Genesis 34:30 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household."

NIV: Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed."

NASB: Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, 'You have brought trouble on me by making me repulsive among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since my men are few in number, they will band together against me and attack me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household!'

CSB: Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me, making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed."

NLT: Afterward Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, 'You have ruined me! You’ve made me stink among all the people of this land — among all the Canaanites and Perizzites. We are so few that they will join forces and crush us. I will be ruined, and my entire household will be wiped out!'

KJV: And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

NKJV: Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

Jacob finally expresses some strong emotion about this situation. Read in the full context of this terrible incident, it casts him in an even more unflattering light than ever before. Jacob's only recorded responses to the rape of his daughter Dinah (Genesis 34:1–3) are to wait for his sons to return (Genesis 34:5), and this concern over other communities reacting to Simeon and Levi's bloody revenge. We don't know if he was aware of his sons' plan to betray their contract with Shechem and take revenge. If he wasn't, it's possible Jacob may even have been willing to give Dinah to Shechem to keep peace.

The anger Jacob expresses here is entirely focused on the social risk their action has brought on him. He doesn't condemn their brutal and bloody revenge, at least not so far as it's recorded in Scripture. Nor does he overtly scold them for false dealings. Rather, the main concern for Jacob is that this makes him vulnerable and unwanted in the region. He is focused on his fear that the Canaanites and Perizzites who occupy the land will gather together to destroy him "and his household." As it turns out, the opposite seems to be true; the surrounding communities will keep a fearful distance from Jacob and his family (Genesis 35:5).

Once again, Jacob's primary response to a critical situation seems to be fear. The response of his sons is to act boldly—if brutally—for what they see as justice and strength. Another facet to this story is that Dinah, Levi, and Simeon are all children of Leah, a wife Jacob has treated with indifference (Genesis 29:31). Jacob's lack of strong action to protect his daughter, their birth sister, creates a void in the family that Simeon and Levi stepped in to fill.

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.