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Matthew Henry |
G E N E S I S
CHAP. XXXIV.
At this chapter begins the story of Jacob’s afflictions in his children,
which were very great, and are recorded to show,
1. The
vanity of this world. That which is dearest to us may prove
our greatest vexation, and we may meet with the greatest crosses
in those things of which we said, “This same shall comfort us.”
2. The common griefs of good people. Jacob’s children were
circumcised, were well taught, and prayed for, and had very
good examples set them; yet some of them proved very untoward.
“The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the
strong.” Grace does not run in the blood, and yet the interrupting
of the entail of grace does not cut off the entail of profession
and visible church-privileges: nay, Jacob’s sons, though
they were his grief in some things, yet were all taken into covenant
with God. In this chapter we have,
I. Dinah debauched,
II. A treaty of marriage between her and Shechem who
had defiled her,
III. The circumcision of the Shechemites,
pursuant to that treaty,
IV. The perfidious
and bloody revenge which Simeon and Levi took upon
them,
| Dinah Dishonoured. | B. C. 1732. |
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1 And Dinah the daughter of Leah,
which she bare unto Jacob, went
out to see the daughters of the land.
2 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.
3 And his soul clave
unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob,
and he loved the damsel, and spake
kindly unto the damsel.
4 And Shechem
spake unto his father Hamor,
saying, Get me this damsel to wife.
5 And Jacob heard that he had
defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons
were with his cattle in the field: and
Jacob held his peace until they were
come.
Dinah was, for aught that appears, Jacob’s
only daughter, and we may suppose her
therefore the mother’s fondling and the darling
of the family, and yet she proves neither
a joy nor a credit to them; for those children
seldom prove either the best or the happiest
that are most indulged. She is reckoned
now but fifteen or sixteen years of age when
she here occasioned so much mischief. Observe,
1. Her vain curiosity, which exposed
her. She went out, perhaps unknown to her
father, but by the connivance of her mother,
to see the daughters of the land
(v. 1);
probably it was at a ball, or on some public day.
Being an only daughter, she thought herself
solitary at home, having none of her own
age and sex to converse with; and therefore
she must needs go abroad to divert herself,
to keep off melancholy, and to accomplish
herself by conversation better than she could
in her father’s tents. Note, It is a very
good thing for children to love home; it is
parents’ wisdom to make it easy to them,
and children’s duty then to be easy in it.
Her pretence was to see the daughters of the
land, to see how they dressed, and how they
danced, and what was fashionable among
them. She went to see, yet that was not all,
she went to be seen too; she went to see the
daughters of the land, but, it may be, with
some thoughts of the sons of the land too. I
doubt she went to get an acquaintance with
those Canaanites, and to learn their way.
Note, The pride and vanity of young people
betray them into many snares.
2. The loss
of her honour by this means
(v. 2):
Shechem,
the prince of the country, but a slave to his
own lusts, took her, and lay with her, it
should seem, not so much by force as by
surprise. Note, Great men think they may
do any thing; and what more mischievous
than untaught and ungoverned youth? See
what came of Dinah’s gadding: young
women must learn to be chaste, keepers at
home; these properties are put together,
for those that are not keepers at home
expose their chastity. Dinah went abroad
to look about her; but, if she had looked
about her as she ought, she would not have
fallen into this snare. Note, The beginning
of sin is as the letting forth of water. How
great a matter does a little fire kindle! We
should therefore carefully avoid all occasions
of sin and approaches to it.
3. The court
Shechem made to her, after he had defiled
her. This was fair and commendable, and
made the best of what was bad; he loved her
(not as Amnon,
and he engaged
his father to make a match for him
with her,
v. 4.
4. The tidings brought to
poor Jacob,
v. 5.
As soon as his children
grew up they began to be a grief to him.
Let not godly parents, that are lamenting the
miscarriages of their children, think their
case singular or unprecedented. The good
man held his peace, as one astonished, that
knows not what to say: or he said nothing,
for fear of saying amiss, as David
he smothered his resentments, lest, if
he had suffered them to break out, they
should have transported him into any indecencies.
Or, it should seem, he had left the
management of his affairs very much (too
much I doubt) to his sons, and he would do
nothing without them: or, at least, he knew
they would make him uneasy if he did, they
having shown themselves, of late, upon all
occasions, bold, forward, and assuming.
Note, Things never go well when the authority
of a parent runs low in a family. Let
every man bear rule in his own house, and
have his children in subjection with all gravity.
| Treachery of Dinah’s Brethren. | B. C. 1732. |
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6 And Hamor the father of Shechem
went out unto Jacob to commune with
him.
7 And the sons of Jacob came
out of the field when they heard it:
and the men were grieved, and they
were very wroth, because he had
wrought folly in Israel in lying with
Jacob’s daughter; which thing ought
not to be done.
8 And Hamor communed
with them, saying, The soul of
my son Shechem longeth for your
daughter: I pray you give her him
to wife.
9 And make ye marriages
with us, and give your daughters unto
us, and take our daughters unto you.
10 And ye shall dwell with us: and
the land shall be before you; dwell
and trade ye therein, and get you possessions
therein.
11 And Shechem said
unto her father and unto her brethren,
Let me find grace in your eyes, and
what ye shall say unto me I will give.
12 Ask me never so much dowry and
gift, and I will give according as ye
shall say unto me: but give me the
damsel to wife.
13 And the sons of Jacob
answered Shechem and Hamor his
father deceitfully, and said, because he
had defiled Dinah their sister:
14 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:
15 But in this
will we consent unto you: If ye will
be as we be, that every male of you
be circumcised;
16 Then will we give
our daughters unto you, and we will
take your daughters to us, and we will
dwell with you, and we will become
one people.
17 But if ye will not
hearken unto us, to be circumcised;
then will we take our daughter, and we
will be gone.
Jacob’s sons, when they heard of the
injury done to Dinah, showed a very great
resentment of it, influenced perhaps rather
by jealousy for the honour of their family
than by a sense of virtue. Many are concerned
at the shamefulness of sin that never
lay to heart the sinfulness of it. It is here
called folly in Israel
(v. 7),
according to the
language of after-times; for Israel was not
yet a people, but a family only. Note,
1. Uncleanness is folly; for it sacrifices
the favour of God, peace of conscience, and all
the soul can pretend to that is sacred and
honourable, to a base and brutish lust.
2. This folly is most shameful in Israel, in a
family of Israel, where God is known and
worshipped, as he was in Jacob’s tents, by
the name of the God of Israel. Folly in
Israel is scandalous indeed.
3. It is a good
thing to have sin stamped with a bad name:
uncleanness is here proverbially called folly
in Israel,
2 Sam. xiii. 12.
Dinah is here
called Jacob’s daughter, for warning to all
the daughters of Israel, that they betray not
themselves to this folly.
Hamor came to treat with Jacob himself,
but he turns him over to his sons; and here
we have a particular account of the treaty, in
which, it is a shame to say, the Canaanites
were more honest than the Israelites.
I. Hamor and Shechem fairly propose this
match, in order to a coalition in trade. Shechem
is deeply in love with Dinah; he will
have her upon any terms,
His
father not only consents, but solicits for him,
and gravely insists upon the advantages that
would follow from the union of the families,
He shows no jealousy of Jacob,
though he was a stranger, but rather an
earnest desire to settle a correspondence with
him and his family, making him that generous
offer, The land shall be before you, trade you
therein.
II. Jacob’s sons basely pretend to insist
upon a coalition in religion, when really they
designed nothing less. If Jacob had taken
the management of this affair into his own
hands, it is probable that he and Hamor
would soon have concluded it; but Jacob’s
sons meditate only revenge, and a strange
project they have for the compassing of it–the
Shechemites must be circumcised; not to
make them holy (they never intended that),
but to make them sore, that they might become
an easier prey to their sword.
1. The
pretence was specious. “It is the honour of
Jacob’s family that they carry about with
them the token of God’s covenant with
them; and it will be a reproach to those
that are thus dignified and distinguished to
enter into such a strict alliance with those
that are uncircumcised
(v. 14);
and therefore,
if you will be circumcised, then we will become
one people with you,”
Had they
been sincere herein their proposal of these
terms would have had in it something commendable;
for Israelites should not intermarry
with Canaanites, professors with profane;
it is a great sin, or at least the cause
and inlet of a great deal, and has often been
of pernicious consequence. The interest we
have in any persons, and the hold we have
of them, should be wisely improved by us,
to bring them to the love and practice of religion
(He that winneth souls is wise); but
then we must not, like Jacob’s sons, think it
enough to persuade them to submit to the
external rites of religion, but must endeavour
to convince them of its reasonableness,
and to bring them acquainted with the power
of it.
2. The intention was malicious, as
appears by the sequel of the story; all they
aimed at was to prepare them for the day of
slaughter. Note, Bloody designs have often
been covered, and carried on, with a pretence
of religion; thus they have been accomplished
most plausibly and most securely:
but this dissembled piety is, doubtless,
double iniquity. Religion is never more
injured, nor are God’s sacraments more profaned,
than when they are thus used for a
cloak of maliciousness. Nay, if Jacob’s sons
had not had this bloody design, I do not see
how they could justify their offering the
sacred sign of circumcision, the seal of God’s
covenant, to these devoted Canaanites, who
had no part nor lot in the matter. Those
had no right to the seal that had no right to
the promise. It is not meet to take the children’s
bread, and cast it to dogs: but Jacob’s
sons valued not this, while they could make
it serve their turn.
18 And their words pleased Hamor,
and Shechem Hamor’s son.
19 And
the young man deferred not to do the
thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s
daughter: and he was more honourable
than all the house of his father.
20 And Hamor and Shechem
his son came unto the gate of
their city, and communed with the men of
their city, saying,
21 These men are
peaceable with us; therefore let them
dwell in the land, and trade therein;
for the land, behold, it is large enough
for them; let us take their daughters
to us for wives, and let us give them
our daughters.
22 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.
23 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.
24 And unto Hamor and
unto Shechem his son hearkened all
that went out of the gate of his city;
and every male was circumcised, all
that went out of the gate of his city.
Here,
1. Hamor and Shechem gave consent
themselves to be circumcised,
To this perhaps they were moved, not only
by the strong desire they had to bring about
this match, but by what they might have
heard of the sacred and honourable intentions
of this sign, in the family of Abraham,
which, it is probable, they had some confused
notions of, and of the promises confirmed by
it, which made them the more desirous to
incorporate with the family of Jacob,
Note, Many who know little of
religion, yet know so much of it as makes
them willing to join themselves with those
that are religious. Again, If a man would
take upon him a form of religion to gain a
good wife, much more should we embrace the
power of it to gain the favour of a good God,
even circumcise our hearts to love him, and,
as Shechem here, not defer to do the thing.
2. They gained the consent of the men of
their city, Jacob’s sons requiring that they
also should be circumcised.
(1.) They themselves
had great influences upon them by their
command and example. Note, Religion
would greatly prevail if those in authority,
who, like Shechem, are more honourable than
their neighbours, would appear forward and
zealous for it.
(2.) They urged an argument
which was very cogent
(v. 23),
Shall
not their cattle and their substance be ours?
They observed that Jacob’s sons were industrious
thriving people, and promised themselves
and their neighbours advantage by an
alliance with them; it would improve ground
and trade, and bring money into their
country. Now,
[1.] It was bad enough to
marry upon this principle: yet we see covetousness
the greatest matchmaker in the
world, and nothing designed so much, with
many, as the laying of house to house, and
field to field, without regard had to any other
consideration.
[2.] It was worse to be circumcised
upon this principle. The Shechemites
will embrace the religion of Jacob’s
family only in hopes of interesting themselves
thereby in the riches of that family. Thus
there are many with whom gain is godliness,
and who are more governed and influenced
by their secular interest than by any principle
of their religion.
| Murder of the Shechemites. | B. C. 1732. |
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25 And it came to pass on the third
day, when they were sore, that two of
the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi,
Dinah’s brethren, took each man his
sword, and came upon the city boldly,
and slew all the males.
26 And they
slew Hamor and Shechem his son
with the edge of the sword, and took
Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and
went out.
27 The sons of Jacob came
upon the slain, and spoiled the city,
because they had defiled their sister.
28 They took their sheep, and their
oxen, and their asses, and that which
was in the city, and that which was in
the field,
29 And all their wealth,
and all their little ones, and their
wives took they captive, and spoiled
even all that was in the house.
30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi,
Ye have troubled me to make me to
stink among the inhabitants of the
land, among the Canaanites and the
Perizzites: and I being few in number,
they shall gather themselves together
against me, and slay me; and
I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
31 And they said, Should he deal
with our sister as with an harlot?
Here, we have Simeon and Levi, two of
Jacob’s sons, young men not much above
twenty years old, cutting the throats of the
Shechemites, and thereby breaking the heart
of their good father.
I. Here is the barbarous murder of the
Shechemites. Jacob himself was used to the
sheep-hook, but his sons had got swords by
their sides, as if they had been the seed of
Esau, who was to live by his sword; we have
them here,
1. Slaying the inhabitants of Shechem–all
the males, Hamor and Shechem particularly,
with whom they had been treating in
a friendly manner but the other day, yet with
a design upon their lives. Some think that
all Jacob’s sons, when they wheedled the Shechemites
to be circumcised, designed to take
advantage of their soreness, and to rescue Dinah
from among them; but that Simeon and Levi,
not content with that, would themselves avenge
the injury–and they did it with a witness.
Now,
(1.) It cannot be denied but that God
was righteous in it. Had the Shechemites
been circumcised in obedience to any command
of God, their circumcision would have
been their protection; but when they submitted
to that sacred rite only to serve a
turn, to please their prince and to enrich
themselves, it was just with God to bring
this upon them. Note, As nothing secures
us better than true religion, so nothing exposes
us more than religion only pretended
to.
(2.) But Simeon and Levi were most unrighteous.
[1.] It was true that Shechem
had wrought folly against Israel, in defiling
Dinah; but it ought to have been considered
how far Dinah herself had been accessory to
it. Had Shechem abused her in her own
mother’s tent, it would have been another
matter; but she went upon his ground, and
perhaps by her indecent carriage had struck
the spark which began the fire: when we are
severe upon the sinner we ought to consider
who was the tempter.
[2.] It was true that
Shechem had done ill; but he was endeavouring
to atone for it, and was as honest and
honourable, ex post facto–after the deed, as
the case would admit: it was not the case of
the Levite’s concubine that was abused to
death; nor does he justify what he has done,
but courts a reconciliation upon any terms.
[3.] It was true that Shechem had done ill;
but what was that to all the Shechemites?
Does one man sin, and will they be wroth
with all the town? Must the innocent fall
with the guilty? This was barbarous indeed.
[4.] But that which above all aggravated the
cruelty was the most perfidious treachery that
was in it. The Shechemites had submitted
to their conditions, and had done that upon
which they had promised to become one
people with them
(v. 16);
yet they act as sworn
enemies to those to whom they had lately
become sworn friends, making as light of
their covenant as they did of the laws of
humanity. And are these the sons of Israel?
Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce.
[5.] This also added to the crime, that they made
a holy ordinance of God subservient to their
wicked design, so making that odious; as if
it were not enough for them to shame themselves
and their family, they bring a reproach
upon that honourable badge of their religion;
justly would it be called a bloody ordinance.
2. Seizing the prey of Shechem, and plundering
the town. They rescued Dinah
(v. 26),
and, if that was all they came for, they
might have done that without blood, as appears
by their own showing
(v. 17);
but they aimed at the spoil; and, though Simeon and
Levi only were the murderers, yet it is intimated
that others of the sons of Jacob came
upon the slain and spoiled the city
(v. 27),
and
so became accessory to the murder. In them
it was manifest injustice; yet here we may
observe the righteousness of God. The Shechemites
were willing to gratify the sons of
Jacob by submitting to the penance of circumcision,
upon this principle, Shall not their
cattle and their substance be ours?
(v. 23),
and
see what was the issue; instead of making
themselves masters of the wealth of Jacob’s
family, Jacob’s family become masters of
their wealth. Note, Those who unjustly
grasp at that which is another’s justly lose
that which is their own.
II. Here is Jacob’s resentment of this
bloody deed of Simeon and Levi,
Two
things he bitterly complains of:–
1. The reproach
they had brought upon him thereby:
You have troubled me, put me into a disorder,
for you have made me to stink among the inhabitants
of the land, that is, “You have
rendered me and my family odious among
them. What will they say of us and our
religion? We shall be looked upon as the
most perfidious barbarous people in the
world.” Note, The gross misconduct of
wicked children is the grief and shame of
their godly parents. Children should be the
joy of their parents; but wicked children are
their trouble, sadden their hearts, break their
spirits, and make them go mourning from
day to day. Children should be an ornament
to their parents; but wicked children are
their reproach, and are as dead flies in the
pot of ointment: but let such children know
that, if they repent not, the grief they have
caused to their parents, and the damage religion
has sustained in its reputation through
them, will come into the account and be
reckoned for.
2. The ruin they had exposed
him to. What could be expected, but that
the Canaanites, who were numerous and
formidable, would confederate against him,
and he and his little family would become
an easy prey to them? I shall be destroyed,
I and my house. If all the Shechemites must
be destroyed for the offence of one, why not
all the Israelites for the offence of two?
Jacob knew indeed that God had promised
to preserve and perpetuate his house; but
he might justly fear that these vile practices
of his children would amount to a forfeiture,
and cut off the entail. Note, When sin is in
the house, there is reason to fear ruin at the
door. The tender parents foresee those bad
consequences of sin which the wicked children
have no dread of. One would think
this should have made them to relent, and
they should have humbled themselves to their
good father, and begged his pardon; but,
instead of this, they justify themselves, and
give him this insolent reply, Should he deal
with our sister as with a harlot? No, he
should not; but, if he do, must they be their
own avengers? Will nothing less than so
many lives, and the ruin of a whole city,
serve to atone for an abuse done to one
foolish girl? By their question they tacitly
reflect upon their father, as if he would have
been content to let them deal with his daughter
as with a harlot. Note, It is common for
those who run into one extreme to reproach
and censure those who keep the mean as if
they ran into the other. Those who condemn
the rigour of revenge shall be misrepresented,
as if they countenanced and
justified the offence.
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