Genesis 34:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land.

NIV: Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land.

NASB: Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land.

CSB: Leah’s daughter Dinah, whom Leah bore to Jacob, went out to see some of the young women of the area.

NLT: One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the young women who lived in the area.

KJV: And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

NKJV: Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

Jacob and his large family have settled outside of the city of Shechem in Canaan. Some time may have passed since Jacob purchased the section of land they occupied and on which they built an altar to the Lord (Genesis 33:18–19). His sons are now referred to as men.

Jacob's children are frequently mentioned according to which of his wives is their mother. Jacob himself regards them differently, as he demonstrated when presenting them to his brother Esau in reverse order of his apparent affection for them (Genesis 33:1–3).

Dinah is the only daughter explicitly mentioned among Jacob's children (Genesis 30:21), though there may be others. Scripture frequently refers only to those who are relevant to the story. In this case, Dinah is a crucial figure in the history of Jacob's family. She is the daughter of Leah, Jacob's famously unloved wife. Leah's other birth children include Simeon and Levi, who will also figure prominently in the action to follow.

We're told Dinah "went out" to see the women of the land. Apparently, she had built a social relationship with some of the women of Shechem or she was seeking to do so. The passage does not condemn her for this action, nor suggest that she was doing anything unwise or inappropriate.

Genesis 34:1–12 describes a depraved attack on one of Jacob's children. Dinah, his daughter through Leah, is raped by Shechem, son of the local prince. Jacob waits until his sons return to let them know about this act. With apparently no remorse, the rapist and his father arrive to ask for Dinah to be married to her attacker. Shechem proclaims his love, offering any price to have Dinah as his wife. Dinah's brothers respond with a combination of deceit and violence that will echo through the rest of Israel's history.

Jacob's family has settled within sight of the city of Shechem. Dinah, Jacob's daughter by Leah, is raped by the son of the city's ruler Hamor, also named Shechem. Shechem decides he loves Dinah and wants to marry her. Dinah's brothers are outraged. Hamor and Shechem, however, ask for Dinah to be given to Shechem as a wife and for their people to intermarry. Jacob's sons pretend to agree, provided the men of the city are circumcised. Instead, while the town's men are recuperating, Dinah's brothers by Leah, Levi and Simeon, lead a slaughter of all the men of the city.

With the blessing of the Lord, Jacob has survived his reunion with his brother Esau and settled his family in the land of Canaan, in a city called Shechem. Some time passes and then Jacob's daughter Dinah is raped by the son of the ruler of the city. To exact revenge and defend their sister's honor, Jacob's sons trick the men of the city into being circumcised and then slaughter all of them when they are recovering, plundering all the wealth of the people. This creates fear in the local Canaanite communities, who avoid future confrontation with Jacob's family.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.