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Gênesis 34

ARC · Chapter 34/50

1E saiu Dinah filha de Leah, que parira a Jacob, para ver as filhas da terra.

2E Sichem filho de Hemor heveo, principe d'aquella terra, viu-a, e tomou-a, e deitou-se com ella, e humilhou-a.

3E apegou-se a sua alma com Dinah filha de Jacob, e amou a moça e fallou affectuosamente á moça.

4Fallou tambem Sichem a Hemor seu pae, dizendo: Toma-me esta por mulher.

5Quando Jacob ouviu que contaminara a Dinah sua filha, estavam os seus filhos no campo com o gado; e calou-se Jacob até que viessem.

6E saiu Hemor pae de Sichem a Jacob, para fallar com elle.

7E vieram os filhos de Jacob do campo, ouvindo isso, e entristeceram-se os varões, e iraram-se muito, porquanto fizera doidice em Israel, deitando-se com a filha de Jacob; o que não se devia fazer assim.

8Então fallou Hemor com elles, dizendo: A alma de Sichem meu filho está namorada da vossa filha; dae-lh'a, peço-te, por mulher;

9E aparentae-vos comnosco, dae-nos as vossas filhas, e tomae as nossas filhas para vós;

10E habitareis comnosco; e a terra estará diante da vossa face: habitae e negociae n'ella, e tomae possessão n'ella.

11E disse Sichem ao pae d'ella, e aos irmãos d'ella: Ache eu graça em vossos olhos, e darei o que me disserdes:

12Augmentae muito sobre mim o dote e a dadiva, e darei o que me disserdes; dae-me sómente a moça por mulher.

13Então responderam os filhos de Jacob a Sichem e a Hemor seu pae enganosamente, e fallaram, porquanto havia contaminado a Dinah sua irmã.

14E disseram-lhes: Não podemos fazer isso, que déssemos a nossa irmã a um varão não circumcidado; porque isso seria uma vergonha para nós;

15N'isso, porém, consentiremos a vós: se fôrdes como nós, que se circumcide todo o macho entre vós

16Então dar-vos-hemos as nossas filhas, e tomaremos nós as vossas filhas, e habitaremos comvosco, e seremos um povo;

17Mas se não nos ouvirdes, e não vos circumcidardes, tomaremos a nossa filha e ir-nos-hemos.

18E suas palavras foram boas aos olhos de Hemor, e aos olhos de Sichem filho de Hemor.

19E não tardou o mancebo em fazer isto; porque a filha de Jacob lhe contentava: e elle era o mais honrado de toda a casa de seu pae.

20Veiu pois Hemor e Sichem seu filho á porta da sua cidade, e fallaram aos varões da sua cidade, dizendo:

21Estes varões são pacificos comnosco; portanto habitarão n'esta terra, e negociarão n'ella; eis que a terra é larga de espaço diante da sua face: tomaremos nós as suas filhas por mulheres, e lhes daremos as nossas filhas

22N'isto, porém, consentirão aquelles varões, de habitar comnosco, para que sejamos um povo, se todo o macho entre nós se circumcidar, como elles são circumcidados.

23O seu gado, as suas possessões, e todos os seus animaes não serão nossos? consintamos sómente com elles, e habitarão comnosco.

24E deram ouvidos a Hemor, e a Sichem seu filho todos os que sahiam da porta da cidade; e foi circumcidado todo o macho, de todos os que sahiam pela porta da sua cidade.

25E aconteceu que, ao terceiro dia, quando estavam com a mais violenta dôr, os dois filhos de Jacob, Simeão e Levi, irmãos de Dinah, tomaram cada um a sua espada, e entraram afoitamente na cidade, e mataram todo o macho.

26Mataram tambem ao fio da espada a Hemor, e a seu filho Sichem; e tomaram a Dinah da casa de Sichem, e sairam.

27Vieram os filhos de Jacob aos mortos e saquearam a cidade; porquanto contaminaram a sua irmã.

28As suas ovelhas, e as suas vaccas, e os seus jumentos, e o que na cidade, e o que no campo havia, tomaram,

29E toda a sua fazenda, e todos os seus meninos, e as suas mulheres levaram presas, e despojaram-as, e tudo o que havia em casa.

30Então disse Jacob a Simeão e a Levi: Tendes-me turbado, fazendo-me cheirar mal entre os moradores d'esta terra, entre os Cananeus e Phereseus, sendo eu pouco povo em numero; ajuntar-se-hão, e ficarei destruido, eu e minha casa.

31E elles disseram: Faria pois elle a nossa irmã como a uma prostituta?

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Dinah, Jacob's daughter, is violated by Shechem, son of the local prince; her brothers Simeon and Levi deceive the city's inhabitants, proposing circumcision as a condition, and then attack and kill them all in revenge.

Explanation

This is one of the darkest chapters in Genesis, showing the tragic consequences of violence and disproportionate revenge. The crime against Dinah is serious and real, but the response of Simeon and Levi goes beyond justice, turning into a premeditated massacre that even uses a sacred symbol (circumcision) as a tool of deceit. Jacob, the patriarch, appears alarmed by the practical consequences of the act ('ye have troubled me to make me to stink... and I being few in number,' v. 30), more concerned with the family's safety than necessarily with the moral issue itself at that moment — something he would revisit with more clarity decades later, cursing this violence on his deathbed (Genesis 49:5-7). Today's lesson is that responding to injustice should not turn into an even greater injustice, and that decisions made in anger have lasting consequences.

Fun facts

  • This episode is directly referenced by Jacob in his final speech before dying (Genesis 49:5-7), where he curses the violence of Simeon and Levi, prophetically resulting in the future scattering of these two tribes within Israel, without a unified territory of their own.
  • The city of Shechem, the setting of this tragic episode, was a place of great symbolic importance to Jacob's family — the same place where he had just set up an altar (Genesis 33:20) and where Joseph would later be buried (Joshua 24:32).

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Gênesis 34:1Dinah goes out alone to see the daughters of the land — an ordinary social outing, but one that exposes her to the attack that follows right after.
  2. Gênesis 34:2“Defiled her” is the word used here to describe what Shechem did to Dinah — a forced encounter, without her consent, not a mutual romance. The verses that follow describe Shechem falling in love afterward, but that does not change how the act itself is recorded at the start.
  3. Gênesis 34:3After the violent act of the previous verse, the text describes Shechem’s soul cleaving to Dinah and speaking kindly to her — an attempt to turn what began as an assault into a serious relationship.
  4. Gênesis 34:4Shechem asks his own father to arrange the marriage — the next step, in the culture of the time, toward trying to legitimize the situation.
  5. Gênesis 34:5Jacob learns of what happened but holds his peace until his sons return from the field — he seems to be waiting for family support before reacting to something so serious.
  6. Gênesis 34:6Hamor, Shechem’s father, goes personally to Jacob to commune with him about the marriage — a formal gesture, from one clan leader to another.
  7. Gênesis 34:7Jacob’s sons return furious: the phrase “wrought folly in Israel” marks the act as a grave violation of honor, something that “ought not to be done.”
  8. Gênesis 34:8Hamor formally proposes the marriage between Shechem and Dinah, as if a formal union could settle everything.
  9. Gênesis 34:9The proposal goes beyond Dinah’s marriage: Hamor suggests the two families make marriages with one another and exchange daughters, a much broader alliance.
  10. Gênesis 34:10Hamor even offers his own land for Jacob and his sons to dwell in and trade freely — a generous offer that hides the real motive, revealed later.
  11. Gênesis 34:11Shechem speaks directly to Dinah’s father and brothers, offering to give whatever they ask of him.
  12. Gênesis 34:12“Dowry” and “gift” were two payments the groom or his family customarily gave to the bride’s family — a kind of compensation for the marriage, a common practice among the peoples of the region. Shechem offers to pay whatever amount is asked, a sign that his family had power and badly wanted to close this marriage.
  13. Gênesis 34:13Jacob’s sons answer Shechem and Hamor deceitfully, driven by anger over Dinah’s violation — the text already warns, before recounting the response, that it was a trap.
  14. Gênesis 34:14For this family, giving a sister to one that is uncircumcised would be a “reproach,” because circumcision marked who belonged to the people of the covenant with God. But here the religious reason becomes an excuse: Dinah’s brothers were already planning revenge and use this requirement to weaken the men of the city.
  15. Gênesis 34:15The condition they impose is the circumcision of every male in the city — a sacred rite of Abraham’s covenant, used here as bait for a plan of revenge.
  16. Gênesis 34:16If they agree, the brothers promise to give their daughters and take the city’s daughters, and dwell together as one people — the promise of full integration.
  17. Gênesis 34:17If they refuse the circumcision, the brothers warn they will simply take their sister and be gone — putting pressure on the city to accept.
  18. Gênesis 34:18The proposal pleases both Hamor and Shechem, with neither suspecting the trap behind it.
  19. Gênesis 34:19The young man does not defer to carry out the requirement, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter — and, being more honourable than all his father’s house, he has enough influence to convince the rest of the city.
  20. Gênesis 34:20Hamor and Shechem go unto the gate of their city, the place where public decisions were discussed, to commune with the men there.
  21. Gênesis 34:21They describe the Israelites as peaceable men, point out that the land is large enough for them, and argue for taking the city’s daughters to wife and giving them their own.
  22. Gênesis 34:22They repeat the agreed condition: circumcision of every male among them, just as the Israelites are circumcised.
  23. Gênesis 34:23The final argument exposes the true motive: with the alliance, Jacob’s cattle, substance, and every beast of his would end up belonging to them too — a purely economic calculation behind the agreement.
  24. Gênesis 34:24Convinced by the speech, every male that went out of the gate of the city is circumcised — with no idea of what comes next, still sore from the procedure.
  25. Gênesis 34:25The third day, when they were sore, was, by the medical knowledge of the time, the point of greatest pain and swelling from the procedure. That is why Dinah’s brothers choose that exact day to attack, knowing the men of the city would be too weak to fight back.
  26. Gênesis 34:26Simeon and Levi take advantage of the physical weakness of the circumcised men to slay Hamor and Shechem with the edge of the sword and take Dinah out of Shechem’s house.
  27. Gênesis 34:27Jacob’s other sons come upon the slain afterward and spoil the whole city, using their sister’s violation as justification for mass retaliation.
  28. Gênesis 34:28They take sheep, oxen, donkeys, and everything that was in the city and in the field around it.
  29. Gênesis 34:29They also carry off all the wealth, the little ones, and the women as captives, spoiling even all that was in the house — a vengeance that goes far beyond punishing the two original culprits.
  30. Gênesis 34:30Jacob rebukes Simeon and Levi not out of clear moral remorse, but out of practical fear: he worries that the neighboring Canaanites and Perizzites will gather themselves together against his small family and destroy him and his house in retaliation.
  31. Gênesis 34:31The brothers’ final question — whether Shechem should have dealt with their sister “as with an harlot” — is the defense they offer for the massacre they had just carried out. The chapter ends there, left open, without the text clearly saying who was right.

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