78 | Genesis 34:18
18 Their pro posal seemed good to Ha mor and his son She chem. 19 The young man, who was the most hon ored of all his fa ther’ s fam ily, lost no time in do ing what they said, be cause he was de lighted with Ja cob’ s daugh ter. m
20 So Ha mor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city n to speak to the men of their city. 21“ These men are friendly to ward us,” they said.“ Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daugh ters and they can marry ours. 22 But the men will agree to live with us as one peo ple only on the con di tion that our males be cir cum cised, as they them selves are. 23 Won’ t their live stock, their prop erty and all their other an i mals be come ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will set tle among us.”
24 All the men who went out of the city gate o agreed with Ha mor and his son She chem, and ev ery male in the city was cir cum cised.
25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Ja cob’ s sons, Sim eon and Levi, Di nah’ s broth ers, took their swords p and at tacked the un sus pect ing city, kill ing ev ery male. q
26 They put Ha mor and his son She chem to the sword and took Di nah from She chem’ s house and left. 27 The sons of Ja cob came upon the dead bod ies and looted the city where a their sis ter had been de filed. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and don keys and ev ery thing else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29 They car ried off all their wealth and all their women and chil dren, tak ing as plun der ev ery thing in the houses.
30 Then Ja cob said to Sim eon and Levi,“ You have brought trou ble on me by mak ing me obnoxious r to the Ca naan ites and Per iz zites, the peo ple liv ing in this land. s We are few in number, t and if they join forces against me and at tack me, I and my house hold will be destroyed.” 31 But they re plied,“ Should he have treated our sis ter like a pros ti tute?”
34:19 m ver 3
34:20 n Ru 4:1; 2Sa 15:2
34:24 o Ge 23:10
34:25 p Ge 49:5 q Ge 49:7
34:30 r Ex 5:21; 1Sa 13:4 s Ge 13:7 t Ge 46:27; 1Ch 16:19;
Ps 105:12
35:1 u Ge 28:19 v Ge 27:43
35:2 w Ge 18:19; Jos 24:15 x Ge 31:19 y Ex 19:10, 14
35:3 z Ge 32:7 a Ge 28:15, 20-22;
31:3, 42 35:4 b Jos 24:25‐26
35:5 c Ex 15:16; 23:27; Jos 2:9
35:6 d Ge 28:19; 48:3 35:7 e Ge 28:13
Jacob Returns to Bethel
35 Then God said to Ja cob,“ Go up to Bethel u and set tle there, and build an al tar there to
God, who ap peared to you when you were flee ing from your brother Esau.” v
2 So Ja cob said to his house hold w and to all who were with him,“ Get rid of the for eign gods x you have with you, and pu rify your selves and change your clothes. y 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an al tar to God, who an swered me in the day of my dis tress z and who has been with me wher ever I have gone. a” 4 So they gave Ja cob all the for eign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Ja cob bur ied them un der the oak at Shechem. b
5 Then they set out, and the ter ror of God c fell on the towns all around them so that no one pur sued them.
6 Ja cob and all the peo ple with him came to Luz d( that is, Bethel) in the land of Ca naan. 7 There he built an al tar, and he called the place El Bethel, b be cause it was there that God re vealed him self to him e when he was flee ing from his brother.
a 27 Or because b 7 El Bethel means God of Bethel.
34:21 – 23 Duped by Jacob’ s sons, Hamor and Shechem persuade the men of their city to be circumcised. 34:25 Simeon and Levi. Full brothers of Dinah. They slaughter the men of Shechem, who are still recovering after being circumcised. Shechem’ s crime, while serious, did not warrant such brutal retaliation. This punishment far exceeds Shechem’ s crime. Consequently, Jacob condemns it( v. 30) and continues to hold it against Simeon and Levi until his death( 49:5 – 7). Although Simeon and Levi do the killing, their brothers join them in looting the city. The whole event is a shameful episode for Abraham’ s descendants. 34:30 brought trouble on me. As immigrants living in a hostile environment, Jacob fears for the future safety of his whole family. 34:31 The narrator gives the final word to Simeon and Levi, a possible reminder that Jacob’ s failure to intervene at an earlier stage may have contributed to the outcome.
35:1 – 15 Jacob Returns to Bethel. The events at Shechem possibly prompt God to instruct
Jacob to relocate to Bethel. Jacob returns to where God appeared to him when he first fled from Canaan to go to Paddan Aram( 28:10 – 22). 35:1 build an altar there. Jacob previously erected a pillar at Bethel( 28:18). God now instructs him to return to Bethel, an event that will confirm God’ s faithfulness to Jacob’ s promises( 28:20 – 22). 35:2 – 3 Recognizing that Bethel is the“ house of God”( see NIV text note on 28:19), Jacob prepares his family for their encounter with God. At this stage some members of the family appear to be polytheists, worshiping a number of gods. Rachel, e. g., took her father’ s household gods( 31:19). Jacob insists that they must abandon these gods in favor of God, who has faithfully cared for him. Additionally, Jacob demands that his family get rid of any defilement caused by worshiping other deities. After washing to purify themselves, they must change their clothes, further symbolizing their transformation from polytheism to monotheism. 35:3 in the day of my distress. Not just one particular day, but every occasion when Jacob was in difficulty.
35:4 rings in their ears. Possibly the idols, rather than the people, wore these. By burying these cultic objects, a known second millennium BC practice for disposing of images, Jacob placed them beyond further use. Their burial at Shechem may be symbolically significant, implying that the violent actions of Simeon and Levi reflect the influence of polytheism. Later, also at Shechem, Joshua challenges his fellow Israelites to throw away the gods that their ancestors worshiped( Josh 24:14,23). 35:5 the terror of God. An appropriate fear of God may restrain people’ s actions.“ Fear of God” is a significant motif in Genesis( e. g., 20:8,11); God himself is even known by the title“ the Fear of Isaac”( 31:42,53). 35:6 Luz( that is, Bethel). See note on 28:19. 35:7 El Bethel. See NIV text note. The name draws attention to how God revealed himself at this location. Altars sometimes mark where God appeared to the patriarchs( 12:7). They may also form a temporary sanctuary in the hope that God would make himself known at them( 33:20).