Limitless Word
Will their livestock and their property and all their animals not be ours? Let’s just consent to them, and they will live with us.”
Genesis 34:23 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Won’t their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let us give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”
  • KJV Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.
  • BSB Will not their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell among us.”
  • NKJV Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”
  • NLT But if we do this, all their livestock and possessions will eventually be ours. Come, let’s agree to their terms and let them settle here among 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

Hamor entices the men with the prospect of gaining Jacob's livestock and wealth through union.

Overview

Hamor's real appeal is greed: by absorbing Jacob's family, the Shechemites expect to acquire their possessions. The promise of wealth motivates the men to accept circumcision. Ironically, their covetousness leads them into the trap, and their own goods are soon plundered, illustrating how grasping for gain can bring ruin.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Prov 1:12–13Let’s swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit.
  • Prov 23:4–5Don’t weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.
  • Prov 28:20A faithful man is rich with blessings; but one who is eager to be rich will not go unpunished.
  • 1 Tim 6:6–10But godliness with contentment is great gain.
  • John 6:26–27Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled.
  • John 2:16To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
  • Acts 19:24–26For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 34:23YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 34:23 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.