GENESIS 34 HAMOR’S MEN AGREE TO CIRCUMCISION
GENESIS 34
18 Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. 19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his father’s house. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” 24 And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
– Genesis 34:18-24
GENESIS 34 HAMOR’S MEN AGREE TO CIRCUMCISION
A poem inspired by these verses by ILMA
When the sons of Jacob proposed for Hamor’s clan to be circumcised
Hamor and Shechem presented the condition to all the men in their land
The men saw the benefit it would do to them if they agreed
So, without delay, in obedience to Hamor, they were all circumcised.
It seems to me that the Canaanites, despite their reputation for evil, showed a good side of them here. Despite Shechem’s defilement of Dinah which all began this treaty, we see the sincerity of Shechem to right what he did wrong. There is no detail regarding Dinah’s view on all of this. She must have gone through a traumatic experience too. It was her first time to leave their house to explore the women of the land and was grabbed and raped. Even though we hear of Shechem’s obsession to have her as his wife, we have no idea how she also feels about all these.
We do not hear anything from Jacob. He probably knew his sons so well that he may have suspected the evil revenge plot they were doing to debilitate the men and get revenge for their sister’s honor and their reputation. The men all agreed to be circumcised.
REFLECTION
- Why do you think all the men agreed to go through circumcision?
