 But Simeon and Levi replied, 63 “Should he treat our sister like a common prostitute?”
Kejadian 1:5
Konteks1:5 God called 64 the light “day” and the darkness 65 “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. 66
Kejadian 1:9
Konteks1:9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place 67 and let dry ground appear.” 68 It was so.
Kejadian 1:2
Konteks1:2 Now 69 the earth 70 was without shape and empty, 71 and darkness 72 was over the surface of the watery deep, 73 but the Spirit of God 74 was moving 75 over the surface 76 of the water. 77
1 Samuel 23:5
Konteks23:5 So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines. He took away their cattle and thoroughly defeated them. 78 David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah.
Yeremia 33:20-21
Konteks33:20 “I, Lord, make the following promise: 79 ‘I have made a covenant with the day 80 and with the night that they will always come at their proper times. Only if you people 81 could break that covenant 33:21 could my covenant with my servant David and my covenant with the Levites ever be broken. So David will by all means always have a descendant to occupy his throne as king and the Levites will by all means always have priests who will minister before me. 82
[34:1] 1 tn Heb “went out to see.” The verb “to see,” followed by the preposition בְּ (bÿ), here has the idea of “look over.” The young girl wanted to meet these women and see what they were like.
[34:2] 3 tn Heb “and he took her and lay with her.” The suffixed form following the verb appears to be the sign of the accusative instead of the preposition, but see BDB 1012 s.v. שָׁכַב.
[34:2] 4 tn The verb עָנָה (’anah) in the Piel stem can have various shades of meaning, depending on the context: “to defile; to mistreat; to violate; to rape; to shame; to afflict.” Here it means that Shechem violated or humiliated Dinah by raping her.
[34:3] 5 tn Heb “his soul stuck to [or “joined with”],” meaning Shechem became very attached to Dinah emotionally.
[34:3] 6 tn Heb “and he spoke to the heart of the young woman,” which apparently refers in this context to tender, romantic speech (Hos 2:14). Another option is to translate the expression “he reassured the young woman” (see Judg 19:3, 2 Sam 19:7; cf. NEB “comforted her”).
[34:4] 7 tn Heb “Take for me this young woman for a wife.”
[34:5] 8 tn The two disjunctive clauses in this verse (“Now Jacob heard…and his sons were”) are juxtaposed to indicate synchronic action.
[34:5] 9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:5] 10 sn The expected response would be anger or rage; but Jacob remained silent. He appears too indifferent or confused to act decisively. When the leader does not act decisively, the younger zealots will, and often with disastrous results.
[34:6] 11 tn Heb “went out to Jacob to speak with him.” The words “about Dinah” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:7] 12 tn Heb “when they heard.” The words “the news” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:7] 13 tn Heb “the men.” This sounds as if a new group has been introduced into the narrative, so it has been translated as “they” to indicate that it refers to Jacob’s sons, mentioned in the first part of the verse.
[34:7] 14 tn The Hebrew verb עָצַב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic nuances depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain; to be depressed emotionally; to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed; to be insulted; to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself; Gen 6:6; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 6:6). The third category fits best in Gen 34:7 because Jacob’s sons were not merely wounded emotionally. On the contrary, Shechem’s action prompted them to strike out in judgment against the source of their distress.
[34:7] 15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:7] 16 tn Heb “a disgraceful thing he did against Israel.”
[34:7] 17 tn Heb “by lying with the daughter of Jacob.” The infinitive here explains the preceding verb, indicating exactly how he had disgraced Jacob. The expression “to lie with” is a euphemism for sexual relations, or in this case, sexual assault.
[34:7] 18 tn Heb “and so it should not be done.” The negated imperfect has an obligatory nuance here, but there is also a generalizing tone. The narrator emphasizes that this particular type of crime (sexual assault) is especially reprehensible.
[34:8] 19 tn Heb “Shechem my son, his soul is attached to your daughter.” The verb means “to love” in the sense of being emotionally attached to or drawn to someone. This is a slightly different way of saying what was reported earlier (v. 3). However, there is no mention here of the offense. Even though Hamor is speaking to Dinah’s brothers, he refers to her as their daughter (see v. 17).
[34:9] 20 tn Heb “form marriage alliances with us.”
[34:9] sn Intermarry with us. This includes the idea of becoming allied by marriage. The incident foreshadows the temptations Israel would eventually face when they entered the promised land (see Deut 7:3; Josh 23:12).
[34:9] 21 tn Heb “Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.” In the translation the words “let…marry” and “as wives” are supplied for clarity.
[34:10] 22 tn The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.
[34:10] 23 tn Heb “before you.”
[34:10] 24 tn The verb seems to carry the basic meaning “travel about freely,” although the substantival participial form refers to a trader (see E. A. Speiser, “The Verb sh£r in Genesis and Early Hebrew Movements,” BASOR 164 [1961]: 23-28); cf. NIV, NRSV “trade in it.”
[34:11] 25 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Dinah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:11] 26 tn Heb “whatever you say.”
[34:12] 28 tn Heb “Make very great upon me the bride price and gift.” The imperatives are used in a rhetorical manner. Shechem’s point is that he will pay the price, no matter how expensive it might be.
[34:12] 29 tn The cohortative expresses Shechem’s resolve to have Dinah as his wife.
[34:13] 31 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:14] 32 tn Heb “we are not able to do this thing, to give.” The second infinitive is in apposition to the first, explaining what they are not able to do.
[34:14] 33 tn The Hebrew word translated “disgrace” usually means “ridicule; taunt; reproach.” It can also refer to the reason the condition of shame or disgrace causes ridicule or a reproach.
[34:15] 34 tn Heb “if you are like us.”
[34:15] 35 tn The infinitive here explains how they would become like them.
[34:16] 36 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
[34:16] 37 tn The words “to marry” (and the words “as wives” in the following clause) are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:17] 38 tn Heb “listen to us.”
[34:17] 39 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
[34:17] 40 tn Heb “daughter.” Jacob’s sons call Dinah their daughter, even though she was their sister (see v. 8). This has been translated as “sister” for clarity.
[34:18] 41 tn Heb “and their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem son of Hamor.”
[34:19] 42 tn Heb “doing the thing.”
[34:19] 43 tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:19] 44 tn The Hebrew verb כָּבֵד (kaved), translated “was…important,” has the primary meaning “to be heavy,” but here carries a secondary sense of “to be important” (that is, “heavy” in honor or respect).
[34:19] 45 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).
[34:20] 46 sn The gate. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the location for conducting important public business.
[34:21] 47 tn Heb “wide on both hands,” that is, in both directions.
[34:21] 48 tn The words “to marry” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:22] 49 tn Heb “when every one of our males is circumcised.”
[34:23] 50 tn The words “If we do so” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[34:24] 51 tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”
[34:24] 52 tn Heb “listened to.”
[34:24] 53 tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”
[34:25] 54 tn Heb “a man his sword.”
[34:25] 55 tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.
[34:27] 56 tn Heb “came upon the slain.” Because of this statement the preceding phrase “Jacob’s sons” is frequently taken to mean the other sons of Jacob besides Simeon and Levi, but the text does not clearly affirm this.
[34:27] 57 tn Heb “because they violated their sister.” The plural verb is active in form, but with no expressed subject, it may be translated passive.
[34:28] 58 tn Heb “and what was in the city and what was in the field they took.”
[34:29] 59 tn Heb “they took captive and they plundered,” that is, “they captured as plunder.”
[34:30] 60 tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.
[34:30] 61 tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.
[34:30] 62 tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.
[34:31] 63 tn Heb “but they said.” The referent of “they” (Simeon and Levi) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:5] 64 tn Heb “he called to,” meaning “he named.”
[1:5] sn God called. Seven times in this chapter naming or blessing follows some act of creation. There is clearly a point being made beyond the obvious idea of naming. In the Babylonian creation story Enuma Elish, naming is equal to creating. In the Bible the act of naming, like creating, can be an indication of sovereignty (see 2 Kgs 23:34). In this verse God is sovereign even over the darkness.
[1:5] 65 tn Heb “and the darkness he called night.” The words “he called” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[1:5] 66 tn Another option is to translate, “Evening came, and then morning came.” This formula closes the six days of creation. It seems to follow the Jewish order of reckoning time: from evening to morning. Day one started with the dark, continued through the creation of light, and ended with nightfall. Another alternative would be to translate, “There was night and then there was day, one day.”
[1:5] sn The first day. The exegetical evidence suggests the word “day” in this chapter refers to a literal twenty-four hour day. It is true that the word can refer to a longer period of time (see Isa 61:2, or the idiom in 2:4, “in the day,” that is, “when”). But this chapter uses “day,” “night,” “morning,” “evening,” “years,” and “seasons.” Consistency would require sorting out how all these terms could be used to express ages. Also, when the Hebrew word יוֹם (yom) is used with a numerical adjective, it refers to a literal day. Furthermore, the commandment to keep the sabbath clearly favors this interpretation. One is to work for six days and then rest on the seventh, just as God did when he worked at creation.
[1:9] 67 sn Let the water…be gathered to one place. In the beginning the water covered the whole earth; now the water was to be restricted to an area to form the ocean. The picture is one of the dry land as an island with the sea surrounding it. Again the sovereignty of God is revealed. Whereas the pagans saw the sea as a force to be reckoned with, God controls the boundaries of the sea. And in the judgment at the flood he will blur the boundaries so that chaos returns.
[1:9] 68 tn When the waters are collected to one place, dry land emerges above the surface of the receding water.
[1:2] 69 tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) at the beginning of v. 2 gives background information for the following narrative, explaining the state of things when “God said…” (v. 3). Verse one is a title to the chapter, v. 2 provides information about the state of things when God spoke, and v. 3 begins the narrative per se with the typical narrative construction (vav [ו] consecutive followed by the prefixed verbal form). (This literary structure is paralleled in the second portion of the book: Gen 2:4 provides the title or summary of what follows, 2:5-6 use disjunctive clause structures to give background information for the following narrative, and 2:7 begins the narrative with the vav consecutive attached to a prefixed verbal form.) Some translate 1:2a “and the earth became,” arguing that v. 1 describes the original creation of the earth, while v. 2 refers to a judgment that reduced it to a chaotic condition. Verses 3ff. then describe the re-creation of the earth. However, the disjunctive clause at the beginning of v. 2 cannot be translated as if it were relating the next event in a sequence. If v. 2 were sequential to v. 1, the author would have used the vav consecutive followed by a prefixed verbal form and the subject.
[1:2] 70 tn That is, what we now call “the earth.” The creation of the earth as we know it is described in vv. 9-10. Prior to this the substance which became the earth (= dry land) lay dormant under the water.
[1:2] 71 tn Traditional translations have followed a more literal rendering of “waste and void.” The words describe a condition that is without form and empty. What we now know as “the earth” was actually an unfilled mass covered by water and darkness. Later תֹהוּ (tohu) and בֹּהוּ (bohu), when used in proximity, describe a situation resulting from judgment (Isa 34:11; Jer 4:23). Both prophets may be picturing judgment as the reversal of creation in which God’s judgment causes the world to revert to its primordial condition. This later use of the terms has led some to conclude that Gen 1:2 presupposes the judgment of a prior world, but it is unsound method to read the later application of the imagery (in a context of judgment) back into Gen 1:2.
[1:2] 72 sn Darkness. The Hebrew word simply means “darkness,” but in the Bible it has come to symbolize what opposes God, such as judgment (Exod 10:21), death (Ps 88:13), oppression (Isa 9:1), the wicked (1 Sam 2:9) and in general, sin. In Isa 45:7 it parallels “evil.” It is a fitting cover for the primeval waste, but it prepares the reader for the fact that God is about to reveal himself through his works.
[1:2] 73 tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 7:11).
[1:2] sn The watery deep. In the Babylonian account of creation Marduk killed the goddess Tiamat (the salty sea) and used her carcass to create heaven and earth. The form of the Hebrew word for “deep” is distinct enough from the name “Tiamat” to deny direct borrowing; however, it is possible that there is a polemical stress here. Ancient Israel does not see the ocean as a powerful deity to be destroyed in creation, only a force of nature that can be controlled by God.
[1:2] 74 tn The traditional rendering “Spirit of God” is preserved here, as opposed to a translation like “wind from/breath of God” (cf. NRSV) or “mighty wind” (cf. NEB), taking the word “God” to represent the superlative. Elsewhere in the OT the phrase refers consistently to the divine spirit that empowers and energizes individuals (see Gen 41:38; Exod 31:3; 35:31; Num 24:2; 1 Sam 10:10; 11:6; 19:20, 23; Ezek 11:24; 2 Chr 15:1; 24:20).
[1:2] 75 tn The Hebrew verb has been translated “hovering” or “moving” (as a bird over her young, see Deut 32:11). The Syriac cognate term means “to brood over; to incubate.” How much of that sense might be attached here is hard to say, but the verb does depict the presence of the Spirit of God moving about mysteriously over the waters, presumably preparing for the acts of creation to follow. If one reads “mighty wind” (cf. NEB) then the verse describes how the powerful wind begins to blow in preparation for the creative act described in vv. 9-10. (God also used a wind to drive back the flood waters in Noah’s day. See Gen 8:1.)
[1:2] 77 sn The water. The text deliberately changes now from the term for the watery deep to the general word for water. The arena is now the life-giving water and not the chaotic abyss-like deep. The change may be merely stylistic, but it may also carry some significance. The deep carries with it the sense of the abyss, chaos, darkness – in short, that which is not good for life.
[23:5] 78 tn Heb “and struck them down with a great blow.”
[33:20] 79 tn Heb “Thus says the
[33:20] 80 tn The word יוֹמָם (yomam) is normally an adverb meaning “daytime, by day, daily.” However, here and in v. 25 and in Jer 15:9 it means “day, daytime” (cf. BDB 401 s.v. יוֹמָם 1).
[33:20] 81 tn Heb “you.” The pronoun is plural as in 32:36, 43; 33:10.
[33:21] 82 tn The very complex and elliptical syntax of the original Hebrew of vv. 20-21 has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style. The text reads somewhat literally (after the addition of a couple of phrases which have been left out by ellipsis): “Thus says the
[33:21] sn This refers to a reaffirmation of the Davidic covenant (cf., e.g., 2 Sam 7:11-16, 25-29; Ps 89:3-4, 19-29) and God’s covenant with the Levites (cf. Num 25:10-13; Mal 2:4-6; Deut 32:8-11).
