Verse 12
Ask me never so much dowry - See Clarke on [Gen 29:20] (note), etc. See the law relative to this, [Exo 22:16], [Exo 22:17].
Verse 13
Answered - deceitfully - Which nothing could excuse; yet, to show that they had had much provocation, it is immediately subjoined וידברו vaidabberu, they spoke thus because he had defiled Dinah their sister; for so this parenthesis should be read.
Verse 14
That were a reproach unto us - Because the uncircumcised were not in the covenant of God; and to have given an heiress of the promise to one who had no kind of right to its spiritual blessings, from whom might spring children who would naturally walk in the way of their father would have been absurd, reproachful and wicked. Thus far they were perfectly right; but to make this holy principle a cloak for their deceitful and murderous purposes, was the full sum of all wickedness
Verse 17
Then will we take our daughter, and we will he gone - It is natural to suppose that the tribe of Hamor was very inconsiderable, else they would not have sought an alliance with the family of Jacob, and have come so readily into a painful, disgraceful measure, without having either the sanction of Divine authority or reason; for it does not appear that the sons of Jacob urged either. And they are threatened here that if they do not agree to be circumcised, Dinah shall be taken from them, and restored to her family; and this is probably what the Shechemites saw they had not power at present to prevent.
Verse 23
Shall not their cattle and their substance - be ours? - This was a bait held out for the poor unsuspecting people of Hamor by their prince and his son, who were not much less deceived than the people themselves.
Verse 24
Every male was circumcised - These simple people must have had very great affection for their chief and his son, or have been under the influence of the most passive obedience, to have come so readily into this measure, and to have submitted to this rite. But the petty princes in Asiatic countries have ever been absolute and despotic, their subjects paying them the most prompt and blind obedience. I shall give a few examples from Mr. Richardson's Dissertations - "Abu Thaher, chief of the Carmathians, about the year nine hundred and thirty, ravaged the territory of Mecca, defiled the temple, and destroyed nearly 40,000 people. With only 500 horse he went to lay siege to Bagdad: the caliph's general, at the head of 30,000 men, marched out to seize him, but before he attacked him he sent an officer to summon him to surrender. 'How many men has the caliph's general?' said Abu Thaher. 'Thirty thousand,' replied the officer. 'Among them all,' says the Carmathian chief, 'has he got three like mine?' Then, ordering his followers to approach, he commanded one to stab himself, another to throw himself from a precipice, and a third to plunge into the Tigris; all three instantly obeyed, and perished. Then turning to the officer, he said, 'He who has such troops needs not value the number of his enemies!' "Hassan Sabat, one of those petty princes formerly known in Asia and Europe by the title Sheekh-ul-jibel, or old man of the mountain, being required by an ambassador to do homage to his master, the Sultan Malekshah Jelaleddin, without giving any answer, ordered one of his attendants to poniard himself, and another to leap from the battlements of the tower; and he was instantly obeyed! Then turning to the ambassador, he said, 'Seventy thousand are thus attentive to my commands. Let this be my answer. On a principle of this kind we may account for the prompt obedience of the people of Hamor.
Verse 25
On the third day, when they were sore - When the inflammation was at the height, and a fever ensued which rendered the person utterly helpless, and his state critical, Simeon and Levi, the half brothers of Dinah, took each man his sword, probably assisted by that portion of the servants which helped them to take care of the flock, came on the city boldly, בטח betach, securely - without being suspected, and being in no danger of meeting with resistance, and slew all the males. Great as the provocation was, and it certainly was very great, this was an act or unparalleled treachery and cruelty.
Verse 27
The sons of Jacob - The rest of Jacob's sons, the remaining brothers of Simeon and Levi, spoiled the city. Though the others could slay the defenceless males, it was not likely that they could have carried away all the booty, with the women, children, and cattle; it is therefore most natural to suppose that the rest of the sons of Jacob assisted at last in the business.
Verse 30
Ye have troubled me - Brought my mind into great distress, and endangered my personal safety; to make me to stink - to render me odious to the surrounding tribes, so that there is every reason to suspect that when this deed is come abroad they will join in a confederacy against me, and extirpate my whole family. And had he not been under the peculiar protection of God, this in all human probability would have been the case; but he had prevailed with God, and he was also to prevail with men. That Jacob's resentment was not dissembled we have the fullest proof in his depriving these two sons of the birthright, which otherwise they had doubtless enjoyed. See [Gen 49:5], [Gen 49:7], where some additional circumstances are related.
Verse 31
Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot? - On this outrage alone they vindicated their flagitious conduct. The word harlot first occurs here: the original is not פילגש pilegesh, which we render concubine, (see its explanation [Gen 22:24] (note)), but זונה zonah, which ordinarily signifies one who prostitutes herself to any person for hire. Our word harlot is said to have been derived from a very odd circumstance: Robert, duke of Normandy, seeing a fine-looking country girl dancing with her companions on the green, took her to his bed. She was the daughter of a skinner, and her name was Arlotta; and of her William, surnamed The Conqueror, was born. Hence it is said all such women were from her called harlots, as William himself was usually termed the Bastard. But horelet, the diminutive of whore, is not a less likely derivation.
Solomon has very properly said, My son, enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men; avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away, [Pro 4:14], [Pro 4:15]. Had not Dinah gone out to see the daughters of the land, and very possibly at one of their idolatrous festivals, she had not suffered the foul disgrace mentioned in this chapter. Not only prudence dictates that young women should keep at home, but God expressly commands it, [Tit 2:5]. Dinah got among idolaters, and thus partook of their iniquities; and this led to the most base and cruel transaction upon record. How true is the saying, Those who wander out of the way of understanding shall abide in the congregation of the dead! In the case before us blame seems to attach to all parties.
1. It was wrong in Jacob to suffer his daughter, alone and unprotected, to visit the daughters of the land.
2. It was excessively wicked in Shechem to take this advantage of the daughter of a respectable stranger, who had sought his friendship, and came to sojourn among his people, and whose righteous dealing they must have witnessed for at least seven years past. In his behalf we may say, and it would be unjust not to say it, that having done the mischief, and sinned deeply against the laws of hospitality, he wished to make all the reparation in his power; and therefore in the most frank and liberal manner he not only offered, but most pressingly entreated, permission to take Dinah to wife. This was the utmost he could do in such a case. And in this he is a saint of the first order when compared with the noble and ignoble profligates who, while blaspheming the Christian name by continuing to assume it, commit all kinds of breaches on the virtue of simple females, and the peace of respectable families, and not only make no reparation, but glory in their shame.
3. It was diabolical in Jacob's sons to slay a whole tribe for the offense of one man, and especially as that one had offered to make all the restitution in his power. They required that Hamor, Shechem, and all their subjects should be circumcised before they could conscientiously consent to give their sister to Shechem in marriage. This required conformity was made the cloak of the most base and infamous designs. The simple unsuspecting Shechemites agreed to the proposal; and when rendered by this religious rite incapable of defending themselves, they were basely murdered by Simeon and Levi, and their city destroyed. Jacob, to his great honor, remonstrated against this barbarous and bloody act, committed apparently under the sanction of religion; and God showed his abhorrence of it by directing the patriarch, in his dying moments, to proscribe them from the blessings of the covenant, so that they barely retained a name among the tribes of Israel, being in general small, and ever disreputable, except merely in the service of the sanctuary, in which Levi was employed. How often since, notwithstanding this solemn warning, has the pure and benevolent religion of God been made, by wicked and designing men, a political stalking-horse to serve the basest purposes, and a covert to the worst of crimes! But shall we find fault with the holy religion of the blessed God because wicked men have abused it? God forbid! Were it not so good as it really is, it would be incapable of such abuse. An evil cannot be abused, a good may; and the greater and the more acknowledged the good, the more liable to abuse. As every good is so capable of being abused, does he act wisely who argues against the use of the thing on this account? Shall we say that various kinds of grain, fruits, and aliments are a curse, because wicked men abuse them to the purposes of drunkenness and gluttony? This would argue an utter perversion of all reason: and is it not on such a pretext as this that many persons have ventured to call in question even the truths of Christianity?
Whatever such men may be determined to think on the subject of this chapter, with the unprejudiced reader the ample and detailed relation which we have here of this barbarous transaction will appear an additional proof of the veracity and impartiality of the sacred historian.
Introduction
Jacob is commanded of God to go to Beth-el, and to build an altar there, [Gen 35:1]. His exhortation to his family to put away all strange gods, etc., [Gen 35:2], [Gen 35:3]. They deliver them all up, and Jacob hides them in the earth, [Gen 35:4]. They commence their journey, [Gen 35:5]; come to Luz, [Gen 35:6]; build there the altar El-beth-el, [Gen 35:7]. Burial place of Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, [Gen 35:8]. God appears again unto Jacob, [Gen 35:9]. Blesses him and renews the promises, [Gen 35:10-13]. To commemorate this manifestation of God, Jacob sets up a pillar, and calls the place Beth-el, [Gen 35:14], [Gen 35:15]. They journey to Ephrath, where Rachel, after hard labor, is delivered of Benjamin, and dies, [Gen 35:16-19]. Jacob sets up a pillar on her grave, [Gen 35:20]. They journey to Edar, [Gen 35:21]. While at this place, Reuben defiles his father's bed, [Gen 35:22]. Account of the children of Jacob, according to the mothers, [Gen 35:23-26]. Jacob comes to Mamre to his father Isaac, who was probably then in the one hundred and fifty-eighth year of his age, [Gen 35:27]. Isaac dies, and is buried by his sons Esau and Jacob, [Gen 35:29].
Verse 1
Arise, go up to Beth-el - The transaction that had lately taken place rendered it unsafe for Jacob to dwell any longer at the city of Shechem; and it seems that while he was reflecting on the horrible act of Simeon and Levi, and not knowing what to do, God graciously appeared to him, and commanded him to go up to Beth-el, build an altar there, and thus perform the vow he had made, [Gen 28:20], [Gen 28:22].
Verse 2
Put away the strange gods - אלהי הנכר elohey hannechar, the gods of the foreigners, which were among them. Jacob's servants were all Syrians, and no doubt were addicted less or more to idolatry and superstition. These gods might belong to them, or, as some have conjectured, they were the teraphim which Rachel stole; but these have already been supposed to be astrological tables, or something of this kind, called by Laban his gods, because by them he supposed he could predict future events, and that they referred to certain astral and planetary intelligences, by whose influences sublunary things were regulated. But it is more natural to suppose that these gods found now in Jacob's family were images of silver, gold, or curious workmanship, which were found among the spoils of the city of Shechem. Lest these should become incitements to idolatry, Jacob orders them to be put away.
Be clean, and change your garments - Personal or outward purification, as emblematical of the sanctification of the soul, has been in use among all the true worshippers of God from the beginning of the world. In many cases the law of Moses more solemnly enjoined rites and ceremonies which had been in use from the earliest ages. "A Hindoo considers those clothes defiled in which he has been employed in business, and always changes them before eating and worship." - Ward.
Verse 3
Answered me in the day of my distress - Not only when he fled from the face of his brother, but more particularly when he was in his greatest strait at the brook of Jabbok.
Verse 4
And - ear-rings which were in their ears - Whether these rings were in the ears of the gods, or in those of Jacob's family, we may rest assured that they were not mere ornaments, but served for superstitious purposes. Ear-rings were certainly worn as amulets and charms, first consecrated to some god, or formed under some constellation, on which magical characters and images were drawn. A very ancient and beautiful one of this kind brought from Egypt, cut out of a solid piece of cornelian, now lies before me. It was evidently intended for the ear, as the opening is too small for any human finger; and it is engraved all over with strange characters and images, which prove that it was intended for a talisman or amulet. It seems to be such a one as St. Augustine describes, Epist. 73, which was suspended from the tip of the ears both of men and women, not for the purpose of ornament, but through an execrable superstition, for the service of demons. "Execranda superstitio ligaturarum, in quibus etiam inaures virorum in summis ex una parte auriculis suspensae deputantur, non ad placendum hominibus, sed ad serviendum daemonibus." See Clarke on [Gen 24:22] (note).
Verse 5
The terror of God - A supernatural awe sent by the Almighty, was upon the cities that were round about, so that they were not molested in their departure. This could be owing to nothing less than the especial providence of God.
Verse 7
El-beth-el - אל בית אל the strong God, the house of the strong God. But the first אל el is wanting in one of De Rossi's MSS., as it is also in the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and some copies of the Arabic. The sentence reads much better without it, and much more consistent with the parallel passages.
Verse 8
But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died - She was sent with Rebekah when taken by Abraham's servant to be wife to Isaac, [Gen 24:59]. How she came to be in Jacob's family, expositors are greatly puzzled to find out; but the text does not state that she was in Jacob's family. Her death is mentioned merely because Jacob and his family had now arrived at the place where she was buried, and the name of that place was called Allon-bachuth, "the oak of weeping," as it is likely her death had been greatly regretted, and a general and extraordinary mourning had taken place on the occasion. Of Rebekah's death we know nothing. After her counsel to her son, [Gen 27:5-17], [Gen 27:42-46], we hear no more of her history from the sacred writings, except of her burial in [Gen 49:31]. Her name is written in the dust. And is not this designed as a mark of the disapprobation of God? It seems strange that such an inconsiderable person as a nurse should be mentioned, when even the person she brought up is passed by unnoticed! It has been observed that the nurse of Aeneas is mentioned nearly in the same way by the poet Virgil; and in the circumstances, in both cases, there is a striking resemblance. "Tu quoque littoribus nostris,
Aeneia nutrix, Aeternam moriens famam,
Caleta, dedisti:
Eet nunc servat honos sedem tunus; ossaque nomen,