Genesis 34.18-24-Shechem and Hamor Deceitfully Sell Treaty to Their Subjects
Tuesday September 26, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 34:18-24-Shechem and Hamor Deceitfully Sell Treaty to Their Subjects
Lesson # 211
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 34:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of the massacre of the city of Shechem by Jacob’s sons in retaliation for the rape of their sister Dinah by Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite.
As we noted Sunday morning, this sordid tale appears in Genesis 34 but actually begins in Genesis 33:17.
Therefore, by way of review:
In Genesis 33:17, we saw Jacob staying temporarily in Succoth in order to rest his flocks and family after their difficult and long journey from Paddan Aram and confrontations with both Laban and Esau.
Then, in Genesis 33:18-20, we saw Jacob crossing the Jordan and moving twenty miles to the west and settling at Shechem in the land of Canaan, and purchases land from Hamor, who was a Hivite.
Hamor sold this tract of land to Jacob with the intention of intermarrying with Jacob’s family and absorbing their great wealth and possessions that they acquired in Paddan Aram.
However, the Hivites were a branch of the Canaanites who were under a curse as stipulated in the prophecy of Noah, which is recorded in Genesis 9:24-27, thus Jacob’s family could not intermarry with Hamor’s people, the Hivites.
Then, in Genesis 34:1-4, we saw Dinah raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite.
Genesis 34:5-7 records Jacob’s “passive” response to the rape of Dinah and the angry reaction of his sons.
In Genesis 34:8-12, we saw Hamor proposing intermarriage and an economic package to Jacob’s sons that would greatly benefit Jacob’s family.
However, we saw on Sunday in Genesis 34:13-17, Jacob’s sons deceitfully propose to Hamor that he and his constituents agree to the condition of circumcision with the intention of killing him, his son Shechem and all the men of the city of Shechem in retaliation for his son Shechem raping their sister Dinah.
This evening we will study Genesis 34:18-24, which gives us the account of Shechem and Hamor deceitfully selling to their subjects the proposed condition of circumcision so as to get Jacob’s sons to agree to their intermarriage and economic proposals.
Genesis 34:1, “Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land.”
Genesis 34:2, “When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.”
Genesis 34:3, “He was deeply attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her.”
Genesis 34:4, “So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, ‘Get me this young girl for a wife.’”
Genesis 34:5, “Now Jacob heard that he (Shechem) had defiled Dinah his daughter; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob kept silent until they came in.”
Genesis 34:6, “Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.”
Genesis 34:7, “Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.”
Genesis 34:8, “But Hamor spoke with them, saying, ‘The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him in marriage.’”
Genesis 34:9, “Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves.”
Genesis 34:10, “Thus you shall live with us, and the land shall be open before you; live and trade in it and acquire property in it.”
Genesis 34:11, “Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, ‘If I find favor in your sight, then I will give whatever you say to me.’”
Genesis 34:12, “Ask me ever so much bridal payment and gift, and I will give according as you say to me; but give me the girl in marriage.”
Genesis 34:13, “But Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor with deceit, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.”
Genesis 34:14, “They said to them, ‘We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.’”
Genesis 34:15-16, “Only on this condition will we consent to you: if you will become like us, in that every male of you be circumcised, then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people.”
Genesis 34:17, “But if you will not listen to us to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”
Genesis 34:18, “Now their words seemed reasonable to Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son.”
The terms of the agreement did not sound strange to Shechem and Hamor since circumcision was not exclusive to Israel.
But was also performed by several Asian Oriental groups such as the Muslims as well as the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and was also practiced by Egyptian priests and those who wanted to be initiated into their sacred mysteries.
Circumcision among these nations was a rite of passage but was not performed on infants, thus the sign of circumcision given to Abraham to be performed on infants eight days old was unique in the ancient world.
Therefore, Shechem and his father Hamor agree to the condition of circumcision without hesitation.
Of course, this would have been against the will of God since the prophecy of Noah recorded in Genesis 9:24-27 prohibited the Israelites from intermarrying with the Hivites who were a branch of the Canaanites.
Furthermore, circumcision was “not” the means by which a Gentile became a part of God’s covenant people Israel, but rather it was through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the fact that the Shechemites agreed to submit to circumcision without having faith in the Lord God, Jesus Christ was meaningless and thus the condition was meaningless and deceitful.
Jacob’s sons were correct in opposing the mixing of the chosen seed with the seed of the Canaanites but wrong in adopting the means they selected to achieve their end.
This demonstrates that they were “chips off the old block,” Jacob since they too, like their father in his younger days, thought that the ends justified the means.
Shechem and Hamor readily agree to the terms of the agreement because it was their intent to intermarry with the Israelites all along and dispossess them of their possessions.
This is indicated in that Shechem and Hamor sold Jacob a tract of land, which was unusual since Middle East landowners in the days of the patriarchs were reluctant to sell land to nomadic herdsman like Jacob.
If you recall in Genesis 23, Abraham sought to buy a piece of property as a permanent possession from the Hittites in order to bury his wife Sarah but the Hittites were reluctant to sell their land to Abraham as a permanent possession, which expressed a pervasive and deep rooted attitude throughout the Middle East.
Knowing this reluctance on the part of Middle East landowners in the days of the patriarchs, the fact that Hamor was willing to sell a piece of property to Jacob was significant in that it demonstrated the desire of Hamor to marry into the family of Jacob, which was very wealthy.
The wealth of Jacob’s family was very appealing to Hamor, making Jacob’s family appealing to intermarry with and thus Hamor was more than willing to part with a piece of property.
This intermarriage would mean that the Canaanites would absorb Jacob’s clan, making them a part of their culture and people, both of which were decadent.
Genesis 34:19, “The young man did not delay to do the thing, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father.”
“Delighted” is the verb chaphets (Jp@j*) (khaw-fates), which expresses Shechem’s “infatuation” with Dinah and his great sexual desire and personal love towards her because of her physical beauty and character as a person.
“Infatuation” is the state of having a foolish, unreasoning and all-absorbing passion for someone.
Shechem’s infatuation with Dinah gave him a lack of discernment so that he was blinded by the real intent of the terms of the agreement presented to him and his father by Jacob’s sons.
The statement “he (Shechem) was delighted with Jacob’s daughter (Dinah)” corresponds with the statement in Genesis 34:3.
The statement “he (Shechem) was more respected than all the household of his father” means that Shechem was respected among his fellow Hivites because of his high social position as the son of Hamor and his accompanying wealth as the son of Hamor.
This statement does “not” mean that he was respected or honored because of his character but rather because of his high social position and that he was as a result very wealthy.
Shechem’s social status among the Hivites would enable him to sell to his fellow citizens the terms of the agreement presented to him by Jacob’s son.
Genesis 34:20-21, “So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, ‘these men are friendly with us; therefore let them live in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters in marriage, and give our daughters to them.’”
In the days of the patriarchs, the gate of the city was the place where the elders of the city held a council to discuss both public and private business and legal transactions as well as plans for war.
A city gate was the physical symbol of collective authority and power and was usually made of monumental edifices shading the narrow passageway and side chambers of the city entrance and it was here that the elders and officials sat on stone benches to adjudicate legal matters and discuss local affairs.
The phrase “their city” appears twice in Genesis 34:30 emphasizing the power and authority that Shechem and his father Hamor possessed over the Hivites in the city of Shechem.
Hamor as ruler of Shechem had dominion over rural territory as well as the urban center but did not have absolute power since he does not act as a king in that he calls a town meeting in order to present his plans before the citizens and obtains approval by means of persuasive argument rather than by a royal decree.
A comparison of Genesis 34:9-17 with Genesis 34:20-24 reveals that Hamor and Shechem say nothing about their own personal involvement in the matter, namely that Shechem desires to marry Dinah.
They begin by attempting to sell their fellow Hivites on the economic advantages of intermarriage with the Israelites.
Their statement “these men (Jacob’s sons) are friendly with us” reveals their lack of discernment and that the deception of Jacob’s sons was successful.
Genesis 34:22, “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.”
In Genesis 34:22 Hamor and Shechem present to their fellow citizens the condition attached to the agreement with the Israelites, namely, all their males must be circumcised.
Genesis 34:23, “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.”
In Genesis 34:23, Hamor and Shechem present to their fellow citizens the economic advantages of intermarrying with the Israelites and accepting the condition attached to the agreement.
“Livestock” is the noun miqneh, which refers to sheep and goats.
“Property” is the noun qinyan (/n^q*) (kin-yawn), which denotes that which refers to the Israelites’ material possessions.
“Animals” is the noun behemah, which refers to all types of “domestic animals,” which are creatures that are four footed and whose habitat is on land.
A comparison of Genesis 34:10 with Genesis 34:23 reveal that Hamor and Shechem say nothing to their fellow Hivites that they had promised the Israelites that by intermarrying with them that the Israelites could acquire Hivite property.
Instead they say to their fellow citizens that by agreeing to the condition of the agreement with the Israelites that they the Hivites would absorb the Israelite livestock, property and domestic animals.
This reveals that the Hamor and Shechem’s proposal of intermarriage with the Israelites was designed to absorb the wealth of the Israelites and dispossess them of their possessions and so they are guilty of double dealing.
Like many political leaders in the world today, Hamor and Shechem make their own lust appear to be in the interest of the community.
Hamor and Shechem were not only dishonest and deceitful towards the Israelites but also with their own fellow citizens.
They were being deceitful with the Israelites just as the Israelites were being deceitful with them.
Genesis 34:24, “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.”
The Hivites agree to submit to circumcision in order to take advantage of the Israelites and gain wealth and without faith in Jesus Christ.
The Hivites agree to circumcise all their males because of their love for money and possessions, which will subsequently lead to their deaths.
1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Luke 12:15, “Then He said to them, ‘Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.’”
Little did Hamor and Shechem and their constituents realize that Jacob’s sons were out to avenge the rape of their sister Dinah.
Romans 12:19, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,’ says the Lord.”
The repetition that appears in the statement “every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his (Hamor’s) city were circumcised” underscores that not one male was left to defend the city.
The phrase “all who went out of the city” is a military term indicating that all the men of Shechem that were liable for military service were circumcised thus leaving them incapacitated and unable to defend their city and thus we can see that the deception of Jacob’s sons was successful.