They said to them, “We couldn’t possibly allow this, because you’re not circumcised. It would be a disgrace for our sister to marry a man like you!
Parallel translations
- WEB and said to them, “We can’t do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us.
- KJV And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:
- BSB “We cannot do such a thing,” they said. “To give our sister to an uncircumcised man would be a disgrace to us.
- NKJV And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us.
- NASB They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, that is, give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The brothers claim they cannot give Dinah to an uncircumcised man, calling it a disgrace.
Overview
They invoke circumcision, the God-given covenant sign, as their pretext, cloaking deceit in religious language. Their objection is technically true to the covenant, but they wield it cynically rather than for faith. Abusing a holy sign for vengeance is a grave distortion, and the chapter's outcome exposes the wickedness of such manipulation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 23:1–39Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,
- 2 Sam 15:7At the end of forty years, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to Yahweh, in Hebron.
- Matt 2:8He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”
- Rom 4:11He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them.
- 1 Sam 17:26David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
- 1 Kgs 21:9She wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
- Gen 17:14The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”
- 1 Sam 17:36Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.”
- 2 Sam 1:20Don’t tell it in Gath. Don’t publish it in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
- Gen 17:11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you.
- Matt 2:13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
- Josh 5:2–9At that time, Yahweh said to Joshua, “Make flint knives, and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.”
- 1 Sam 14:6Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint on Yahweh to save by many or by few.”
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 34:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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