Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 34:8-31

If you start listing the weaknesses of men that you can use to undermine, discredit, or exploit them, it comes down to money, alcohol, and women. Many men end up being compromised because they are not on guard against these weaknesses. Whether out of ignorance or arrogance, many men believe they can’t or won’t be blackmailed or victimized until it is too late.

The 34th chapter of Genesis illustrates two of these weaknesses: money and women. The end result of being exploited that we will read about today was so drastic, it should serve as a clear warning to all men to constantly be on guard against the temptations of greed and sex.

Jacob took his family to Shechem, bought a field, and pitched his tent. When his daughter Dinah went to see the daughters of the land, Shechem, the prince of Shechem, raped her, and demanded that his father get her for him as a wife. Hamor went to speak with Jacob, but the sons of Jacob were very angry.

Gen. 34:8 ¶ But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him as a wife.

Gen. 34:9 And intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves.

Gen. 34:10 Thus you shall live with us, and the land shall be open before you; live and trade in it and take possession of property in it.”

Gen. 34:11 And Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “If I find favor in your sight, then I will give whatever you say to me.

Gen. 34:12 Ask me ever so much bridal payment and gift, and I will give according as you say to me; but give me the girl as a wife.”

If you start listing the weaknesses of men that often lead to their downfall, it comes down to money, alcohol, and women. In this case, Shechem became so infatuated with a woman, Jacob’s daughter Dinah, that he raped her, which was a disgraceful act, and then was willing to do anything to gain her as a wife.

Gen. 34:13 ¶ But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor with deceit, and thus they spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.

Notice the word “deceit”. As you read the following verses, keep in mind that Jacob’s sons were saying one thing but planning something else.

Gen. 34:14 And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us.

That was a true statement. When Yahweh established the covenant of circumcision with Abraham, Yahweh said every servant in the household and every male among them had to be circumcised (see Genesis 17:12).

Gen. 34:15 Only on this condition will we consent to you: if you will become like us, in that every male among you be circumcised,

Gen. 34:16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people.

Notice the if/then statement in verses 15-16. The sons of Jacob promised to intermarry if the men of Shechem met their condition. However, they were being deceitful. They did not intend to intermarry.

Gen. 34:17 But if you will not listen to us to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”

Gen. 34:18 ¶ Now their words seemed good in the sight of Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son.

Gen. 34:19 So the young man did not delay to do the thing because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more honored than all the household of his father.

Look at the words “did not delay”. Shechem did not try to think of a way around this request. He gladly pursued this option. You could argue he was so blinded by lust he wasn’t thinking clearly. Did it not occur to him that perhaps Dinah’s brothers were upset that he had raped their sister?

Notice the words “more honored”. Shechem’s honor gave him influence over the people of his city.

Gen. 34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying,

Gen. 34:21 “These men are peaceful with us; therefore let them live in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters for us as wives and give our daughters to them.

Gen. 34:22 Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised.

Gen. 34:23 Will not their livestock and what they acquire and all their cattle be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will live with us.”

Hamor and Shechem used greed to get what they wanted. We know from prior passages that Jacob was very wealthy. Hamor and Shechem convinced the men of their city that if they got Jacob’s entourage to intermarry with them, that all of Jacob’s possessions would become theirs.

Gen. 34:24 And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

Gen. 34:25 ¶ Now it happened on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came upon the unsuspecting city and killed every male.

Verse 13 tells us Jacob’s sons were being deceitful. Verse 25 reveals what they had been planning all along. Their true reason for getting the citizens of Shechem to circumcise themselves was to make them vulnerable to attack.

Don’t miss the word “every”. Simeon and Levi did not just kill Hamor and Shechem, they killed all the men.

Think about the age of Simeon and Levi. Jacob left Laban when he had been married for 13 years. That means Simeon and Levi would have been under the age of 13 when they left Laban and went back to Canaan. However, it seems Simeon and Levi would have had to have been closer to the age of 20 to kill all the men of Shechem. That means multiple years elapsed from the time Jacob left Laban until this incident at Shechem. Genesis 33:17 tells us Jacob built a house at Succoth. Perhaps he lived there several years before traveling to Shechem. Perhaps he lived at Shechem for several years before Shechem raped Dinah.

Gen. 34:26 And they killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and went away.

Gen. 34:27 Jacob’s sons came upon the slain and plundered the city because they had defiled their sister.

Look at the word “plundered”. They not only took revenge by killing all the men, they enriched themselves by taking all the possessions of the city.

Gen. 34:28 They took their flocks and their herds and their donkeys and that which was in the city and that which was in the field;

Gen. 34:29 and they captured and plundered all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives, even all that was in the houses.

Don’t miss the words “little ones” and “wives”. Jacob’s sons took all the women and children.

Gen. 34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and my men being few in number, they will gather together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household.”

Gen. 34:31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister as a harlot?”

If you start listing the weaknesses of men that often lead to their downfall, it comes down to money, alcohol, and women. In this case, Shechem became so infatuated with a woman, Jacob’s daughter Dinah, that he raped her, which was a disgraceful act, and then was willing to do anything to gain her as a wife.

Next, Hamor and Shechem appealed to the greed of the men of their city in order to convince them to circumcise themselves.

The end result of the greed and lust was that all the men of Shechem were killed. The sons of Jacob took all their possessions, including their wives and children.

In what ways have you allowed greed, lust, or addiction to compromise you?

What do you need to change in your life in order to protect yourself against the vulnerabilities of alcohol, money, and women?

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”