Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.”
Hamor and Shechem are selling a deal to their townsmen. Their closing argument is money: accept this one condition, and the livestock and goods of Jacob's household become ours. The offer sounds like friendship, but it is a calculation. Jacob was only exposed to it because he had settled at Shechem.
The settled tent
Jacob had settled at Shechem. One writer traces the whole disaster back to that choice, not to the men of the city.
C. H. MackintoshHis mind was more occupied with his danger among the Shechemites than with his security in the hand of God. He ought to have known that no one could touch a hair of his head. So instead of looking at Simeon and Levi, or at the results of their rash action, he should have judged himself for being in that position at all. If he had not settled at Shechem, no one would have dishonoured Dinah, and his sons would never have shown their violence.
"One people"
The offer was a merger. Both sides would marry, trade and live as one people. Writers hear the world making the same offer today.
G. C. WillisHamor also promised to give Jacob many things. He suggested that they might be one people, live in the land, trade and marry together. Just like the world of today; they want Christians to be one with them — no difference. Christians, be careful! The Lord says, "Go out from their midst, and be separate from them" (2 Cor. 6:17). The world says, "We may be one." The Lord says, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity" (2 Tim. 2:19).
The argument that carried the city
Hamor and Shechem had to persuade every man in town to accept real pain. What they hold out in this verse is profit.
L. M. GrantThey all saw that circumcision had a religious meaning, so they had no suspicion at all of any hidden plan against them. On top of that, the wealth of Jacob's family would be a welcome addition to the area, and everyone would gain from them (vv. 20-23). These arguments won over the men of the city. They all agreed, and every one of them was circumcised.
A holy sign priced as merchandise
Circumcision was never meant to be a trading licence. One writer names what this bargain really sold.
The Bible TreasuryIn crafty malice and greed, Israel's sons give men God's title to own the land. And he who counted that title so worthless that he based his claim on another man's rights would hardly hesitate to trade circumcision away for treasure in the world. Circumcision was the reproach of Christ, separation from the world of the ungodly, the seal of faith, the sign of God's inheritance.
Deceit meeting deceit
The Shechemites were greedy, but the sons of Jacob were not sincere either. Commentators are blunt that the condition they set was never a genuine invitation.
William KellyThey had not the smallest thought or wish of inviting the Shechemites into the covenant. It was the basest treachery, meant to trap and massacre them. Jacob had nothing to do with the cruel secret. Their pride and revenge ignored God as it did their father. Shechem was guilty of a great wrong; but Dinah too was in fault... The condition was a lying and cowardly pretext to carry out their resentment to the very end. Hamor and Shechem fell into the trap. They had enough influence to persuade all their townsmen to join them in accepting the painful rite, with the unexpected danger it carried.
What the bargain actually bought
The men of Shechem asked whether Jacob's livestock would not become theirs. The answer came three days later, and it ran the other way.
G. C. WillisOn the third day, when they were all sore, Jacob's two sons Levi and Simeon boldly attacked the city. They killed all the men and took Dinah out of Shechem's house. They also took all the sheep, cattle and donkeys, and everything in the city and in the field. They took all their money, their children and their wives, even all that was in the house.
Summary
- Settle — the trouble began when Jacob settled at Shechem. He needed to judge his own position, not blame what happened there.
- Merge — the offer was to become one people, with no difference left. God's call runs the other way: go out, be separate, depart from iniquity.
- Price — money is the argument that persuaded a whole city. A sign of faith and separation changed hands because it looked profitable.
- Pretence — commentators blame both sides. The Shechemites wanted the wealth, and Jacob's sons never meant the covenant they offered.
- Loss — the men who asked whether Jacob's livestock would be theirs lost their own. What the world hopes to gain from God's people is not what it gets.