And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
Jacob had settled beside a Hivite city and built a house there, and the cost of that choice now arrives with drawn swords. Two of his sons turn a sacred sign into a trap and kill every male in the town, which leaves us asking what God does with such men.
The killing does not begin at verse 25. It begins with a plot of land and a house.
One wrong step away from our true position before the Lord leads to many a sin, scandal, and sorrow. That is what we find here, and it came from Jacob buying the land of the Hivite and building himself a house. His stay at Succoth and Shechem covers some ten years.
The condition the brothers set was no invitation into God's covenant. They chose it to leave the men of the city helpless.
Then Jacob's sons stepped in with a trick: every male must be circumcised. They had not the slightest thought or wish of bringing the men of Shechem into the covenant. It was treachery of the lowest kind, meant to trap them and massacre them. Jacob had nothing to do with the cruel secret. Their pride and revenge ignored God just as it ignored their father.
The third day is not a stray detail. It is the day the men of the city could not fight back.
Then the cruel treachery of Jacob's sons comes to the surface. Only Simeon and Levi are mentioned here, brothers of Dinah, though Reuben and Judah were also her brothers. The two, however, attack the unarmed city, killing every male while they were still sore from surgery. This came as a complete surprise, and the men had no defence. No men were left to organize a counter attack.
The brothers had an answer ready: their sister's honour. One writer weighs it against what they did.
Jacob's sons, however, only answered defiantly, "Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?" That was not fair-mindedness. Shechem had not dealt with her that way. Even if he had, did that justify Simeon and Levi in killing all the men of that city and plundering their houses? What they did to the city was far worse than Shechem's sin.
No judgment fell at the time. The verdict came at the end of Jacob's life.
The anger came to a head in the terrible violence of Simeon and Levi. Jacob never forgot it, and neither did God. At the end of his life Jacob spoke as a prophet about his sons. He foretold the future of the tribes and gave certain blessings. But he condemned these two sons and cursed their anger, as recorded in Genesis 49:5-7.
The sentence was to divide them and scatter them. God carried it out, but on one of the two brothers it fell as a privilege.
It is worth noting that later on the tribe of Levi acted in such a way that they gained a special blessing. So we are allowed to see how God can turn what began as a curse into a blessing. The word had been, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel" (49:7). They were divided. But Levi's division came through a call to special service, which scattered him among all the tribes.
Levi carries a sword a second time, and this time Simeon is not beside him.
It is true that here too we see him with his sword at his side. But oh, for what a different purpose, and in what a different cause! He is not now killing a man in anger and self-will. He acts in holy jealousy and care for the honour of the Lord God of Israel, and in simple obedience to His command… And Levi is no longer seen "joined" with his brother Simeon. He might join with him in the days of his wickedness for deeds of blood. But here a new scene opens, and so he is seen "joined" with the Lord and His servant Moses, to carry out righteous judgement on idolatry.
Scripture never softens this story, and there is a reason.
Here is a truly humbling view of human nature seen in the light of God's holiness. It is as if the Lord would say to us: Look here! Look at a man dressed in nature's blackest clothing… Look closely, so that you may see what man is when stripped of all the false clothing that ignorance or empty self-righteousness would put on him — and so may know the rich abundance of My grace.
- Settling. The killing grew out of a settled life beside Shechem. One step away from our place before the Lord opens the door to sin, scandal and sorrow.
- Scheming. They used the covenant sign as bait — treachery dressed as religion, with no wish to bring anyone to God.
- Slaying. They struck on the third day, when no man in the city could fight: planned, one-sided killing, not justice for Dinah.
- Sentence. God did not act at once, but Jacob's dying words cursed their anger and decreed they be divided and scattered.
- Salvation. Levi's sword is drawn again in the Lord's cause, and the scattering itself becomes his service — where man is at his blackest, God shows the rich abundance of His grace.
And Hamor and Shechem his son they slew with the edge of the sword; and took Dinah out of Shechem's house; and went out.
Two brothers walk into a city whose men cannot fight back. They kill its ruler and his son. Then they take their sister and go. The rescue is real, but the means are murder — and the rest of Scripture never lets the deed go unanswered.
One writer traces this bloodshed back to a much earlier failure in Jacob's own walk.
The whole of Genesis 34 shows the unhappy results that sprang from the lowering of Jacob's separation from the world. Its effects for evil were not seen in Jacob himself but in his family. The tide of evil runs in two broad channels: violence and corruption. The world is just the same today. How often we have to hang our heads in shame and admit the truth. A little living on the border of the world on our part, as Christian parents, has led to sorrow and even disaster in our families.
Jacob's sons had set one condition on the city: every male must be circumcised. That left the men unable to fight. One writer names that condition for what it was.
Not the smallest thought or wish had they for inviting the Shechemites into the covenant. It was the basest treachery, meant to trap them and slaughter them. Jacob had nothing to do with the cruel secret. Their pride and revenge ignored God as they ignored their father. Shechem was guilty of a great wrong; but Dinah too was at fault. The condition was a lying and cowardly pretext to carry out their resentment to the very end.
Two of Dinah's brothers did this, and the men they killed could not lift a hand.
Only Simeon and Levi are mentioned here, brothers of Dinah, though Reuben and Judah were also her brothers. The two attack the unarmed city, killing every male while they were still sore from surgery. Of course this was totally unexpected and the men had no defence. No men were left to organise any counter-attack. Hamor and Shechem also, who had been considerate of Jacob's family, were killed.
The brothers later defended themselves by pointing to their sister's disgrace. That defence does not survive examination.
This was not fair-mindedness, for Shechem had not actually dealt that way, and if he had, did that justify Simeon and Levi in killing all the men of that city and plundering their houses? Their dealings with the city were far worse than was Shechem's sin.
Under the appeal to their sister's honour, another writer hears greed.
Simeon and Levi say, "Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?" — making her honour cover their covetousness. At least Jacob is honest, for he says, "You have brought trouble on me by making me stink … I shall be destroyed, both I and my household."
Years later, on his deathbed, Jacob cursed the anger of these two sons. He said they would be divided and scattered. One writer notes that the sentence stood, yet God changed what it produced.
The shameful story of Genesis 34 caused Jacob "to stink among the inhabitants of the land." That was a dreadful position for him, since he was the only man in the land who truly knew God. It also brought judgment on the two who promoted the violence. In later days the tribe of Levi acted in a way that gained a special blessing. So we are allowed to see how God can turn what was at first a curse into a blessing. The word had been, "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." They were divided. But God did it by calling Levi to special service and scattering him throughout all the tribes.
Levi carries a sword again later in Israel's story. This time the cause is different.
It is true we see him here again with his sword by his side, but for what a different purpose, and in what a different cause! He is not now killing a man in anger and self-will. He acts in holy care for the honour of the Lord God of Israel, and in simple obedience to His command. He is no longer "joined" with his brother Simeon. In the days of his wickedness he might join him for deeds of blood. But here a new scene opens, and he is "joined" with the Lord and His servant Moses.
- Drift. Jacob's lowered separation from the world set the stage; the evil broke out not in him but in his children.
- Deceit. Jacob's sons offered the sign of God's covenant as bait, not as welcome — a lying pretext to disable a city.
- Disproportion. They avenged a real wrong with a far greater one, and plundered the houses too. Their sister's honour covered their greed.
- Divided. Jacob's dying words cursed their anger. His sentence scattered their descendants through Israel.
- Redeemed. Levi lifted his sword again, this time for God's honour. The scattering then became the tribe's service.