When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.
Parallel translations
- WEB Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her.
- KJV And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
- NKJV And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her.
- NASB When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and raped her.
- NLT But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her.
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
Shechem, the local prince, seizes Dinah and violates her, a grievous wrong that drives the rest of the chapter.
Overview
Shechem son of Hamor abuses his power as ruler to take and defile Dinah. Scripture reports the act plainly as a violation ('humbled her'), naming sin as sin without excusing it. The crime exposes the moral corruption of Canaan and foreshadows the conflict that follows, reminding readers that human sin brings ruin where God's order is despised.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Matt 5:28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
- Job 31:9If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,
- Judg 14:1One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he saw a young Philistine woman.
- Prov 13:20He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- Job 31:1“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
- Gen 20:2Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
- Gen 10:17the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,
- Deut 22:24you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Gen 33:19And the plot of ground where he pitched his tent, he purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver.
- Ezek 22:10–11In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity.
- Deut 22:29then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as long as he lives.
- Deut 21:14And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.
- Gen 6:2the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.
- Gen 39:6–7So Potiphar left all that he owned in Joseph’s care; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,
- Judg 19:24–25Look, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine, and you can use them and do with them as you wish. But do not do such a vile thing to this man.”
- 2 Sam 11:2One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 34:2 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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