Genesis 34:29 Ulasan

At this chapter begins the story of Jacob's afflictions in his children, which were very great, and are recorded to show, 1. The vanity of this world. That which is dearest to us may prove our greatest vexation, and we may meet with the greatest crosses in those things of which we said, "This same shall comfort us." 2. The common griefs of good people. Jacob's children were circumcised, were well taught, and prayed for, and had very good examples set them; yet some of them proved very untoward. "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." Grace does not run in the blood, and yet the interrupting of the entail of grace does not cut off the entail of profession and visible church-privileges: nay, Jacob's sons, though they were his grief in some things, yet were all taken into covenant with God. In this chapter we have, I. Dinah debauched (Gen 34:1-5). II. A treaty of marriage between her and Shechem who had defiled her (Gen 34:6-19). III. The circumcision of the Shechemites, pursuant to that treaty (Gen 34:20-24). IV. The perfidious and bloody revenge which Simeon and Levi took upon them (Gen 34:25-31.

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 34 This chapter gives an account of the ravishment of Dinah by Shechem, Gen 34:1; of his father Hamor and him treating with Jacob and his sons about the marriage of her, Gen 34:6; of the condition proposed by Jacob's sons, circumcision of all the males in Shechem, which was agreed to by Shechem and his father, Gen 34:13; of the men of Shechem being persuaded to yield to it, Gen 34:20; and of the destruction of them on the third day by Simeon and Levi, and of the plunder of their city and field, and of the captivity of their wives and children by Jacob's sons, which gave Jacob great offence, and in which they justified themselves, Gen 34:25.

And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi,.... who were the principals concerned in this affair: ye have troubled me; because of the sin they had committed, because of the dishonour brought upon religion, and because of the danger he and his family were hereby exposed unto; it greatly disquieted him, made him very uneasy, he was at his wit's end almost, knew not what to do, what course to take to wipe off the scandal, and to defend himself and family; since it served, he says: to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land; to make him odious and abominable, to be hated and abhorred by all the people round about, and to be looked upon and treated as a deceitful, treacherous, and perfidious man, that had no regard to his word, to covenants and agreements made by him; as a cruel and bloodthirsty man that spared none, made no difference between the innocent and the guilty; and as a robber and plunderer, that stopped at nothing, committing the greatest outrages to get possession of the substance of others: amongst the Canaanites and the Perizzites: who were the principal inhabitants of the land, the most numerous, and the most rustic and barbarous, and perhaps nearest, and from whom Jacob had most to fear: and I being few in number; or men of number (p); he and his sons and servants, in all, making but a small number in comparison of the nations about him: they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house; not that Jacob was afraid that this would be really the case, for he knew and believed the promises of God to him, of the multiplication of his seed, and of their inheriting the land of Canaan, and of the Messiah springing from him; but this he said to aggravate the sin and folly of his sons, in exposing him and themselves to so much danger, which not only on the face of things appeared probable, but even certain and inevitable, without the interposition of divine power and Providence. (p) "viri numeri", Montanus, Schmidt.

Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, going out to see the daughters of the land, is ravished by Shechem, the son of Hamor, Gen 34:1, Gen 34:2. He entreats his father to get her for him to wife, Gen 34:3. Jacob and his sons hear of the indignity offered to Dinah, Gen 34:5-7. Hamor proposes the suit of Shechem to Jacob and his sons, and offers them a variety of advantages, Gen 34:8-10. Shechem himself comes forward, begs to have Dinah to wife, and offers dowry to any extent, Gen 34:11, Gen 34:12. The sons of Jacob pretend scruples of conscience to give their sister to one who was uncircumcised; and require, as a condition of this marriage, and of intermarriages in general, that all the Shechemites should be circumcised, Gen 34:13-17. Hamor and Shechem consent, Gen 34:18, Gen 34:19. They lay the business before the elders of their city, dwell on the advantages of a connection with Jacob and his family, and propose to them the condition required by the sons of Jacob, Gen 34:20-23. The elders consent, and all the males are circumcised, Gen 34:24. While the Shechemites are incapable of defending themselves, on the third day after their circumcision, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, came upon the city, slew all the males, sacked the city, took the women and children captives, and seized on all the cattle belonging to the Shechemites, Gen 34:25-29. Jacob is greatly displeased and alarmed at this treachery and cruelty of his sons, and lays before them the probable consequences, Gen 34:30. They endeavor to vindicate their conduct, Gen 34:31.

THE DISHONOR OF DINAH. (Gen. 34:1-31) Though freed from foreign troubles, Jacob met with a great domestic calamity in the fall of his only daughter. According to JOSEPHUS, she had been attending a festival; but it is highly probable that she had been often and freely mixing in the society of the place and that she, being a simple, inexperienced, and vain young woman, had been flattered by the attentions of the ruler's son. There must have been time and opportunities of acquaintance to produce the strong attachment that Shechem had for her.