Genesis 34:15: “We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males.”
Jacob received the bad news from Leah and Rachel. Leah’s eyes were swollen with tears. Rachel tried to console her as best as she could. In her third trimester, Rachel’s body had blossomed into the last stages of her pregnancy. Jacob was worried out of his mind. “You know what this means, Leah”, he said, “It means we cannot stay here. Today they rape our women, and who knows what else they are capable of. We have settled too close to the city. I should have known better.” Leah sobbed and spoke in a choked voice: “You mean to say, we are leaving our daughter here with these people? We are going to abandon her?” Jacob said nothing for a while. Letting out a deep sigh he finally decided: “I will wait until our sons come home. I will need to talk this over with them.” Looking at Rachel he added: “I am very sorry my dear, but most likely we will be on the road again and that will be detrimental in your condition.”
Jacob’s wives had just returned to their tents when his sons came home from the fields. They were furious when they learnt what had happened to their sister and immediately went to see their father. “This is an outrage!” Simeon said and Reuben nodded vigorously: “We cannot let this slide by. We have to do something about this.” Levi interjected: “We need to demand retribution for the rape of our sister. They have to pay a price, a steep price!” Jacob looked at his sons. Then he shook his head and said: “All of you are barely adults; some of you are teenagers still. What exactly are you guys going to do about it?” Before his sons could respond, one of Jacob’s servants came and announced that the ruler of the city, Hamor and his son Shechem were outside requesting an audience with Dinah’s father. “Please let them come in”, Jacob said.
There was an icy silence when King Hamor and his son Prince Shechem arrived. “Please have a seat”, Jacob offered politely and his two visitors sat down opposite him.
Naturally, King Hamor was a man with authority, but today he tried to appear humble. “I believe your name is Jacob?” he asked. “I am King Hamor and this is my son Prince Shechem.” Jacob nodded in acknowledgement and proceeded to make the formal introductions: “I am Jacob, son of Isaac and these here are my sons Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. Dinah’s brothers Issachar and Zebulon are with their mother right now.”
Dinah’s name fell like a bombshell and it grew quiet very quickly. One could hear a pin drop. Addressing both Jacob and his sons, King Hamor rose to the occasion and said: “As you may imagine, we are here on Dinah’s behalf. My son loves your daughter, and he wants to marry her. And I say, why not? Let’s unite our tribes and become one family. The land is yours – settle here and prosper.”
Now also his son spoke up. The prince was eager to please Jacob’s family and said: “Name the bride price. Whatever you ask for, we will pay.” The sons of Jacob shook their heads unanimously, saying: “We can’t do that.” – “But why”, Prince Shechem asked. In his eagerness to accommodate them he almost sounded desperate. Simeon sensed that and decided to test the waters. “We cannot mix with the uncircumcised,” he stated, “This is detestable to the God of our forefathers. We will take Dinah and be on our way – unless …” Impatiently, the prince interjected: “Name your conditions – anything you ask we’ll do.” Simeon shrugged his shoulders and replied: “Here is the deal, your Majesty: All your men get circumcised in this town. Then we can stay and intermarry. If not, we are leaving tomorrow. Think about it and let us know what your decision is.”
King Hamor and his son looked at each other and quickly reached a decision. Getting up they confirmed: “We will let you know by tomorrow morning.” Then they left.
Jacob was astonished at the outcome of this conversation and complimented his sons: “Today you have proved yourselves to me. You have acted like adults and I respect you for that. But do you really think that their circumcision will result in conversion to the God of our forefathers?” Simeon shook his head and replied: “Hardly. But it’s a start, isn’t it?”
After the brothers left the meeting they spoke amongst themselves. Reuben gave his younger brother a little shove saying: “What was that all about?” – “Don’t you see?” Simeon responded emphatically. “They are willing to do anything. What if they agree to get circumcised?” Reuben’s face lightened up. “They’ll be in pain for several days,” he observed and Levi added: “That means they’ll be easy prey for us.”
Meanwhile Hamor and his son Shechem called in a public meeting on the market square. They told the people that it would be lucrative to intermarry with Jacob’s tribe, since they were viewed as wealthy cattle owners. And since Shechem was very popular, he and his father made a very compelling argument [Genesis 34:21-23]:
“These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.”
The following morning Jacob was informed that his conditions had been accepted and that the male population of the town would undergo circumcision effective immediately. Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, Simeon and Levi took their sword, went into the city. They killed the entire male population including King Hamor and Prince Shechem before they rescued Dinah. Afterwards they looted the city and took captive the women and children while grabbing all the valuables they could lay hands on.
Jacob tore his clothes when his sons came home. “This is insane!” he yelled. “Are you guys crazy? Don’t you realize that we are only few in number? If the Perizzites and Canaanites join forces against us we are history!” But Jacob’s sons showed no remorse. “Nobody treats our sister like a whore and gets away with it!” was their response. “And how do we get away with murder?” Jacob retorted sarcastically, “We have no time to lose. We must pack up and leave immediately.”
The same day, Jacob’s family broke camp and departed. They left behind a wasteland. Smoke rose from a city in utter ruins.