Genesis 34:16
in Genesis 34Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We will dwell among you and become one people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
KJV
Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 34
Commentary
5 notes on this verseReligion is never more injured, nor are God's sacraments more profaned, than when they are thus used for a cloak of maliciousness. Nay, if Jacob's sons had not had this bloody design, I do not see how they could justify their offering the sacred sign of circumcision, the seal of God's covenant, to these devoted Canaanites, who had no part nor lot in the matter.
This site's exposition
that you become circumcised like us
on Genesis 34:15-17
The condition they set is that every male be circumcised, the sign of the covenant given to Abraham at Genesis 17:10. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe that nothing in the terms brings these men to the God of Jacob. One people is what verse 16 offers, and Hamor repeats it.
This site's exposition
become one people
One people is am echad in Hebrew, the phrase the LORD spoke over the builders of Babel at Genesis 11:6. Esau had taken wives from the daughters of the land at Genesis 26:34, and they grieved his father Isaac. Jacob's sons offer the same road as bait.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
); yet they act as sworn enemies to those to whom they had lately become sworn friends, making as light of their covenant as they did of the laws of humanity. And are these the sons of Israel?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Then will we give our daughters unto you,....
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָתַ֤נּוּ | venatanu | and we will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֹתֵ֙ינוּ֙ | benoteinu | daughters our | H1323 → | 588 times |
| לָכֶ֔ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֹתֵיכֶ֖ם | benoteikhem | daughters your | H1323 → | 588 times |
| נִֽקַּֽח־ | nikach- | we will take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| לָ֑נוּ | lanu | for <the> ourselves | ||
| וְיָשַׁ֣בְנוּ | veyashavnu | and we will dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| אִתְּכֶ֔ם | ʾitekhem | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| וְהָיִ֖ינוּ | vehayinu | and we will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְעַ֥ם | leam | <into> a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֶחָֽד׃ | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
וְנָתַ֤נּוּand we will give
venatanuH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנֹתֵ֙ינוּ֙daughters our
benoteinuH1323 →588 times
לָכֶ֔םto <the> you
lakhem
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בְּנֹתֵיכֶ֖םdaughters your
benoteikhemH1323 →588 times
נִֽקַּֽח־we will take
nikach-H3947 →966 times
לָ֑נוּfor <the> ourselves
lanu
וְיָשַׁ֣בְנוּand we will dwell
veyashavnuH3427 →1079 times
אִתְּכֶ֔םwith you
ʾitekhemH854 →929 times
וְהָיִ֖ינוּand we will become
vehayinuH1961 →3559 times
לְעַ֥ם<into> a people
leamH5971 →1873 times
אֶחָֽד׃one
ʾechadH259 →971 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.