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Génesis 34

VBL · Chapter 34/50

1Dina, la hija de Jacob y Lea, fue a visitar a algunas de las mujeres locales.

2Siquem, hijo de Hamor el heveo, el gobernante de esa zona, la vio. La agarró y la violó.

3Sin embargo, luego se enamoró profundamente de Dina y trató de que ella también lo amara.

4Fue y le pidió a su padre, “Trae a esta joven para que me case con ella”.

5Jacob descubrió que Siquem había violado a su hija Dina, pero como sus hijos estaban lejos cuidando los rebaños en los campos no dijo nada hasta que volvieron a casa.

6Mientras tanto, Hamor, el padre de Siquem, llegó para hablar con Jacob.

7Cuando los hijos de Jacob regresaron de los campos se molestaron mucho al oír la noticia y se enojaron mucho porque Siquem había hecho algo indignante en Israel al tener relaciones sexuales con la hija de Jacob, algo que nunca debería hacerse.

8Hamor les dijo: “Mi hijo Siquem está muy enamorado de su hija y de su hermana Dina. Por favor, permítale que se case con ella.

9De hecho, podemos tener más matrimonios. Pueden darnos a sus hijas y pueden tener a nuestras hijas.

10Puedes vivir entre nosotros y establecerte donde quieras. Podéis ir donde queráis y comprar tierras para vosotros mismos”.

11Entonces el propio Shechem habló y le dijo al padre y a los hermanos de Dina: “Por favor, acéptenme a mi y a mi propuesta, y haré lo que me pidan.

12Puedes poner el precio de la novia tan alto como quieras, y yo lo pagaré junto con todos los regalos que daré. Sólo déjame tener a la chica para poder casarme con ella”.

13Los hijos de Jacob no fueron honestos cuando le contestaron a él y a su padre Hamor porque Siquem había violado a su hermana Dina.

14Les dijeron: “¡No podemos hacer esto! No podemos permitir que nuestra hermana se case con un hombre que no está circuncidado. Eso nos traería la desgracia.

15Sólo lo aceptaremos con esta condición: todos ustedes deben ser circuncidados como nosotros.

16Entonces os daremos nuestras hijas y tomaremos vuestras hijas, y viviremos entre vosotros y nos convertiremos en una familia.

17Pero si no estáis de acuerdo con nosotros en que debéis circuncidaros, entonces tomaremos a nuestra hermana y nos iremos”.

18Hamor y su hijo Siquem estuvieron de acuerdo con lo que se propuso.

19El joven Siquem no perdió tiempo en arreglar esto porque estaba encaprichado con la hija de Jacob, y se le consideraba la persona más importante de la familia de su padre.

20Hamor y Siquem fueron a la puerta del pueblo y hablaron con los otros líderes allí.

21“Estos hombres son nuestros amigos”, les dijeron. “Hagamos que vivan aquí en nuestro país y permitámosles ir a donde quieran, es lo suficientemente grande para todos ellos también. Podemos tomar a sus hijas como esposas, y podemos darles nuestras hijas para que se casen.

22Pero sólo aceptarán esto con una condición: sólo se unirán a nosotros y se convertirán en una familia si cada hombre de entre nosotros es circuncidado como ellos.

23Si eso ocurre, ¿no acabarán perteneciéndonos todo su ganado y sus propiedades, todos sus animales? Sólo tenemos que estar de acuerdo con esto y ellos vendrán a vivir entre nosotros”.

24Todos los que estaban en la puerta del pueblo estaban de acuerdo con Hamor y Siquem, así que todos los hombres del pueblo fueron circuncidados.

25Tres días después, mientras aún sufrían dolor, Simeón y Levi, dos de los hijos de Jacob y los hermanos de Dina, llegaron con sus espadas a la ciudad. Sin oponerse, mataron a todos los hombres.

26Mataron a Hamor y a Siquem con sus espadas, tomaron a Dina de la casa de Siquem y se fueron.

27Los otros hijos de Jacob llegaron, robaron los cadáveres y saquearon la ciudad donde su hermana había sido violada.

28Se llevaron sus ovejas, cabras, ganado y burros. Tomaron todo lo que había en el pueblo y en los campos,

29es decir, todas sus posesiones. Capturaron a todas sus mujeres y niños, y saquearon todo lo que había en sus casas.

30Pero Jacob criticó a Simeón y a Leví, diciéndoles: “¡Ustedes me han causado muchos problemas! Han hecho que sea como un mal olor entre los habitantes de este país, entre los cananeos y los ferezeos. Sólo tengo unos pocos hombres, y si esta gente se reúne para atacarme, yo y toda mi familia seremos aniquilados”.

31Pero ellos respondieron: “¿Deberíamos haber dejado que tratara a nuestra hermana como una prostituta?”

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Dinah, Jacob's daughter, is violated by Shechem, son of the local prince; her brothers Simeon and Levi deceive the city's inhabitants, proposing circumcision as a condition, and then attack and kill them all in revenge.

Explanation

This is one of the darkest chapters in Genesis, showing the tragic consequences of violence and disproportionate revenge. The crime against Dinah is serious and real, but the response of Simeon and Levi goes beyond justice, turning into a premeditated massacre that even uses a sacred symbol (circumcision) as a tool of deceit. Jacob, the patriarch, appears alarmed by the practical consequences of the act ('ye have troubled me to make me to stink... and I being few in number,' v. 30), more concerned with the family's safety than necessarily with the moral issue itself at that moment — something he would revisit with more clarity decades later, cursing this violence on his deathbed (Genesis 49:5-7). Today's lesson is that responding to injustice should not turn into an even greater injustice, and that decisions made in anger have lasting consequences.

Fun facts

  • This episode is directly referenced by Jacob in his final speech before dying (Genesis 49:5-7), where he curses the violence of Simeon and Levi, prophetically resulting in the future scattering of these two tribes within Israel, without a unified territory of their own.
  • The city of Shechem, the setting of this tragic episode, was a place of great symbolic importance to Jacob's family — the same place where he had just set up an altar (Genesis 33:20) and where Joseph would later be buried (Joshua 24:32).

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Génesis 34:1Dinah goes out alone to see the daughters of the land — an ordinary social outing, but one that exposes her to the attack that follows right after.
  2. Génesis 34:2“Defiled her” is the word used here to describe what Shechem did to Dinah — a forced encounter, without her consent, not a mutual romance. The verses that follow describe Shechem falling in love afterward, but that does not change how the act itself is recorded at the start.
  3. Génesis 34:3After the violent act of the previous verse, the text describes Shechem’s soul cleaving to Dinah and speaking kindly to her — an attempt to turn what began as an assault into a serious relationship.
  4. Génesis 34:4Shechem asks his own father to arrange the marriage — the next step, in the culture of the time, toward trying to legitimize the situation.
  5. Génesis 34:5Jacob learns of what happened but holds his peace until his sons return from the field — he seems to be waiting for family support before reacting to something so serious.
  6. Génesis 34:6Hamor, Shechem’s father, goes personally to Jacob to commune with him about the marriage — a formal gesture, from one clan leader to another.
  7. Génesis 34:7Jacob’s sons return furious: the phrase “wrought folly in Israel” marks the act as a grave violation of honor, something that “ought not to be done.”
  8. Génesis 34:8Hamor formally proposes the marriage between Shechem and Dinah, as if a formal union could settle everything.
  9. Génesis 34:9The proposal goes beyond Dinah’s marriage: Hamor suggests the two families make marriages with one another and exchange daughters, a much broader alliance.
  10. Génesis 34:10Hamor even offers his own land for Jacob and his sons to dwell in and trade freely — a generous offer that hides the real motive, revealed later.
  11. Génesis 34:11Shechem speaks directly to Dinah’s father and brothers, offering to give whatever they ask of him.
  12. Génesis 34:12“Dowry” and “gift” were two payments the groom or his family customarily gave to the bride’s family — a kind of compensation for the marriage, a common practice among the peoples of the region. Shechem offers to pay whatever amount is asked, a sign that his family had power and badly wanted to close this marriage.
  13. Génesis 34:13Jacob’s sons answer Shechem and Hamor deceitfully, driven by anger over Dinah’s violation — the text already warns, before recounting the response, that it was a trap.
  14. Génesis 34:14For this family, giving a sister to one that is uncircumcised would be a “reproach,” because circumcision marked who belonged to the people of the covenant with God. But here the religious reason becomes an excuse: Dinah’s brothers were already planning revenge and use this requirement to weaken the men of the city.
  15. Génesis 34:15The condition they impose is the circumcision of every male in the city — a sacred rite of Abraham’s covenant, used here as bait for a plan of revenge.
  16. Génesis 34:16If they agree, the brothers promise to give their daughters and take the city’s daughters, and dwell together as one people — the promise of full integration.
  17. Génesis 34:17If they refuse the circumcision, the brothers warn they will simply take their sister and be gone — putting pressure on the city to accept.
  18. Génesis 34:18The proposal pleases both Hamor and Shechem, with neither suspecting the trap behind it.
  19. Génesis 34:19The young man does not defer to carry out the requirement, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter — and, being more honourable than all his father’s house, he has enough influence to convince the rest of the city.
  20. Génesis 34:20Hamor and Shechem go unto the gate of their city, the place where public decisions were discussed, to commune with the men there.
  21. Génesis 34:21They describe the Israelites as peaceable men, point out that the land is large enough for them, and argue for taking the city’s daughters to wife and giving them their own.
  22. Génesis 34:22They repeat the agreed condition: circumcision of every male among them, just as the Israelites are circumcised.
  23. Génesis 34:23The final argument exposes the true motive: with the alliance, Jacob’s cattle, substance, and every beast of his would end up belonging to them too — a purely economic calculation behind the agreement.
  24. Génesis 34:24Convinced by the speech, every male that went out of the gate of the city is circumcised — with no idea of what comes next, still sore from the procedure.
  25. Génesis 34:25The third day, when they were sore, was, by the medical knowledge of the time, the point of greatest pain and swelling from the procedure. That is why Dinah’s brothers choose that exact day to attack, knowing the men of the city would be too weak to fight back.
  26. Génesis 34:26Simeon and Levi take advantage of the physical weakness of the circumcised men to slay Hamor and Shechem with the edge of the sword and take Dinah out of Shechem’s house.
  27. Génesis 34:27Jacob’s other sons come upon the slain afterward and spoil the whole city, using their sister’s violation as justification for mass retaliation.
  28. Génesis 34:28They take sheep, oxen, donkeys, and everything that was in the city and in the field around it.
  29. Génesis 34:29They also carry off all the wealth, the little ones, and the women as captives, spoiling even all that was in the house — a vengeance that goes far beyond punishing the two original culprits.
  30. Génesis 34:30Jacob rebukes Simeon and Levi not out of clear moral remorse, but out of practical fear: he worries that the neighboring Canaanites and Perizzites will gather themselves together against his small family and destroy him and his house in retaliation.
  31. Génesis 34:31The brothers’ final question — whether Shechem should have dealt with their sister “as with an harlot” — is the defense they offer for the massacre they had just carried out. The chapter ends there, left open, without the text clearly saying who was right.

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