Yaratılış 34:2 Yorum

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 when Shechem the son of Hamor,.... From whom the city had its name, near which Jacob and his family now were: the Hivite, prince of the country; Hamor was an Hivite, which was one of the nations of the land of Canaan, and this man was the prince or a principal man of that nation, as well as of Shechem. Josephus (c) calls him a king: when the son of this man saw her; that is, Dinah, what a beautiful person she was, and was enamoured with her: he took her: by force, as the Targum of Jonathan: and lay with her, and defiled her; or "humbled" or "afflicted her" (d); and it is a rule with the Jews, that every such act, which is done by force, is called an humiliation and affliction (e): the child begotten in this act of fornication is said (f) by them to be Asenath, who was had into Egypt, and brought up by Potipherah's wife as her daughter, and afterwards married to Joseph, Gen 41:45. (c) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 21. sect. 1.) (d) , Sept. & afflixit eam, Pagninus, Montanus. (e) Gerundensis apud Munster, & Drusium in loc. (f) Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 33. fol. 42. 2.)

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.

Prince of the country - i.e., Hamor was prince; Shechem was the son of the prince or chief. Our version appears to represent Shechem as prince, but his father was the chief of the country. See Gen 34:6, Gen 34:8, etc.

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.