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, ver. 1-5. II. A treaty of marriage between her and Shechem
who had defiled her, ver. 6-19. III. The circumcision of the Shechemites,
pursuant to that treaty, ver. 20-24. IV. The perfidious and bloody revenge
which Simeon and Levi took upon them, ver. 25-31.
|
Dinah Dishonoured.
|
B. C. 1732.
|
|
|
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, Tit. ii. 5, 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, 2 Sam. xiii.
15), 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
(Ps. xxxix. 1, 2); 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.
|
|
|
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, v. 11,
12. His father not only consents, but solicits for him, and gravely insists
upon the advantages that would follow from the union of the families, v.
9, 10. 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," v. 15, 16. 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, v. 18, 19. 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,
Zech. viii. 23. 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.
|
|
|
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, v. 30. 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.
Contents
|
Next
Section
