1 Now Dinah, Leah's daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went out to meet the young women of the land. 2 Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her and he grabbed her, assaulted her, and slept with her. 3 He was drawn to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get this young woman for me as a wife.” 5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. His sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. 6 Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard of the matter. The men were offended. They were very angry because he had disgraced Israel by forcing himself on Jacob's daughter, for such a thing should not have been done. 8 Hamor spoke with them, saying, “My son Shechem loves your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 Intermarry with us, give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You will live with us, and the land will be open to you to live and trade in, and to acquire property.” 11 Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you tell me I will give. 12 Ask me for as great a bride price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me, but give me the young woman as a wife.” 13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit, because Shechem had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to anyone who is uncircumcised; for that would be a disgrace to us. 15 Only on this condition will we agree with you: If you will become circumcised as we are, if every male among you is circumcised. 16 Then will we give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people. 17 But if you do not listen to us and become circumcised, then we will take our sister and we will leave.” 18 Their words pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man did not delay to do what they said, because he delighted in Jacob's daughter, and because he was the most honored person in all his father's household. 20 Hamor and Shechem his son went to the gate of their city and spoke with the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are at peace with us, so let them live in the land and trade in it for, really, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on this condition will the men agree to live with us and become one people: If every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock and their property—all their animals be ours? So let us agree with them, and they will live among us.” 24 All the men of the city listened to Hamor and Shechem, his son. Every male was circumcised. 25 On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of the sons of Jacob (Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers), each took his sword and they attacked the city that was certain of its security, and they killed all the males. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword. They took Dinah from Shechem's house and went away. 27 The other sons of Jacob came to the dead bodies and looted the city, because the people had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, and everything in the city and in the surrounding fields with 29 all their wealth. All their children and their wives, they captured. They even took everything that was in the houses. 30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me, to make me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. If they gather themselves together against me and attack me, then I will be destroyed, I and my household.” 31 But Simeon and Levi said, “Should Shechem have dealt with our sister as with a prostitute?”
Genesis · Unlocked Literal Bible
Genesis 34 Unlocked Literal Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Dinah
The one named daughter of Jacob, at the center of a grievous episode at Shechem.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 30:21; 34
Hamor
A Hivite, the prince of the region and father of Shechem, from whose sons Jacob bought the plot where he pitched his tent; he and Shechem agreed to circumcision in order to…
Cited in the guide: Genesis 33:19; Genesis 34:2; Genesis 34:6
Jacob
He wrestled with God through the night and rose as Israel, father of twelve tribes.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25–35; 46–49
Levi
A son of Leah whose tribe was set apart for the service of God.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 29:34; 34; Exodus 6:16–20
Shechem
Hamor's son, who seized Dinah, then asked to marry her, agreed to be circumcised, and was killed with his father by Simeon and Levi.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 34:2; Genesis 34:4; Genesis 34:18–19
Simeon
A son of Leah whose fierce anger drew his father's rebuke.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 29:33; 34; 49:5–7
Cross references (24)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Genesis 30:21; Jeremiah 2:36; Genesis 27:46; Genesis 46:15; Genesis 26:34
- 2 Matthew 5:28; Job 31:1; Judges 14:1; Proverbs 13:20; Job 31:9
- 3 Hosea 2:14; Isaiah 40:2; 2 Chronicles 30:22; Ruth 1:14; 2 Samuel 19:7
- 4 Judges 14:2; Genesis 21:21; 2 Samuel 13:13
- 5 2 Samuel 13:22; 1 Samuel 17:15; Genesis 37:13–14; Luke 15:29; Luke 15:25
- 7 Joshua 7:15; Judges 20:6; Deuteronomy 22:21; Genesis 20:9; Hebrews 13:4
- 8 Psalm 119:20; 1 Kings 11:2; Psalm 63:1; Genesis 34:3; Psalm 84:2
- 9 Deuteronomy 7:3; Genesis 24:3; Genesis 6:2; Genesis 26:34–35; Genesis 19:14
- 10 Genesis 47:27; Genesis 13:9; Genesis 42:34; Genesis 20:15; Genesis 34:21–23
- 11 Genesis 33:15; Genesis 18:3
- 12 Exodus 22:16–17; Genesis 24:53; Deuteronomy 22:28–29; 1 Samuel 18:25–27; Genesis 31:41
- 13 Genesis 25:27–34; Judges 15:3; Romans 12:19; Matthew 28:13; Proverbs 26:24–26
- 14 1 Samuel 17:36; 2 Samuel 1:20; Joshua 5:2–9; Matthew 2:8; 2 Samuel 15:7
- 15 Galatians 4:12
- 19 Numbers 22:15; Acts 13:50; Acts 17:12; Song of Songs 8:6; Isaiah 62:4
- 20 Ruth 4:1; Genesis 22:17; Amos 5:10; Proverbs 31:23; Deuteronomy 17:5
- 23 Proverbs 1:12–13; Acts 19:24–26; 1 Timothy 6:6–10; John 2:16; Proverbs 28:20
- 24 Genesis 23:10; 1 Corinthians 7:19; Isaiah 1:10–16; Genesis 23:18; Romans 2:28–29
- 25 Genesis 49:5–7; Genesis 29:33–34; 2 Chronicles 32:25; Numbers 31:17; Proverbs 6:34–35
- 26 Isaiah 31:8; Deuteronomy 32:42; 2 Samuel 2:26
- 27 Esther 9:16; Joshua 7:1; Genesis 34:2; Joshua 7:13; Genesis 34:31
- 28 Deuteronomy 8:17–18; Job 20:5; Job 1:15–16; Numbers 31:17
- 30 1 Samuel 13:4; Psalm 105:12; Exodus 5:21; Joshua 7:25; Genesis 28:13–14
- 31 Proverbs 6:34; Genesis 34:13; Genesis 49:7
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences