1 AND Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, [ We are talking here about Dinah the daughter of Jacob and Leah. It is supposed that Jacob has been here about 7 or 8 years; hence Dinah who was 7 when they came to Canaan would now be about 14. ] went out . [ Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah,"went out with the girls" to see the daughters of the land and in doing so puts herself in jeopardy. "went out", in Hebrew term insinuates coquettish or promiscuous conduct.The Samaritan text, in fact, renders this "to see and to be seen." We must not make Dinah the complete innocent -- she went there to make an impression -- and she did! When dealing with others, it is very important we understand the consequences of our actions. She went to visit some women that lived there. solomon made reference to this Prov 4:14,15 "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men; avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away". Had not Dinah gone out to see the daughters of the land, and very possibly at one of their idolatrous festivals, she had not suffered the foul disgrace mentioned in this chapter. ] to see the daughters of the land [ "daughters of the land", a non-complimentary title per Gen. 24:3, 37; similar to the phrase "daughters of man" from Gen. 6:1. ]

2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, [ Hamor is the prince of the country, so he wields a little power. His boys might recognize that as well i that they think they can do whatever they want and get away with it. ] saw her, he took [ The Hebrew word that is translated “took” in the phrase “he took her” can mean “to take away, sometimes with violence and force; to take possession, to capture, to seize upon” (Wilson, Old Testament Word Studies, s.v. “take,” p. 435). Commenting on the phrase that Shechem “spake kindly unto the damsel” (Genesis 34:3), one scholar said it means: “Literally, he spake to the heart of the damsel— endeavoured to gain her affections, and to reconcile her to her disgrace. It appears sufficiently evident from this and the preceding verse that there had been no consent on the part of Dinah, that the whole was an act of violence, and that she was now detained by force in the house of Shechem. Here she was found when Simeon and Levi sacked the city, verse 26.” (Clarke, Bible Commentary, 1:207.) The outrage of Simeon and Levi was justified, but to deceitfully set up a whole town for slaughter on the pretext of bringing them into the covenant was an evil and wicked thing. Jacob’s blessings on these two sons just prior to his death (see Genesis 49:5–7) show that neither he nor the Lord condoned this act. So Dinah is "taken" by Shechem. Dinah is an attractive woman who knew she was attractive, and her intent is to check out the competition as well as to check out the local men. In doing so she ends up being abducted by Shechem, the most favored and prominent son (v. 19) of the local ruler, and he rapes her "took her, and lay with her, and defiled her". From the Hebrew text it denotes physical maltreatment and humiliation thus it is unmistakable that it was rape and not simply her being taken advantage of in a compromising situation. See Deut. 21:14, Deut. 22:24. ] her, and lay with her, and defiled her. [ changing her from undefiled or still having her virtue to being defiled or losing her virtue. ]

3 And his soul clave [ He wants her and try's to win her over. ] unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, [ Sure he did that's why he took her and raped her. He does want to be with her though. Shechem is enamored with Dinah and tries to persuade her with soft words after this violent act, to no avail. Notice how it all happens... he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her....then his soul clave unto [her], and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. the act of physical violence is ironically contrasted with his affectionate behavior afterwards: Does the sequence of his actions show that he really loved Dinah? Had he been genuinely affectionate in the first place he would not have raped her. It almost seems to me that the affection afterwards is an attempt to justify the rape. If he really loved her what should he have done? How do people use the phrase because we are in love for their own good? ] and spake kindly unto the damsel. [ He was now trying to whoo her to love him and want to stay with him. At this point she is still held captive by force. We know this because she was found later by Simeon and Levi when they randsacked the city. ]

4 And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. [ Or I want to take her for my wife will you arrange it to happen? Shechem tells Hamor to "take for me" Dinah At that time it was customary for the father to arrange the marriages, as was the case with Abraham sending his servant to obtain a wife for Isaac. "get me", literally "take for me", tying in with the rhetoric of the various "tak[ings]" in the chapter. Take take take.... ]

5 And Jacob heard [ Unfortunately the text does not inform us how Jacob heard the news so quickly. ] that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come. [ Jacob's sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they came back. However, unknown to them Jacob is somehow already aware of Shechem's rape of Dinah. When approached by them, Jacob remains silent on both their proposal of marriage as well as the issue of the rape. Since Dinah was out to meet "daughters of the land" perhaps Dinah went out with another friend or met or made a friend in Shechem's town, and after Dinah's abduction the friend immediately went to inform Jacob. "Jacob held his peace until they were come", Shechem and Hamor were in his presence well before the sons arrived, and Jacob felt it best to keep his cool on the matter of the rape and the marriage until the sons showed up. It is clear from Hamor's and Shechem's lack of disclosure that they do not want to deal with the issue of rape. We may therefore conclude that Jacob's silence is used as a tool against them to discern their true motives. so, not only are they not disclosing that Shechem committed the rape, Jacob is not disclosing he already knows of that fact. Jacob's concern is also obviously about starting a full scale war to the death with this other family, so his silence is in part diplomatic as well. ]

6 ¶ And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. [ The purpose of the communication was to ask for her hand in marriage for his son Shechem see vs 4 ]

7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, [ hurt ] and they were very wroth, because he [ Shechem ] had wrought folly in Israel [ Because he had dishonored the name of Jacob (Israel). "wrought folly" is a polite way of saying "committing a vile deed" -- a despicable act, senseless violence, complete insensibility to moral distinctions. It's THAT strong a word. Further, the phrase is expanded as "wrought folly in Israel." Since the nation of Israel did not yet exist, one can only see this as a reflection by the redactor on the impact of the act. It was an act, not just against Dinah, but upon the entire house of Jacob (Israel). Here we find the first hint that the rape had a significant act on the family.] in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done. Jacob, chooses to wait until his sons are summoned from the field, and these sons are angry about what has happened to Dinah when they show up. "when they heard of it", Jacob would surely have summoned them immediately upon hearing of it himself. ] in lying with Jacob’s daughter; which thing ought not to be done.

8 And Hamor [ The father of Shechem. ] communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. [ Shechem then tells his father to arrange his marriage with her, and Hamor is only too eager to cover up his son's heinous act by cloaking it with the guise of marriage. All the while Dinah is not permitted to leave, but rather is kept at Shechem's house (v. 17, 26) in an effort to prevent the word of her rape from spreading. Shechem and Hamor waste no time and travel the very same day as the rape occurs to Jacob's house in order to arrange the marriage. Hamor "went out" to obtain Dinah for Shechem to satify his desire for her and to cover up the rape. ]

9 And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

10 And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. [ The prince - Hamor makes no excuse or does nothing to try to ask for forgivines. He just says hey let's let my boy's marry your daughters and you boy's can marry my daughters and we will both be happy. So we can start with Dinah. ]

11 And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, [ Please look to me as an equal in your family] and what ye shall say unto me I will give.

12  Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: [ Shechem, being used to getting whatever he wants because he is the son of the local aristocrat, can no longer restrain himself and makes exaggerated offers of fabulous wealth in exchange for Dinah. Hamor and Shechem try to cover up the act by failing to confess their sin, deliberately omitting it from their marriage proposal (i.e. Hamor could have taken Jacob aside and confessed that his son has violated his daughter and the right thing to do was for them to marry), and instead appeal to materialistic means to persuade them. What it boils down to is Hamor is trying to protect his son's reputation, and his own in the process, as well as avoid any legalities of the issue. While it is speculative, it seems to me that Shechem is an impetuous, spoiled son of a wealthy, powerful and indulgent father. Shechem is only interested in gratifying his desires, and Hamor is only interested in avoiding the real issue. ] but give me the damsel to wife.

13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, [ They had come up with a plan but did not diviledge it to them. ] and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:

14 And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; [ They would not allow their sister to be wed outside of the covenant. Part of the covenant was to be circumcised so that the children born between them would be born through the covenant and would walk in the ways of their fathers. While they were right in the fact that they wanted their children to be born under the covenant. They were doing it for the wrong reason. ] for that were a reproach unto us: [ It is against our religion is the flag that they are going to use. While it is in the guise of bride-price, the brothers, knowing he has raped Dinah and is unwilling to admit to it, consider it an odious bribe. The brothers, displeased not only over the rape but also over Shechem's attempt to cover it up with marriage, are not impressed with his ardor for Dinah. So the come up with a cunning plan for retribution of the most ironic type. so, what are they to "consent" to in order to effect the marriage of his son and Dinah? Since Shechem and Hamor are being completely deceitful over the situation at hand, the sons resort to clever tactics to prevent Dinah from being raped again. They tell them they must be circumcised, which would effectively prevent any further raping. It also clearly serves as punishment to them as they must inflict pain on themselves in the source of the crime. And clearly, they had additional ulterior motives as well as is evidenced in v. 25. ]

15 But in this will we consent unto you: [ We will give you permission. ] If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised; [ If you will all consent to be circumcised. ]

16 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.

17 But if ye will not hearken unto us, [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". If you will not commit to be circumcised. ] to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone. [ Then we will take Dinah and leave. They use their tradition of circumcision, one easily verified if questioned, to require they do the same. In the face of such a seemingly daunting requirement, the sons post the ultimatum that Hamor and Shechem and all of their people either do it or they will take back Dinah from them, leaving no room for bargaining.The sons, knowing about the rape, know that they can force Shechem and Hamor to accept their terms by proposing this ultimatum. If they reject it, then they will go and take back Dinah from their own house thereby exposing the rape in the full view of the town. Any attempt to prevent the brothers from taking back Dinah would surely cause a ruckus in town. ]

18 And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor’s son. [ So it sounded like a sold plan. And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father. In doing so, the sons force them to either circumcise themselves or release Dinah and therefore expose the rape. The irony is extreme as if they accept the circumcision, then they are punished in the instrument of rape, and Shechem is prevented from violating Dinah again as he would not be able to while healing from the circumcision. Shechem and Hamor are pleased they have seemingly obtained a means of obtaining Dinah and therefore avoiding the issue of rape, so they travel back home thinking all is well. Shechem wastes no time at all in going through with the circumcision, and in doing so he sets the example to the other people of the city. ]

19 And the young man [ Specifically Shechem. ] deferred not to do the thing, [ Did not hesitate to get circumcised. ] because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter: [ Because he was in love with Dinah. He must have liked her pretty bad to be so willing to do that. ] and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.

20 ¶ And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, [ So prince Hamor and Shechem bring all of the men of the city together. The women from Jacob may have been much better to look at as well as we know that Rachel was a very good looking woman. Hence maybe their offspring was as well. Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, The next day Hamor and Shechem then set about convincing the rest of the people in the city that they need to circumcise themselves as well. I don't know what they said but it must have been pretty good to accomplish something like that. Perhaps as suggested here that the our children will be better looking especially our daughters if we do this as it seemed to have worked for Abraham and his people. Maybe they promised wealth from God if they did os. Whatever they promised it seemed to be appealing. How do politicians and minority groups try to effect the standards of the rest of the country? What kind of falsehoods are propogated on us today? ]

21 These men are peaceable with us; [ They want to live with us in peace. As a matter of fact they are willing to share their women with us ] therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.

22 Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. [ but here is the condition - every male needs to be circumcised. ]

23 Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? [ Part of the plea from The prince and his son was that they would have more riches in addition to the women. Isn't it interesting how much people will do out of greed? ] only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.

24 And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearkened which means "listened to" and "obeyed". ] 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. [ Rather for fear or just blind obedience for their prince they followed their chief and his son's command. ]

25 ¶ And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, [ When the inflammation was at it's peak from the circumcision , and most would have been with fever so they were in no condition to fight. ] that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, [ Without being detected and with no danger of meeting any resistence. ] and slew all the males. [ Killed all of the men. ]

26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out. [ Left the city. ]

27 The sons of Jacob [ The rest of the son's of Jacob. ] came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, [ Or took the spoils of war. Levi and Simeon could only have taken so much so with help from the rest of the son's they could clean it out. ] because they had defiled their sister. [ "because they had defiled their sister", in the case of rape, the one who did it was required to pay the bride price and marry her unless the father rejected the marriage. In which case, the bride price was still required. So they were suggesting that they were justified in the deeds that they had done. ]

28 They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,

29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.

30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me [ Put me in a state of worry. Afterwards, Jacob learns what his sons have done and he disapproves of their actions. Jacob fears the locals will combine against them and destroy them as a result of the sack of the city. What is the Reason that Joseph disapproves? Fear not real moral issue ] to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, [ Make me have a funny spell to the surrounding tribes, in other words they will know what happened and they will not trust me. Maybe they will band together to take us out. ] 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.

31 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot? [ More literal translation would be should we deal with our sister the same as one who prostitues herself for hire. This is the first occurance of the word harlot. Simeon and Levi demand the principle of protecting the sanctity of one's sister justifies their actions. Simeon and Levi get the last word in this story and it is a rather thought provoking rhetorical question, "Should our sister be treated like a harlot?" I think the intent here is to get the reader thinking over the whole matter, weighing out the different character's actions and analyzing them. What are your thoughts is that a valid question? Does it have a valid answer? Was Dinah's behavior appropriate, was she acting like a whore in the first place? What about Simeon and Levi's reactions of sacking the entire village, was their retribution a fair one in that they put all of the males of the town to the sword? This story recounts an entire course of events that started out innocently enough with a young lady out to do some flirting, and ends up a near complete disaster. The only way things could have turned out worse is if Jacobs fears had come to fruition and his neighbors ganged up on them and wiped out his whole family, which fortunately did not happen. What can we learn from this story? One action can have a lot of reactions...many can get hurt... Vainity can get us into trouble. We should be found in the right places. We should not see how close we can come to the line. How a coquettish woman can inspire passion and violence in men. Passion for retribution and self-styled justice ended in the violence of the entire city. Power of women over men and their passions is presented as powerful and potentially disastrous How many lives were effected by the selfish actions of one man? ]