Annotations on the Pentateuch, Psalms, Song of Songs, Biblical commentary 1 · Chapter 34
CHAP. XXXIV.
1, Dinah Iakobs daughter is ravished by Sechem. 4, He sueth to marie her. 8, Hamor his father followeth the suit. 13, Iakobs sonnes offer the condition of Circumcision to the Sechemites. 20, Hamor and Sechem perswade them to accept it. 25, The sonnes of Iakob upon that advantage slay them. 27, and spoile their citie. 30, Iakob for it, reproveth Simeon and Levi.
ANd Dinah the daughter of Leah, which shee bare unto Iakob: went-out, to see the daughters of the land. And Sechem the sonne of Hamor, the Evite, prince of the land, saw her: and he took her, and lay with her, and humbled her. And his soule, clave unto Dinah the daughter of Iakob: and he loved the damsell, and spake to the heart of the damsell. And Sechem said, unto Hamor his father, saying: Take mee this maid to wife. And Iakob heard, that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; and his sonnes, were with his cattell, in the field: and Iakob held his peace, untill they were come. And Hamor the father of Sechem, went-out, out, unto Iakob; to speake with him. And the sonnes of Iakob, came out of the field, when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth: because hee had done folly in Israel, in lying with Iakobs daughter; and so, should not be done. And Hamor spake with them, saying: Sechem my sonne, his soule is affected unto your daughter; I pray you give her unto him, to wife. And make yee mariages, with us: and take yee our daughters, unto you. And yee shall dwell, with us: and the land shall bee before you; dwell and trade you therein, and get firme possessions therein. And Sechem said, unto her father and unto her brethren; let mee finde grace, in your eyes: and what ye shall say unto mee, I will give. Very largely-aske of me dowry and gift; and I will give, according as ye shall say unto me: and give yee unto mee the damsell, to wife. And the sonnes of Iakob, answered Sechem, and Hamor his father, with deceit, & spake: because hee had defiled, Dinah their sister. And they said unto them; wee cannot doe this thing, to give our sister, to a man that hath a superfluous-fore-skin: for that were a reproach, unto us. OnelyOnly in this, will we consent unto you: if ye will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised. Then will we give our daughters, unto you; & we will dwell with you; and wee will become, one people. And if ye will not hearken unto us, to bee circumcised: then will wee take our daughter, and we will be gone. And their words were good, in the eyes of Hamor: and in the eyes of Sechem, Hamors sonne. And the yongman delayed not, to doe the thing; because he had-delight, in Iakobs daughter: and hee was more honourable, then all the house of his father. And Hamor, and Sechem his sonne, came unto the gate of their citie: and spake unto the men of their citie, saying. These men, they are peaceable with us; therfore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold is large of spaces, before them: let us take their daughters to us, for wives; & let us give unto them, our daughters. OnelyOnly in this, will the men consent unto us, for to dwell with us; for to become, one people: if every male among us be circumcised, even as they are circumcised. Their cattell and their substance, and every beast of theirs, shall not they be ours? onelyonly let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. And unto Hamor, and unto Sechem his sonne, hearkened all that went-out of the gate of his citie: and they were circumcised, every male, all that went-out of the gate of his citie. And it was, in the third day, when they were sore that two sonnes of Iakob, Simeon and Levi, Dinahs brethren; took each-man his sword, and came upon the citie in confidence: and they killed, every male. And they killed Hamor, and Sechem his sonne, with the edge of the sword: and tooke Dinah, out of Sechems house, and went-out. The sonnes of Iakob, came upon the slaine; and spoiled the citie: because they had defiled, their sister. They tooke their sheepe, and their oxen, and their asses: and that which was in the citie, and that which was in the field. And all their wealth and all their little-ones, and their wives, they tooke-captive, and spoyled: and all that was in the house. And Iakob said, to Simeon and to Levi; ye have troubled me; to make mee to stinke, among the inhabitants of the land; among the Canaanites, and among the Pherizzites: and I, am few in number; and they will gather themselves together against me, and smite me; and I shall bee destroyed, I and my house. And they said: Should hee deale with our sister, as with an Harlot.
Annotations.
THe daughters] that is, the women; as Gen, 30. 13. VponUpon what occasion she went to see them, Moses telleth not: the Hebrew Doctors say the maids of Sechem went abroad with timbrels to play, &c. Pirkei. R. Eliezer, ch. 38. and that it was on a solemne feast day, which they kept in that country, Ioseph. Antiq. b. 1. God noteth Dinahs going out, as an occasion of her evill; and after reacheth yong women to be keep rs at home, Tit. 2. 5. So among the Iewes, virgines were after this, wont to be kept in, 2 Maccab. 3. 19. Dinah was now about 14. yeers of age: Iakobs onelyonly daughter.
Vers. 2. Hamor] called in Greeke, Emmor. So in Act. 7. 16. Evite] H…br. Chivvite, see Gen. 10. 17. humbled] or afflicted, that is, defiled her, vers. 5. for this word is applied onelyonly to adulterous and unlawfull copulation; as in Deut. 21. 14. & 22. 24. 29. Iudg. 19 24. 2 Sam. 13. 12. 14. Eze. 22. 10. 11.
Vers. 3. spake to the heart] or as the Greeke translateth, according to the minde of the damsell; that is, kindly on his part, and such things as liked and comforted her; who it seemeth was sorrowfull for this injury done her, as Thamar was in like case, 2 Sam. 13. 19. 20. So the Chaldee translateth, hee spake consolations to the heart. A like phrase is used for kinde and comfortable speaking; in Gen. 50. 21. Esa. 40. 2. Hos. 2. 14. And that which in Ioh. 11. 19. is said to comfort them; the Syriak there translateth, to speake with their heart. So in 1 Thes. 2. 11.
Vers. 5. that he] namely Hamors sonne, as the Greeke translation addeth. held his peace] or, kept-silence as deafe, concealing his griefe, and asswaging it with consideration of Gods chastisement, as other godly men did in their troubles, Levit. 10. 3. Psal. 39. 10. Thus Iakob ruling his owne spirit, did better then his sonnes that tooke the citie, verse 27. Prov. 16. 32.
Vers. 7. folly in Israel] or against Israel: that is, as the Greeke and Chaldee doe explaine it, a filthy and ignominious fact; on his part, vile, foolish and filthy; & to the Church of God, an ignominie and reproach. Moses writeth this according to the speech used in his time, when to doe folly in Israel, was meant of wicked acts, done to the scandall of the Church, as Deut. 21. 21. Ios. 7. 15. Iudg. 20. 6. Israel being put for his posterity the Israelites: see Gen. 19. 37. should not] the Chaldee addeth, it was not right (or meet) to be done. So the Law commandeth there shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel; Deut. 23. 17. and whordome should not be named, among the Saints. Eph. 5. 3.
Vers. 8. is affected] or, is fastened, cleaveth: with desire, love and delight, as this word implyeth the setting of the love upon any, Deut. 21. 11. & 7. 7.
Vers. 10. before you] free for you to choose where you like, and to possesse it. See Gen. 13. 9. and 10. 15. The Greeke addeth, broad before you; as verse 21. get firme possessions] or, hold your selves as possessors in it.
Vers. 11. finde grace] and have my request granted: see Gen. 33. 15.
Vers. 12. Very largely aske] Hebr. Multiply yee upon me vehemently. dowry] a gift of the man unto the woman or her parents, before and in respect of mariage. See the law hereof, Exod. 12. 16. 17.
Vers. 13. and spake] to weet, deceitfully: or, when they spake unto them.
Vers. 14. they said] This the Greeke referreth to Simeon and Levi, Dinahs brethren. superfluous] or, uncircumcised-foreskin: see Gen. 17. 11.
Vers. 15. OnelyOnly in this] or, But with this (condition.) The Greeke translateth, In this we will bee like unto you: so in verse 22. where the Greeke addeth the word OnelyOnly. circumcised] cut in the flesh: see Gen. 17. 10. And herein was their deceit, pretending to have them like themselves in religion and politie; intending, when they were sicke of their circumcising, to kill them, verse 25.
Vers. 18. good] that is (as the Greeke hath) pleasing.
Vers. 20. the gate] where the publike assembly of the citizens used to bee, for all matters of the common wealth, for justice and judgment, and the like. See Deut. 17. 5. and 22. 15. 24. and 25. 7. Ruth. 4. 1. 11.
Vers. 21. large of spaces] Hebr. of hands, meaning large and spacious; or roomthy inough.
Vers. 23. consent] the Greeke saith, bee like unto them in this.
Vers. 24. went out] that is, dwelt and conversed there: see Genes. 23. 10. were circumcised] which being done without the knowledge and faith of God, was a profanation of this seale of the righteousnesse of faith, (Rom. 4. 11.) and was not let goe unpunished of God, vers. 25.
Verse 25. were sore] with the wound of circumcision, which (as other wounds) was most fore on the third day; as the Chaldee translateth, when their paines were strongest upon them. in confidence] that is, confidently, boldly; and securely or safely, (as the Greeke translateth) because the wounded men could not resist them. The Chaldee referreth this to the citie which dwelt securely, as Iudg. 18. 7. So it noteth both the boldnesse of Iakobs sons, and security of the Sechemites.
Vers. 26. edge] Hebr. mouth of the sword. These things were done without Iakobs knowledge or consent, Gen. 49. 6.
Vers. 27. The sonnes] the other brethren, besides Simeon and Levi, vers. 25. they had] that is, one of them (Sechem) had; & the other repressed it not. So in Israel, the fact of one man, was sometime imputed to the generall; Ios. 7. 1. 11. 12. and 22. 20. Exod. 2. 14. compared with Acts 7. 27. 35. And because al nations were bound to punish malefactors; (as is before observed, on Gen. 9. 4.) the Hebrew Doctors write, that for this the men of Sechem were guilty of death, because Sechem committed rape; and they saw and knew it, & did not judge him for it. Maimony, in Misn. treat. of Kings, ch. 9. S. 14.
Vers. 29. wealth] or power. The word comprehendeth all wherein a mans power and strength consisteth; not onelyonly strength in body, but helpe by others, as an army of men. 1 Sam. 10. 26. and riches, which many make their strength, and whereby men are inabled to doe much, Prov. 10, 15. but are indeed gotten by the power of God. Deut. 8. 17. 18. Psal. 62. 11. and 73. 12. The Greeke in this place translateth it bodies, (which seemeth to meane servants, as in Rev. 18. 13.) the Chaldee, riches. little-ones] The word being of the singular number, meaneth generally the multitude of little children, male and female; Num. 31. 17. 18. in the house] that is, in any house; therfore the Greek translateth, in the houses.
Vers. 30. troubled me] This word meaneth not onelyonly disquietnesse of minde, but danger also to be destroyed, by those with whom he lived before in peace, the Greeke translateth, yee have made me odious. So Achan troubled Israel, and was himselfe troubled, that is, destroyed: see Ios. 6. 18. and 7. 25. and Prov. 15. 6. 27. where it is opposed to life. For this fact of theirs, Iakob deprived these his two sonnes of the birthright, which else they might have injoyed, Gen. 49. 5. 7. that in them the proverbe was fulfilled, he that troubleth his owne house shall inherit the winde, Prov. 11. 29. to stinke] that is, to be loathsom, and as the Chaldee explaineth, put enmity betweene me and the people. The like is spoken in 1 Sam. 13. 4. and 27. 12. 1 Chron. 19. 6. and the phrase is more plainely opened in Exod. 5. 21. you have made our savour to stinke. few in number] so the Chaldee translateth it: the Hebrew is, methei mispar, men of number, and the Chaldee, a people of number, that is, easily numbred; a few, a small company; as the phrase is explained in Deut. 26. 5. men of fewnesse, that is, a few men. So in Deut, 4. 27. Ier. 44. 28. The contrary is, without number, when many is meant, 2 Chro. 12. 3. my house] the Chaldee addeth, the men of my house.
Vers. 31. Should he deale] or, doe? A stubborne answer, whereby they sought to defend their fact, which Iakob upon his death-bed cursed, Gen. 49. 7. Harlot] In the Hebrew Zonah, the first letter is extraordinarily great, for some hidden meaning. What if it be, to signifie the stout and big words of these yong men to their father? So a little letter is vsed before, in Gen. 23. 2. to signifie moderation without excesse in Abrahams weeping.