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.
The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.
Two brothers had killed the men of Shechem. Now the rest of Jacob's sons come to the bodies and strip the town. Scripture gives their reason in one clause: "because they had defiled their sister." Was that reason enough? And what else was driving them?
The plunder came on top of a massacre.
Then the cruel treachery of Jacob's sons comes to the surface. The text names only Simeon and Levi here, the brothers of Dinah, though Reuben and Judah were also her brothers. But the two of them attack the unarmed city. They kill every male while the men are still sore from surgery. Of course this took the men by surprise, and they had no defence. No one remained to organize a counter attack. The two also killed Hamor and Shechem, who had been considerate of Jacob's family. They took Dinah from Shechem's house. They carried off the other women and children as captives. They seized the goods of the people, including all their livestock, as if they were the spoils of war.
Dinah's honour is the reason given. It was not the only motive at work.
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 … and I shall be destroyed, both I and my household."
They killed under cover of religion. One commentator calls that the worst part of the whole affair.
In condemning Simeon and Levi, the Holy Spirit speaks out against religious intolerance and persecution. They are joined together and deceitful, as religious bigotry always is. But every truly religious man will echo Jacob's rejection of it: "Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen." The innocent suffer with the guilty in these cursed crusades — the innocent ox along with the guilty Shechem — and Shechem was not half as bad as they were. The worst of this crime is that they do it in the name of God, religious order and separation. So they bring religion into the contempt of unthinking minds. They manage to wrong the world and the church at the same time.
Commentators trace the disaster back past the sons to the father. Jacob had bought land at Shechem and built a house there instead of moving on.
One wrong step away from our true position before the Lord leads to many a sin, scandal, and sorrow. So we find here, as the consequence of Jacob's buying the land of the Hivite and building himself a house. His stay at Succoth and Shechem covers some ten years. He had to be unsettled to get him back to his pilgrim place. But the way was painful for all. For Jacob himself it brought deep shame, humiliation and fear.
Jacob never forgot. Years later his judgment fell on Levi, one of the two ringleaders.
Years later, in Genesis 49, the dishonour to the name of God and the horror and shame of the whole thing come over Jacob's soul. They strike him far more strongly than they seem to have done at the moment of the sin. He cries: "Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." God scattered Levi in Israel to punish that terrible sin, committed centuries before at Shechem. But now, for our encouragement, see the grace of God. The very punishment, the scattering in Israel, becomes an unspeakable blessing. God chooses this tribe to draw near to Him. He scatters them through Israel, so the knowledge of God and His Word spreads just as widely through them.
Scripture does not soften the picture, and that is deliberate.
We have here a truly humbling view of human nature as seen in the light of the holiness of God. It is as if the Lord would say to us: Look here! See a man dressed in nature's blackest clothing, showing nature's most repellent face. Examine him closely. See what man is once you strip away all the false clothing that ignorance or empty self-righteousness would put on him. Then you may know the rich abundance of My grace, which can lift even such a one into the highest heights of communion.
- Cause — A father who settled where he should only have passed through. One step out of place bred the sin, scandal and sorrow that filled his house.
- Cover — The sister's honour was real; it was also a cloak. Covetousness took the flocks, the wealth, the wives and the children while claiming to defend her.
- Cost — They used religion as the weapon. The innocent fell with the guilty, and religion itself fell into contempt.
- Curse — Jacob refused to be joined to that deed. He cursed their anger, and Levi was scattered for it.
- Conversion — The scattering itself became the blessing, for God chose Levi to draw near to Him. Scripture shows human nature at its blackest so we can measure grace against it.
Their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and what [was] in the city, and what [was] in the field they took;
Two of Jacob's sons had just killed every man in Shechem. Verse 28 counts up what his sons carried off afterwards, and what they took says a great deal about why they came.
When their father confronted them, the brothers had an answer ready. They said Shechem had treated their sister like a prostitute. But the plunder tells a different story.
Simeon and Levi say, "Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?" — making her honour a cover for their covetousness.
The revenge went far past the wrong that was done.
This was not fair-mindedness. Shechem had not dealt that way. And 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.
Scripture reports all of this without a word of outrage. That calm is itself striking.
There is something deeply solemn in the calm way Scripture tells this whole story of corruption and violence, carried out and covered by hateful hypocrisy. Here the chosen race were the offenders, and the Canaanites were the victims!
Commentators differ on how much Jacob himself felt the evil of it. Mackintosh reads Jacob's protest in verse 30 as concern for his own safety. Kelly says that goes too far, and points to Jacob's dying words.
All of this traces back to one choice. Jacob had settled at Shechem and made his home among the people of the land.
He ought to have known that not a hair of his head could be touched. So instead of looking at Simeon and Levi, or at the results of their rash action, he should have judged himself for being in such a position at all. If he had not settled at Shechem, Dinah would not have been dishonoured, and his sons' violence would never have come out.
Another writer starts from what Jacob had stopped being: a pilgrim passing through.
He is hardly a pilgrim now. He has lost his separateness, and Dinah is defiled. Then comes the slaughter of the Shechemites — a judgment so cruel, and with so much deceit in it, that the Spirit of God in Jacob later pronounces it accursed.
The flocks and herds of verse 28 did not stay behind in Shechem. They went with the family on the next stage of the journey.
How sad his return is! Loaded with ill-gotten gains, they set out with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord. But they will not find Him, because He has withdrawn Himself from them... Jacob has grasped his portion in God's inheritance ahead of time, and lost it. He gave up God's rights to win the world over, and foolishly earned their hatred instead.
The raid was never written off as a family matter settled long ago.
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 over his sons. He foretold the future of the tribes and pronounced certain blessings, and he condemned these two sons and cursed their anger, as recorded in Genesis 49:5-7.
The cattle in this verse are part of the charge. Jacob's dying words name the oxen next to the men. In such raids the harmless suffer with the guilty — the innocent ox along with Shechem, who was not half as bad as his killers, as one writer notes (The Bible Treasury).
Levi's story does not end with looted sheep. Later he takes up the sword again, and everything about the act has changed.
It is true we find him here with his sword at his side too, but oh, for what a different purpose, and in what a different cause! Now he is not killing a man in anger and self-will. He acts in holy jealousy and care for the honour of the Lord God of Israel, in simple obedience to His command... And Levi is no longer seen joined with his brother Simeon. He would join with him in the days of his wickedness to carry out deeds of blood. But here he is joined with the Lord and His servant Moses, to carry out righteous judgment on idol worship.
- Settle — Jacob settled at Shechem, among the people of the land. Had he not, neither Dinah's shame nor his sons' violence would have followed.
- Avenge — They claimed they were defending a sister's honour. The loot shows covetousness hiding behind it.
- Exceed — Killing every man and stripping every house went far beyond the wrong done. Their crime was worse than Shechem's.
- Carry — They set out to seek the Lord loaded with ill-gotten gain. Wealth won that way is baggage, not blessing.
- Redeem — Jacob's dying words cursed that anger. Yet Levi later drew the same sword for the Lord's honour — new cause, new company.
and all their goods, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and plundered them, and all that was in the houses.
Genesis 34 ends in looting, not rescue. Simeon and Levi have killed the men of Shechem, and the rest of Jacob's sons strip the city of its women, children and goods. Two questions follow. How did the family chosen to carry God's promise come to this? And why does God say nothing at the time?
Commentators trace the disaster back to an earlier choice. Jacob bought land near the city and built a house instead of moving on.
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. It all came from Jacob buying the land of the Hivite and building himself a house. His stay at Succoth and Shechem covers about ten years. He had to be unsettled to get him back to his pilgrim place. But the way was painful for all, and brought deep shame, humiliation and fear on Jacob himself.
What the father chose, the daughter copied.
Jacob seems to have grown tired of the pilgrim path, and gave in to the temptation to settle down and build a home. And what was the fruit of this? His daughter Dinah goes out to see the daughters of the land. Her father had settled down in the world instead of passing through it as a heavenly pilgrim. What could be more natural than his daughter wanting to be friends with the world?
The brothers had an answer ready for their father. They were defending their sister. One writer weighs that answer against what they did.
Jacob's sons, however, only answered defiantly, "Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?" This was not fair-mindedness. Shechem had not treated her that way. And even 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 Shechem's sin was.
Verse 29 lists what they carried off: wealth, wives, children, whole households. One writer finds the real motive in that list.
Simeon and Levi make their sister's honour cover their covetousness. At least Jacob is honest, for he says, "You have brought trouble on me by making me stink … and I shall be destroyed, both I and my household."
Scripture itself adds no word of protest here.
How solemn is the calm with which Scripture tells this whole affair of corruption and violence! Hateful hypocrisy carried it out and covered it. The chosen race were the ones who did it, and Canaanites were the victims.
No punishment followed at the time. That silence is not indifference.
This whole action was so cruelly unjust that we wonder no punishment or correction followed at all. God has certainly exposed it in all its naked wickedness, and we know He could not approve of anything like this. Yet why was there no repayment? The answer seems to be simply this. God does not always settle His accounts quickly. The wheels of His government grind slowly. But He misses nothing, and in His own time He will deal with every detail of our ways.
The reckoning came at the end of Jacob's life, in the words he spoke over his sons.
When Jacob blessed his sons, he pronounced a curse on their cruelty, and added, "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." This illustrates the righteous government of God. Later faithful conduct won this tribe the service of the tabernacle and the priesthood, but that reward does not set that government aside. It was sovereign grace.
So why keep such a record at all?
We have here a truly humbling view of human nature as seen in the light of God's holiness. It is as if the Lord would say to us: Look here! See a man dressed in nature's blackest clothing, showing nature's most repulsive face. Examine him closely. See what man is when stripped of the false clothing that ignorance or empty self-righteousness would put on him. Then you may know the rich abundance of My grace, which can lift even such a person into the highest places of communion.
- Settle — Jacob built a house where he should have stayed a pilgrim. One wrong step opened the door to the sin, scandal and sorrow of this chapter.
- Spoil — the plunder of wealth, wives and children shows the real drive. The brothers used their sister's honour to cover their covetousness.
- Sentence — no punishment came at once. God's government grinds slowly and misses nothing. Jacob's dying words cursed their anger and scattered them.
- Sovereign grace — Levi's scattering became service at the tabernacle. God's righteous government still stands, yet grace turned a curse into blessing.
- Show — Scripture keeps this ugly page so we see what man is, stripped of self-righteous clothing, and how high grace can lift him.