Chapter Summary
Chapter 34 of Genesis describes a dramatic and violent event involving Jacob's daughter, Dinah, and the people of Shechem. Dinah goes out to interact with the local women and is noticed by Shechem, the son of the Hivite leader, Hamor. Shechem takes her, forces himself upon her, and disgraces her. Afterward, he falls in love with her and wants to marry her. He and his father approach Jacob and his sons to propose a marriage and a broader alliance between their two peoples. Jacob's sons, deeply angered by what happened to their sister, respond deceitfully. They propose a condition for the alliance: all the males in Shechem’s city must be circumcised, claiming they cannot marry their sister to an uncircumcised man. Hamor and Shechem agree to this, seeing it as an opportunity to gain the wealth of Jacob's family. They convince their city's men to undergo circumcision. On the third day after the circumcisions, when the Hivite men are in pain and weakened, two of Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, carry out a brutal attack. They raid the city, kill all the males, including Hamor and Shechem, rescue Dinah from Shechem's house, and then proceed to plunder the city, taking livestock, wealth, women, and children captive. Jacob is furious with Simeon and Levi, fearing that their actions will make his family hated and vulnerable to attack from neighboring tribes. However, his sons defend their actions, asking if Shechem should have been allowed to treat their sister so dishonorably.