Genesis 34:24 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

NIV: All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.

NASB: All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

CSB: All the men who had come to the city gates listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all those men were circumcised.

NLT: So all the men in the town council agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every male in the town was circumcised.

KJV: And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.

NKJV: And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

Here we see that Hamor and Shechem have succeeded in their goal. They convinced the men of the city to be circumcised in order to become one people with Jacob's large company (Genesis 34:20–23). That sales pitch focused almost entirely on wealth. Through open trade and intermarriage, the hope was that Jacob's fortune would also become theirs (Genesis 30:43). It's also possible that the men of the town were keenly interested in keeping the peace between the two groups (Genesis 34:21). Those combined interests are enough for them to agree to this minor—though painful—surgery.

What none of these men realize is that they've agreed to their own destruction. Jacob's sons lied when giving the condition of circumcision (Genesis 34:13–17). They're enraged over what has led to this moment (Genesis 34:7). That act was Shechem's horrific rape of their sister, Dinah (Genesis 34:1–3). Her brothers have no intention of letting her remain with her rapist, or with living in peace with the town that protects him. Rather, they've schemed to have the men of town disable themselves, temporarily, so revenge can occur.

Genesis 34:13–31 describes the response of Jacob's sons to the rape of his daughter, Dinah. The rapist, Shechem, has asked for her hand in marriage. Dinah's brothers suggest that if the men of the town will be circumcised, they will agree to marriages between the two groups. Shechem and his father, Hamor, gladly agree to these terms. But this is a trap. While the men are still sore from circumcision, Simeon and Levi spring an attack, killing all the men and looting the town. Jacob is afraid this will bring retaliation from the Canaanite and Perizzite people. His sons, however, are adamant that their actions were justified.

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.