Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Genesis 34:31

in Genesis 34

But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?

KJV

And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

⋯

This verse in Genesis 34

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot? - On this outrage alone they vindicated their flagitious conduct. The word harlot first occurs here: the original is not פילגש pilegesh, which we render concubine, (see its explanation Gen 22:24 (note)), but זונה zonah, which ordinarily signifies one who prostitutes herself to any person for hire. Our word harlot is said to have been derived from a very odd circumstance: Robert, duke of Normandy, seeing a fine-looking country girl dancing with her companions on the green, took her to his bed.

This site's exposition

Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute

Simeon and Levi have the last word of the chapter, and no answer from Jacob their father is recorded. Clarke notes that the word they use for prostitute stands here for the first time in Scripture. It comes next over Judah at Genesis 38:15, where he takes his own daughter-in-law for one. Their question about their sister is left standing.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And they said,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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.

The words behind it

5 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּאמְר֑וּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • הַכְזוֹנָ֕ה¿ like a prostitute

    hakhzonahH2181 →94 times

  • יַעֲשֶׂ֖הwill he use

    yaasehH6213 →2628 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲחוֹתֵֽנוּ׃ פsister our

    ʾachotenuH269 →114 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

7 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Proverbs 6:34For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.3 works1 Corinthians 6:16Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”3 worksGenesis 34:13But because Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah, Jacob’s sons answered him and his father Hamor deceitfully.2 worksGenesis 34:27Jacob’s other sons came upon the slaughter and looted the city, because their sister had been defiled.2 worksGenesis 38:24About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”2 worksJohn 4:18In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. You have spoken truthfully.”2 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
Genesis 49:7Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 49:7

    Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 6:65

      They assigned by lot the cities named above from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

    • 1 Chronicles 4:24–31

      The descendants of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul.

    • Joshua 19:1–9

      The second lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Simeon:

  • Through

    Proverbs 6:34

    For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 27:4

      Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?

    • Song of Solomon 8:6

      Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest…

    • Numbers 5:14

      and if a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he suspects his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he suspects her even though she…

  • Through

    Genesis 34:13

    But because Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah, Jacob’s sons answered him and his father Hamor deceitfully.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 12:13

      An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.

    • Genesis 25:27–34

      When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 34 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 34 →