Genesis 34:20

And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Hamor	חֲמ֛וֹר cha.Mor	H2544	Chamor · proper noun, a man's name
Shechem	וּשְׁכֶ֥ם u.she.Khem	H7927	Shekem · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
son	בְּנ֖וֹ be.No	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
came	וַיָּבֹ֥א vai.ya.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
gate	שַׁ֣עַר Sha.'ar	H8179	an opening · noun, common masculine singular construct
city	עִירָ֑ם 'i.Ram	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
communed	וַֽיְדַבְּר֛וּ vay.da.be.Ru	H1696	perhaps properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
men	אַנְשֵׁ֥י 'an.Shei	H582	a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural construct
city	עִירָ֖ם 'i.Ram	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
saying	לֵאמֹֽר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Ruth 4:1 Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a on…
Genesis 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon th…
Genesis 23:10 And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all th…
Deuteronomy 17:5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and…
2 Samuel 15:2 And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king fo…
Job 29:7 When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
Proverbs 31:23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
Amos 5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 34:18-24

Here, 1. Hamor and Shechem gave consent themselves to be circumcised, Gen 34:18, Gen 34:19. To this perhaps they were moved, not only by the strong desire they had to bring about this match, but by what they might have heard of the sacred and honourable intentions of this sign, in the family of Abraham, which, it is probable, they had some confused notions of, and of the promises confirmed by it, which made them the more desirous to incorporate with the family of Jacob, Zac 8:23. Note, Many who know little of religion, yet know so much of it as makes them willing to join themselves with those that are religious. Again, If a man would take upon him a form of religion to gain a good wife, much…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 34:20

Hamor and Shechem . . . came unto the gate of their city--That was the place where every public communication was made; and in the ready obsequious submission of the people to this measure we see an evidence either of the extraordinary affection for the governing family, or of the abject despotism of the East, where the will of a chief is an absolute command.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 34:17

Then will we take our daughter, and we will he gone - It is natural to suppose that the tribe of Hamor was very inconsiderable, else they would not have sought an alliance with the family of Jacob, and have come so readily into a painful, disgraceful measure, without having either the sanction of Divine authority or reason; for it does not appear that the sons of Jacob urged either. And they are threatened here that if they do not agree to be circumcised, Dinah shall be taken from them, and restored to her family; and this is probably what the Shechemites saw they had not power at present to prevent.

John Gill on Genesis 34:20

And Hamor and Shechem his son went unto the gate of their city,.... Where courts of judicature were held, and all public affairs respecting the common interest of the city were transacted: here, no doubt, Hamor their prince summoned them to come, by the usual method in which the citizens were convened on certain occasions: and communed with the men of their city; upon the subject of entering into an alliance with Jacob's family, of admitting them to be fellow citizens with them, and of their being incorporated among them, and becoming one people with them, taking no notice of the true reason of this motion: saying, as follows.

The Church Fathers

(Chapter 34, Verse 20) And Emor and his son Sichem came to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of the city, saying, these men are peaceful with us. Where now the Septuagint translated it as 'peaceful', Aquila interpreted it as 'consummated' or 'perfected', for which in Hebrew it is read () Salamim. From this it is clear that what we said above about Salem is true.
— Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Dinah — Judged; vindicated, daughter of Jacob by Leah, and sister of Simeon and Levi (Gen. 30:21). She was seduced by Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite chief, when Jacob’s camp was in the neighbourhood…
Gate — (1.) Of cities, as of Jerusalem (Jer. 37:13; Neh. 1:3; 2:3; 3:3), of Sodom (Gen. 19:1), of Gaza (Judg. 16:3). (2.) Of royal palaces (Neh. 2:8). (3.) Of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 6:34, 35; 2…
Hamor — He-ass, a Hivite from whom Jacob purchased the plot of ground in which Joseph was afterwards buried (Gen. 33:19). He is called “Emmor” in Acts 7:16. His son Shechem founded the city of that name…
Shechem — Shoulder. (1.) The son of Hamor the Hivite (Gen. 33:19; 34). (2.) A descendant of Manasseh (Num. 26:31; Josh. 17:2). (3.) A city in Samaria (Gen. 33:18), called also Sichem (12:6), Sychem (Acts…
Courts Of Justice · Inferior court: Held at the gates — Inferior court: Held at the gates
Deception · .Jacob’s — .Jacob’s
Dishonesty · .Simeon and Levi — .Simeon and Levi
Gates · Conferences on public affairs — Conferences on public affairs
Vengeance · . — .

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 34:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 34:18-24

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 34:20

Adam Clarke on Genesis 34:17

John Gill on Genesis 34:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 34:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 34:18-24

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 34:20

Adam Clarke on Genesis 34:17

John Gill on Genesis 34:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 34:18-20

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 34:18-24

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 34:18-24

Rashi on Genesis 34:2