20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city , saying , 21 "These men are friendly with us; therefore let them live in the land and trade in it, for behold , the land is large e enough for them. Let us take their daughters in marriage , and give our daughters to them. 22 "Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people : that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised . 23 "Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will live with us." 24 All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem , and every male was circumcised , all who went out of the gate of his city .
25 Now it came about on the third day , when they were in pain , that two of Jacob's sons , Simeon and Levi , Dinah's brothers , each took his sword and came upon the city unawares , and killed every male . 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword , and took Dinah from Shechem's house , and went forth . 27 Jacob's sons came upon the slain and looted the city , because they had defiled their sister . 28 They took their flocks and their herds and their donkeys , and that which was in the city and that which was in the field ; 29 and they captured and looted all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives , even all that was in the houses . 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi , "You have brought trouble on me by making me odious among the inhabitants of the land , among the Canaanites and the Perizzites ; and my men being few in number , they will gather together against me and attack me and I will be destroyed , I and my household ." 31 But they said , "Should he treat our sister as a harlot ?"
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 34:20-31
Commentary on Genesis 34:20-31
(Read Genesis 34:20-31)
The Shechemites submitted to the sacred rite, only to serve a turn, to please their prince, and to enrich themselves, and it was just with God to bring punishment upon them. As nothing secures us better than true religion, so nothing exposes us more than religion only pretended to. But Simeon and Levi were most unrighteous. Those who act wickedly, under the pretext of religion, are the worst enemies of the truth, and harden the hearts of many to destruction. The crimes of others form no excuse for us. Alas! how one sin leads on to another, and, like flames of fire, spread desolation in every direction! Foolish pleasures lead to seduction; seduction produces wrath; wrath thirsts for revenge; the thirst of revenge has recourse to treachery; treachery issues in murder; and murder is followed by other lawless actions. Were we to trace the history of unlawful commerce between the sexes, we should find it, more than any other sin, ending in blood.