Genesis 34:1
in Genesis 34Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
KJV
And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
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This verse in Genesis 34
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
- Dinah’s Dishonor This chapter records the rape of Dinah and the revenge of her brothers. Gen 34:1-5 Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land. The Jewish doctors of a later period fix the marriageable age of a female at twelve years and a day. It is probable that Dinah was in her thirteenth year when she went out to visit the daughters of the land. Six or seven years, therefore, must have been spent by Jacob between Sukkoth, where he abode some time, and the neighborhood of Shekerm, where he had purchased a piece of ground.
This site's exposition
went out to visit the daughters of the land
on Genesis 34:1-2
Verse 1 names Dinah as Leah's daughter, borne to Jacob, and the two brothers who act for her in verse 25 are Leah's sons. Shechem is Hamor's son, and Hamor the Hivite is prince of the region. He saw her and took her, and he lay with her by force.
The record, by era
The Reformation1 voice
But let us examine everything in order. Dinah is ravished, because, having left her father's house, she wandered about more freely than was proper. She ought to have remained quietly at home, as both the Apostle teaches and nature itself dictates; for to girls the virtue is suitable, which the proverb applies to women, that they should be (oikouroi,) or keepers of the house.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob,....
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.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
According to JOSEPHUS, she had been attending a festival; but it is highly probable that she had been often and freely mixing in the society of the place and that she, being a simple, inexperienced, and vain young woman, had been flattered by the attentions of the ruler's son.
And Dinah - went out to see the daughters of the land - It is supposed that Jacob had been now about seven or eight years in the land, and that Dinah, who was about seven years of age when Jacob came to Canaan, was now about fourteen or fifteen. Why or on what occasion she went out we know not, but the reason given by Josephus is very probable, viz., that it was on one of their festivals.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The reason [Scripture specifies the daughter of Leah ] is to state that she was the sister of Simeon and Levi, who were envious for her sake and avenged her cause.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Deenah went out, the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Yaakov, to see [visit] the local girls.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֵּצֵ֤א | vatetze' | and she went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| דִינָה֙ | dinah | Dinah | H1783 → | 8 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| לֵאָ֔ה | leah | Leah | H3812 → | 34 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָלְדָ֖ה | yaldah | she had borne | H3205 → | 496 times |
| לְיַעֲקֹ֑ב | leyaako | to Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| לִרְא֖וֹת | lirot | to look | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בִּבְנ֥וֹת | bivnot | on [the] daughters of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
וַתֵּצֵ֤אand she went out
vatetze'H3318 →1067 times
דִינָה֙Dinah
dinahH1783 →8 times
בַּת־[the] daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
לֵאָ֔הLeah
leahH3812 →34 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יָלְדָ֖הshe had borne
yaldahH3205 →496 times
לְיַעֲקֹ֑בto Jacob
leyaakoH3290 →350 times
לִרְא֖וֹתto look
lirotH7200 →1300 times
בִּבְנ֥וֹתon [the] daughters of
bivnotH1323 →588 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 27:46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”
it leads to
- Genesis 24:3
and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 26:34–35
When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
- Genesis 24:3
Through
Genesis 26:34When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
it leads to
- Genesis 36:2
Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite,
- Genesis 36:13
These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. They are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
- Exodus 34:16
And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.
- Genesis 36:2
Through
Jeremiah 2:36How unstable you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:22
How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”
- Hosea 5:13
When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
- Jeremiah 31:22
Through
Genesis 30:13Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.
it leads to
- Luke 1:48
For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.
- Luke 1:48
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.