Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised.
Parallel translations
- KJV Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised.
- BSB But only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us and be one people: if all our men are circumcised as they are.
- NKJV Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.
- NASB 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 just as they are circumcised.
- NLT But they will consider staying here and becoming one people with us only if all of our men are circumcised, just as they are.
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
Hamor notes the one condition: every male must be circumcised, as Jacob's men are.
Overview
Hamor relays the brothers' demand to his people, presenting circumcision as the modest price of union. He treats the covenant sign as a mere social formality, stripped of its meaning. The townsmen's coming agreement to undergo it for material gain shows how lightly they regard what God had made holy.
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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 34:22 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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