Genesis 34:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people.

NIV: Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We'll settle among you and become one people with you.

NASB: then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people.

CSB: Then we will give you our daughters, take your daughters for ourselves, live with you, and become one people.

NLT: then we will give you our daughters, and we’ll take your daughters for ourselves. We will live among you and become one people.

KJV: Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

NKJV: then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

In the previous verse, Jacob's sons had given the one condition upon which they would allow Dinah's rapist Shechem to marry their sister (Genesis 34:1–12). Their stipulation is that every man in Shechem's community must be circumcised. The deception is that this will make Shechem's family acceptable to the sons of Jacob and the two people groups can then intermarry. However, that condition was given as part of a deceitful scheme hatched to take revenge on Shechem (Genesis 34:13).

During these negotiations, Shechem's father Hamor spoke of free trade and intermarriage between Jacob's people and his own. That diplomatic appeal was probably Hamor's recognition that a wealthy and powerful family like that was not one to make enemies with. If Jacob's people would freely intermarry with Shechem's people, they would soon became a single group. This, of course, was never an option for Israel (Genesis 24:1–4). Hamor and Shechem don't know this, and they're happy to get an agreement that seems to avoid bloodshed (Genesis 34:18).

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.

Accessed 4/29/2024 4:57:48 AM