Genesis

Dinah in Shechem

Now Dinah, Jacob’s daughter by Leah, went out to visit the women of that place.

When Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of that country, saw her, he seized her, raped her and dishonored her.

He was attracted to Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, loved the girl, and spoke to her affectionately.

Shechem said to his father Hamor: “Get me this girl to be my wife.”

Now Jacob heard how his daughter Dinah had been dishonored but said nothing until his sons, who were in the fields with his cattle, came home.

Hamor, the father of Shechem, went to speak with Jacob.

When Jacob’s sons returned from the fields and heard what had happened, they were filled with indignation and very angry that Shechem had committed a crime in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, an act that should never be done.

But Hamor spoke to them saying: “Shechem, my son, deeply loves your daughter; please give her to him to be his wife.

Let us intermarry; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.

You will settle with us and the land is there before you to live in it, travel through it, and acquire property in it.”

Shechem spoke to the girl’s father and brothers, “Please forgive me, and I will give you whatever you ask of me.

Fix a price for the marriage and any gift you require. Whatever you ask, I will give, but only let me have the girl as my wife.”

Jacob’s sons gave a clever answer to Shechem and Hamor because Shechem had defiled their sister:

“We cannot do such a thing—give our sister to an uncircumcised man—for that would be a disgrace for us.

Only on one condition would we consent—that you and every male become like us and be circumcised.

Then we will give you our daughters and take yours, live among you, and become one people with you.

But if you don’t listen to us and be circumcised, we will take our daughter and go.”

What they said pleased Hamor and Shechem, his son.

Shechem wasted no time in fulfilling what was asked of him, as he was genuinely in love with Jacob’s daughter and held the highest honor in his father’s family.

So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to their fellow citizens:

“These men are peaceful. Let them settle here and move around freely. The land is vast enough for them. We shall marry their daughters and give our daughters in marriage to them.

But on one condition will these men agree to live with us and become one people with us: every male be as they are and be circumcised.

If we agree with them, their flocks, their possessions, and their cattle will be ours. Let’s do what they ask, and they will settle with us.”

All those who went out to the gate of the city agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every male was circumcised.

Three days later, while they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, who were Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and entered the town took them by surprise.

They killed Hamor, Shechem, and all the males. They brought Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.

Jacob’s sons attacked the wounded and plundered the city because their sister had been violated.

They took their flocks and their herds and donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the fields,

all their wealth, women and children. They plundered everything in their houses.

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: “You have brought trouble on me, making me hateful to the people of this land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I have only a few men and if the others unite against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, myself and my household.

But their reply was: “Is it right for him to treat our sister as a prostitute?”