Genesis 34:23
in Genesis 34Will not their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell among us.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Shall not their cattle and their substance and all their beasts be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 34
Commentary
7 notes on this verseShall 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.
This site's exposition
went to the gate of their city
on Genesis 34:20-23
The gate is where a city's public business was done, and the speech made there never mentions Dinah. Hamor and Shechem sell the plan on profit, that the livestock and possessions and animals of these men will become the city's. Wesley reads it as a good return promised to neighbors. The word used of Jacob's household, at peace with us, stands on the root Jerome traced at Salem in Genesis 33:18.
This site's exposition
their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals
To Jacob at verse 10 Hamor promised that the family could acquire property in the land. To the city he promises that the same property will become theirs. Each hearer is told what he wants.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), 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. Here is Jacob's resentment of this bloody deed of Simeon and Levi,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Shall not their cattle, and their substance, and every beast of theirs, be ours?....
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 Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִקְנֵהֶ֤ם | miknehem | livestock their | H4735 → | 76 times |
| וְקִנְיָנָם֙ | vekinyanam | and possession[s] their | H7075 → | 10 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בְּהֶמְתָּ֔ם | behemtam | animal[s] their | H929 → | 190 times |
| הֲל֥וֹא | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| לָ֖נוּ | lanu | [belong] to <the> us | ||
| הֵ֑ם | hem | [will] they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| אַ֚ךְ | ʾakh | only | H389 → | 161 times |
| נֵא֣וֹתָה | neotah | let us agree | H225 → | 4 times |
| לָהֶ֔ם | lahem | with <the> them | ||
| וְיֵשְׁב֖וּ | veyeshevu | and let them dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| אִתָּֽנוּ׃ | ʾitanu | with us | H854 → | 929 times |
מִקְנֵהֶ֤םlivestock their
miknehemH4735 →76 times
וְקִנְיָנָם֙and possession[s] their
vekinyanamH7075 →10 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
בְּהֶמְתָּ֔םanimal[s] their
behemtamH929 →190 times
הֲל֥וֹא¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
לָ֖נוּ[belong] to <the> us
lanu
הֵ֑ם[will] they
hemH1992 →553 times
אַ֚ךְonly
ʾakhH389 →161 times
נֵא֣וֹתָהlet us agree
neotahH225 →4 times
לָהֶ֔םwith <the> them
lahem
וְיֵשְׁב֖וּand let them dwell
veyeshevuH3427 →1079 times
אִתָּֽנוּ׃with us
ʾitanuH854 →929 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
John 2:16To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!”
it leads to
- Matthew 21:13
And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
- Jeremiah 7:11
Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.
- Mark 11:17
Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of…
- Isaiah 56:5–11
I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be…
- Luke 2:49
“Why were you looking for Me?” He asked. “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”
- Matthew 21:13
Through
Proverbs 28:20A faithful man will abound with blessings, but one eager to be rich will not go unpunished.
it leads to
- Luke 16:10–12
Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
- Proverbs 13:11
Dishonest wealth will dwindle, but what is earned through hard work will be multiplied.
- Psalms 112:4–9
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright— for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
- Luke 16:10–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.