Genesis 37, Dreamer

After a brief interlude to track the descendants of Esau, we return to the story of Jacob/Israel and his sons.

Genesis 37:1-2, Tattle-tail

Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

Teenage Joseph is sure of himself and brings a bad report to Jacob about his adult brothers. (We are not told the substance of the report.) One sees the dispute between Rachel and the other mothers continuing into family strife in the next generation.

Genesis 37:3-4, The coat of many colors                        t 

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

The Hebrew adjective passim (פַּסִּֽים), translated "richly ornamented" is unclear.  Old translations were "multi-colored".  Regardless, the coat was rich, elaborate and distinctive. It represents status (Walton.) Unlike the other ten sons, Joseph is dressed as a manager, not an ordinary laborer.

Genesis 37:5-8, Dream #1 (and boasting)

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it."

His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.

With immature enthusiasm, Joseph tells his dream to his brothers.  The brothers' response is to be expected.

Genesis 37:9-11, Dream #2

Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph describes a second dream and receives a reasonable rebuke from his father. The dream borders on blasphemy (says Alter) as no one but YHWH is worthy of worship by the heavenly bodies.

Genesis 37:12-17, Joseph seeks his brothers

Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, "As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them." 

"Very well," he replied.

So he said to him, "Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me." Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. 

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?"

He replied, "I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?"

"They have moved on from here," the man answered. "I heard them say, `Let's go to Dothan.'" 

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan.

Joseph has been sent by his father to find his brothers. Shechem is the place where the brothers massacred a town.  

Genesis 37:18-24, Joseph attacked

But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

"Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other. "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."

When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said. "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe--the richly ornamented robe he was wearing--and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

The Hebrew word hachalomot  (הַחֲלֹמ֥וֹת) has, at it root, chalom (חֲלוֹם), meaning "dream". It is prefixed by baal (בַּעַל), meaning "master", so that Joseph is being called "dream-master" or "lord of dreams." This is surely a sarcastic term used to mock Joseph's arrogance over his previous two dreams.

That the sons can be violent is not in doubt. They have already been involved in the massacre and looting of Shechem. But Reuben, the firstborn, the one who slept with his father's concubine, Bilhah, intervenes to prevent bloodshed.

Genesis 37:25-28, Sold into slavery

As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.

So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

Judah forestalls the killing of Joseph by suggesting that Joseph be sold to the "Ishmaelites".  (The traders are called Midianites later in this chapter.) According to the NIV footnotes, "twenty shekels" is about 8 ounces.

There is a raw violence and cruelty in the brothers of Joseph. Here we see his life saved by Reuben and Judah, but neither is very likeable. (We will see more of the character of Judah in the next chapter.)

Genesis 37: 28-33, A lie to Jacob

When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn't there! Where can I turn now?"

Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe."

He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."

The brothers fall back on part of their original plan, pretending that Joseph, wandering alone, looking for his brothers, has been killed by a wild animal. Jacob is devastated. The deceptions he has practiced in his younger years has been passed down to his sons. Jacob used a killed lamb for a meal and a lamb's coat to cover his arms, all in order to deceive his father. His sons kill a goat to bloody the ornamental coat and deceive him.

Genesis 37: 34-36, Jacob devastated

Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son." So his father wept for him.

Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.

I see hints that Jacob has more than one daughter, although the plural "daughters" could also mean granddaughters.

Fortunately for Jacob, he will later go down, not to the grave, but to Egypt to see his son.

The descriptions of the traders as Ishmaelites and then Midianites is a bit confusing. Midian was a half-brother of Ishmael, born through Keturah.  (According to the NIV footnotes the name "Midianites" in verses 28 and 36 follows the Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac manuscripts; the Masoretic text has "Medanites.")

The chapter ends on a natural cliff-hanger. What will happen to young Joseph in Egypt?

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is toledot 

תּוֹלְדָה

sometimes translated "generations".  It tends to be a header for a new section in Genesis. In the first verse of this chapter, it announces that we will now focus on the descendants of Jacob.

Some Random Thoughts

From the story of Cain and Abel to the betrayal of Joseph by his brothers, Genesis is full of stories of sibling rivalry and hatred. A Hong Kong writer applies the story of Joseph to siblings today in this essay at Christianity Today. (That article is available in both English and Chinese.)

First published Feb 13, 2023; updated Feb 12, 2026

Genesis 36, Esau

We have wrapped up much of the significant events in Jacob's life and have seen Isaac buried. Before moving on to the life of Jacob's sons, the author records the other family line of Isaac, that of Esau. In the future, the descendants of Jacob, the Israelites, will have numerous encounters with the descendants of Esau. Indeed the short book of Obadiah focuses on that future nation-tribe.

Genesis 36:1-5, Esau's Canaanite wives
This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom). Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite-- also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in Canaan.

The word "account" here is the Hebrew toledot (תּוֹלְדָה), sometimes translated "generations".  It tends to set off one portion of Genesis from another. It is used here to complete a discussion of Isaac's descendants by tracing the descendants of Esau before moving on the more important story of Jacob's children.

The first members of Esau's family come from the Canaanite wives, women that Rebekah did not like.

Genesis 36:6-8, Esau settles in Seir

Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob. Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock. So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.

The hill country of Seir (including Mount Seir) is south of modern Jerusalem in modern Jordan.

 

Jacob and Esau had too much livestock to be supported by one region.  And they didn't trust each other.  So they had separated.

Genesis 36:9-14, Esau's sons
This is the account of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. 

These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, the son of Esau's wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau's wife Basemath. 

The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz. Esau's son Eliphaz also had a concubine named Timna, who bore him Amalek. These were grandsons of Esau's wife Adah.

The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath.

The sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon, whom she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jalam and Korah.

We trace the lines of Esau's children through three wives, Adah, Basemath and Oholibamah. The Amelekites, descendants of Amalek, will be a perennial enemy of the Israelites. The first battle Moses and Israel face in the Exodus is with the Amelekites (Exodus 17:8-16.)

There is some confusion about the three wives of Esau. In Genesis 26:34-35, 28:8-9, Esau marries two Canaanite women, Judith and Basemath, and then later marries Mahalath, a daughter of Ishmael. But here the three wives are named Adah, Basemath and Oholibamah. The differences in these two accounts is interesting enough to have its own Wikipedia page, Wives of Esau.

Genesis 36:15-19, Chiefs among the grandsons
These were the chiefs among Esau's descendants: The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, Korah, Gatam and Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in Edom; they were grandsons of Adah.

The sons of Esau's son Reuel: Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in Edom; they were grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath.

The sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: Chiefs Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau's wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah. These were the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these were their chiefs.

These male descendants of Esau are called chiefs, emphasizing that they eventually led a significant tribe.

Genesis 36:20-30, The descendants of the sons of Seir

These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the region: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These sons of Seir in Edom were Horite chiefs.

The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan's sister. The sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who discovered the hot springs in the desert while he was grazing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.

The children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

The sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.

The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.

The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

These were the Horite chiefs: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. 

These were the Horite chiefs, according to their divisions, in the land of Seir.

We are suddenly introduced to an individual named "Seir the Horite" and his descendants.

These names were presumably known to the early Israelites (but a bit boring to me!)  This passage takes the genealogy back a bit to show connections to Seir and the Horites. 

Many of these ancient leaders presumably have lands named after them. The ancient hero, Job, was from the land of Uz (Job 1:1.)

In this passage there are small discrepancies in various ancient manuscripts. In verse 16, the word "Korah" is a disputed text. According to the NIV footnotes, it occurs in the Masoretic Text but the Samaritan Pentateuch does not have "Korah". In verse 22 the Hebrew "Hemam", is a variant of "Homam" which appears in the genealogy of Seir in 1 Chronicles 1:39. In verse 24,  the NIV follows the Vulgate for the word "hot springs". The Syriac text translates as "discovered water" but the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.

Genesis 36:31-39, Kings in Edom before the Israelites

These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king reigned:

Bela son of Beor became king of Edom. His city was named Dinhabah.

When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah succeeded him as king. 

When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king. 

When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king. His city was named Avith. 

When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah succeeded him as king. When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the river succeeded him as king. 

When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Acbor succeeded him as king. 

When Baal-Hanan son of Acbor died, Hadad succeeded him as king. His city was named Pau, and his wife's name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

Verse 31 is interesting -- the author (or a later editor) is aware that there will eventually be kings over the nation of Israel and clarifies that these Edomite kings ruled before then. 

According to the NIV footnotes, the name "Hadad" in verse 39 is another place where ancient manuscripts differ. Some manuscripts have "Hadar" instead. Like almost all manuscript differences, this slight change, a confusion between an 'r' and a 'd' in an ancient name, is irrelevant to our story. In this case we have a standard copyist issue we will see in other places: copyists often confused the Hebrew dalet (ד) with the Hebrew resh (ר.)

Genesis 36: 40-43, The chiefs of Edom
These were the chiefs descended from Esau, by name, according to their clans and regions: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel and Iram. 

These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they occupied. This was Esau the father of the Edomites.

Esau, even though he didn't get the birthright from Isaac, is still the ancestor of numerous tribes in the region of Edom (in modern southern Jordan.)

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is alluwph

אַלּוּף

a (masculine) adjective meaning chief or chief friend. It appears more than two dozen times in this chapter, describing the descendants of Esau.

Some Random Thoughts

This chapter has one priority -- to trace the lineage of future Edomite rulers and leaders. This would be of significance to the judges and kings who would later face them. Verse 31 suggests that this lineage may have been compiled during that later time.

First published Feb 11, 2023; updated Feb 11, 2026

Genesis 35, Bethel

Jacob's sons have murdered the men of Shechem for the rape of their sister. It may be time for Jacob and his clan to move on.

Genesis 35:1-4, An altar at Bethel and removal of other gods

Then God said to Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." 

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.  Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone."

So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.

Jacob returns to Bethel, where, in a dream, God had met him at the top of a ramp to heaven (Genesis 28:10-22.) As they journey there, Jacob insists that his family remove the "foreign gods" (idols), including the rings in their ears (presumably a talisman regarding those gods.) It is likely that some idols were picked up in the looting of Shechem but we note that even Rachel had stolen Laban's figurines. It was apparently common to have figurines of various gods in the ancient Near Eastern pagan culture. Archaeologists have even found earrings in the shapes of various gods (says Alter.)

Genesis 35:5-7, Terror

Then they set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them. Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

Fear and respect follow the tribe of Jacob. They are a scary clan and have a unique God.

"El Bethel" means "God of Bethel" and "Bethel" means "house of God" so "El Bethel" is a bit redundant.

Genesis 35:8, Deborah dies
Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So it was named Allon Bacuth.

A brief interlude records the death of Rebekah's nurse. We have no other information about Deborah.

According to the NIV footnotes, "Allon Bacuth" means "oak of weeping".

Genesis 35:9-13, Name change confirmed

After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel." So he named him Israel.

And God said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you." Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.

In verse 10, "Jacob" means "he grasps the heel" (figuratively, he deceives) and "Israel" means "he struggles with God." Presumably this appearance of YHWH is again at Bethel, on the return trip from Harran.

The English title "God Almighty" is rare in the Old Testament; in Hebrew it is "El-Shaddai." 

Genesis 35:14-15, A pillar at Bethel
Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel. Then they moved on from Bethel. 

The worship at Bethel is summarized. In the first trip through Bethel, Jacob set up a stone pillar and poured oil on it (28:18.)

Genesis 35:16-20, Rachel dies in childbirth
While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, for you have another son." As she breathed her last--for she was dying--she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb.

In naming Joseph in Genesis 30:24, Rachel intended to "add" sons, to have more than one. The midwife tells her that she is indeed getting a second son. But Rachel will not live to raise him. Rachel dies in childbirth, finally getting her wish after many many years of infertility.

The term "Ben-Oni" means "son of my trouble" but could also mean "son of vigor." The name "Benjamin" means "son of my right hand". Alter suggests that "Benjamin", if the last part of the name is the Hebrew yom, would mean "son of my old age". Elderly Jacob has a twelfth son and refuses to allow Rachel's sad naming to stick with the child.

Rachel is buried near Bethlehem of Ephrath. A great deal will happen in that small town, including a number of significant future childbirths!

Genesis 35:21-22a, Reuben sleeps with Bilhah

Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it. 

Apparently concubines have little say about sex (or rape)?  In the ancient Near Eastern culture, sleeping with women in the harem of the father is probably a statement about dominance, about being the alpha male. (Absalom does this when he revolts against his father, David, 2 Samuel 16:21–22.) Reuben, the firstborn, may be laying claim to clan leadership after Jacob's death. Neither Jacob nor the narrator comment on this. Jacob hears of this but is silent. He will remember however, and will comment on this in Genesis 49:3-4.

Reuben is the firstborn son of Jacob and so, in the ANE culture, is the one to inherit the birthright and mantle of Jacob. But this sin presumably removes this right. The ancient readers of this text may now recognize that the first three sons of Jacob: Reuben, Simeon and Levi (see Genesis 34), have now all done atrocious acts, acts that might nullify their right to the birthright. If so, that mantle would then fall to the fourth son, Judah, out of whom the Davidic dynasty arises. The author of Chronicles has, however, a different viewpoint; see 1 Chronicles 5:1-2, where the sons of Joseph receive that honor.

Genesis 35:22b-27, The twelve sons of Israel

Jacob had twelve sons: 

The sons of Leah: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

The sons of Rachel's maidservant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.

The sons of Leah's maidservant Zilpah: Gad and Asher. 

These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram. Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.

Here we have a summary of the sons of Israel, organized according to their mothers.

Genesis 35:28-29, Isaac dies
Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Isaac dies, leaving two sons, each with large tribes. This entire chapter is a collection of miscellaneous events in the life of Jacob/Israel.  This last event, the burial of Isaac, probably happened some time earlier. 

We wrap up much of the life of Jacob in this chapter as the rest of Genesis will focus on his twelve sons and Jacob will be relegated to a minor role. 

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is elah,

אִלָה

a feminine noun meaning terebinth or oak. In verse 4, above, Jacob buries the idols under an oak at Shechem and then later, in verse 8, buries the body of Rebekah's nurse under "the oak below Bethel."

Some Random Thoughts

This birthright stuff is so strange. Although the concept of birthright is not mentioned in this chapter, some of the actions in this chapter will clearly have consequences to birthrights later.

The idols were buried under a tree and later the body of Rebekah's nurse was buried under another tree. But Rebekah's tomb was marked by a stone pillar, a more permanent marker that was still identifiable in the time of the author of Genesis.

First published Feb 10, 2023; updated Feb 10, 2026

Genesis 34, Rape

Jacob's family has settled outside the town of Shechem, named apparently, for the son of Hamor the Hivite. (Shechem was probably about 30 miles north of modern Jerusalem; see this Wikipedia page.)

Genesis 34:1-4, Rape of Dinah

Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her. His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her. And Shechem said to his father Hamor, "Get me this girl as my wife."

Dinah is raped by the son of the local ruler. Shechem is obsessed with Dinah and wants her as his wife, and rashly hurries and takes her by force. (The Hebrew leaves no question that this is rape.)

Genesis 34:5-7, Jacob and his sons hear of the rape

When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he kept quiet about it until they came home. Then Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.

Now Jacob's sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter--a thing that should not be done.

Jacob hears of the rape. (From Dinah?) He is quiet about it until his sons come home.  They are furious and make plans to retaliate. But the rapist is the king's son.... It is likely that Jacob's silence angers his sons. They make plans for vengeance and do not tell their father.

Much of the time the author of Genesis does not comment on the historical events. The Genesis text usually gives no instructions on morality; it merely reports on the history. But here is an exception. Our narrator stresses that what Shechem has done was disgraceful ("in Israel"), as if to partially justify the horror of what follows. The phrase "in Israel" appears to look forward to a time when Israel is a nation, not just a small family band.

Note: It is possible that Jacob has other daughters.

Genesis 34:8-12, Hamor and Shechem ask for Dinah

But Hamor said to them, "My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it."

Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the girl as my wife."

Hamor, the king, proposes marriage and an alliance. He is interested not in just a wife for his son but in a beneficial economic alliance with this wealthy family.  

In the ANE culture, the marriage should have been negotiated by the fathers, with a bride price being paid by the father of the groom. But the rape means that the woman has lost value and so the bride price should skyrocket. Shechem and his father are willing to pay "any price" for Dinah.

Genesis 34:13-17, Jacob's sons plan revenge
Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. They said to them, "We can't do such a thing; we can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us.

We will give our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We'll settle among you and become one people with you. But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we'll take our sister and go."

According to the NIV footnotes, several places where the word "sister" appears, the Hebrew word is really the word for "daughter".  Clearly "sister" is implied.

Genesis 34:18-24, The men of the community are circumcised.
Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. The young man, who was the most honored of all his father's household, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter.

So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to their fellow townsmen. "These men are friendly toward us," they said. "Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. But the men will consent to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. Won't their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us give our consent to them, and they will settle among us." All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.

This is a painful process for an adult male! The brothers are relying on that fact.

Hamor and Shechem appear to have considerable power and influence and are looking to ally their power with that of Jacob and his clan.

How big is the "city"? It is big enough to have a city gate. But one gets the impression that Hamor and his clan will be greatly aided by Jacob, his twelve sons and servants.  Many decades later, with the addition of grandchildren, Jacob's tribe will have grown to seventy (Genesis 46:27) so one might suspect that adding in servants, Jacob's clan at this time numbers less than thirty.

Genesis 34:25-29, Massacre and robbery

Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem's house and left.

The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.

The rape of Dinah is followed by an act of extreme violence, with dozens murdered. Surely innocents die. 

I find it difficult to believe that just two sons, Simeon and Levi, are capable of massacring a city of hundreds. Other sons are involved in carrying off the wealth and so there may have been both sons and servants involved at the end of the massacre. It is also possible that there is typical ANE hyperbole here -- many men, especially those loyal to Hamor, are put to death and the death toll could be in the dozens, but it is unlikely to be the entire city. (We will see example of this hyperbole in some later accounts.)

Genesis 34:30-31, Jacob complains

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed."

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

Jacob is upset by the massacre but the sons have a quick response, "They abused our sister."

The massacre will force a move. Jacob mentions both Canaanites and Perizzites; the Perizzites will be a tribe that Israel must deal with during the time of the judges.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is anah 

עָנָה

meaning to abase, to force, to afflict. In verse 2 above, describing the sex between Shechem and Dinah, the word is the root of vayaneha (וַיְעַנֶּֽהָ), meaning "with her, by force." In other words, the sex was forceful, possibly violent; it was rape. The Hebrew word has the same meaning in Judges 20:5 and 2 Samuel 13:12-14. That word can be used in situations that are not sexual; in Genesis 16:6 the NIV says that Sarah "mistreated" Hagar. In Exodus 1:11 the word is translated "oppress".  In both cases one might wonder if the word implies violence.

Some Random Thoughts

There are at least two places in Genesis where either an editor or a late author inserts a historical comment. Above, in verse 7, the author points out that "this disgraceful thing" should not be done in Israel. In Genesis 36:31, the author identifies the Edomites as living "before there was a king in Israel." In both cases the author or a later editor sees a history of Israel as a nation, looking back from a time centuries later.

First published Feb 9, 2023; updated Feb 9, 2026

Children of Abraham

A number of people groups trace their lineage to Abraham.  The Jews are descendants of Abraham through Isaac and then Jacob (Israel.)  In Islam, Abraham's son Ishmael (through Hagar) is considered a prophet and the founder of the Arabian people and ancestor of Mohammed.  According to Genesis 17:20, Ishmael, had twelve sons, fathers of twelve tribes.  Similarly, Jacob, Isaac's son, had twelve sons, fathers of twelve tribes.  All of these groups, including the numerous people groups of the Arabian region, trace their lineage to Abraham and trace their monotheism (whether, Christian, Jew or Muslim) to Abraham's covenant with the One God. 

A significant message throughout the book of Genesis is that there is One God and that that God chose Abraham to bless, through his descendants, all people groups.  The descendants of Abraham, as they journey to and fro from the land of Canaan, are reminded to give up the pagan culture of many gods and worship the One God who created the universe.  In its simplest form, worship of the God of Abraham meant opposition to worship of tribal gods, of Baals or idols, of gods identified with "created things" such as the trees, sun, moon and stars.

We are probably 120 to 150 generations from Abraham.  Given the millions of ancestors we each have (even after considerable duplication of ancestors) it is likely that most of us have at least one ancestral line back to Abraham.  But even if not... Abraham is a major forefather, historically and religiously.

Christians, even when not biologically linked to Abraham, view him as the "father" of faith; Abraham's dependence on God and the righteousness granted him by God, based on his faith, is a model for Christians of trust in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) to be their one sacrifice for sin and rebellion. (See Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:29 and Matthew 8:11 as examples of this.)

Some resources on Abraham and his descendants

1. Wikipedia's page on Abraham.
2. The Encyclopedia Britannica's entry on Abraham.
3. The New World Encyclopedia's entry on Abraham.
4. Wikipedia has a useful page on Abraham's family tree.
5. Christianity Today has an article on Abraham's sojourn.

First published Feb 5, 2023; updated Feb 8, 2026

Genesis 33, Reconciliation with Esau

The deceitful Jacob meets his brother after twenty years. Jacob is worried about violence and robbery, knowing that he has deceived his brother and stolen the birthright.

Genesis 33:1-4, Two brothers meet

Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants. He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.

Jacob, concerned about violence, puts his favorites, Rachel and her son, at the end of the line. But just as Jacob has grown up and matured, so has Esau. The two men hug and cry together. We don't know what they said during this embrace but one can guess.

Genesis 33:5-11, Hugs and weeping

Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. "Who are these with you?" he asked. 

Jacob answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant." Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down. Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.

Esau asked, "What do you mean by all these droves I met?" 

"To find favor in your eyes, my lord," he said.

But Esau said, "I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself."

"No, please!" said Jacob. "If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need." And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.

Both men have grown up and grown wealthy, with wives, children, and possessions. Esau does not need possessions, but he does need respect, and Jacob is giving it. Similarly, Jacob asks for grace. And receives it. (Jacob seems to be trying to give back to Esau the blessings and riches of the birthright.)

This is not the first time we have seen a certain custom in gift-giving. The dialogue seems to go like this,         "Here take this." 

     "No, I have no need!"  

     "But I insist!" 

     "Well, OK, then."

Genesis 33:12-15, Still worried

Then Esau said, "Let us be on our way; I'll accompany you."

But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir."

Esau said, "Then let me leave some of my men with you." 

"But why do that?" Jacob asked. "Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord."

Jacob is still a little worried about Esau's intentions. Years of deceit and doubt will not be erased in one day!

Genesis 33:16-20, Succoth

So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.

Jacob, however, went to Succoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Succoth. After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.

Succoth means "shelters".   "El Elohe Israel" translates roughly as "God, the God of Israel."

The Hebrew for the amount of money translated here as "a hundred pieces of silver" is really "a hundred qesitah  The qesitah is a piece of money, most likely silver. Alter argues that this period predates coins and so the silver would have just been in various weights. 

Alter also suggests that the fact that Jacob purchased land is a statement of permanence -- Jacob plans to stay here. But sadly, shortly, the sojourner Jacob, and his family, will have to move on.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is sukkah 

סֻכָּה

a feminine noun meaning cottage, tent, tabernacle, booth, shelter. When Jacob made shelters for his livestock, he named the place Shelters (Succoth.) Later, after forty years of living in tents, the wandering Israelites would celebrate a festival called Sukkot, the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles. (See Leviticus 23:34.)

Some Random Thoughts

The Genesis story of Abraham and his descendants includes a number of events in which some type of claim is made to the land, along with a vow to stay in the land or return to the land. Abraham and his sons build altars and maintain wells. Abraham buys land to bury his wife (Genesis 23:17-20) and there in the Cave of Machpelah he too is buried. Isaac and Jacob also dig wells and purchase land. In this chapter we see Jacob purchasing land and setting up an altar. Repeatedly the patriarchs are promised the land of Canaan and repeatedly they attempt to settle in it or return to it. That land is hundreds of miles southwest of Aram/Syria and yet in their desire for permanence, the descendants of Jacob will be called wandering Arameans (see Deuteronomy 26:5.) There was both a desire for stability in their story and a life status as immigrants and refugees.

The tension between a desire for permanence and the wandering bedouin experience runs throughout the Old Testament books.

 

First published Feb 8, 2023; updated Feb 7, 2026

Genesis 32, Jacob Wrestles

When Jacob left the home of his father Isaac, he was fleeing his brother Esau, headed to Laban's home, seeking a bride.  On the road, at night, he had a dream in which God stood at the top of a long ramp and repeated the promises made previously to Abraham and Isaac. Later Jacob, fleeing Laban, headed back to Canaan and toward Seir. (Mount Seir, traditionally the home of the Edomites, is in southwest Jordan, east and south of Jerusalem. See this Wikipedia page.)  Jacob is retracing a path he took twenty years before.

Genesis 32:1-5, Two camps

Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them, he said, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim.

Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He instructed them: "This is what you are to say to my master Esau: `Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, menservants and maidservants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.'"

We are briefly alerted that Jacob met angels. Then the story moves on to the upcoming conflict with Esau.

The name "Mahanaim" means "two camps".  "Two camps" will have several meanings in this story.

Genesis 32:6-8, Four hundred men
When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, "We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him." In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. He thought, "If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape."

The Hebrew word machaneh (מַחֲנֶה) means "camp". The NIV translates that word as "group" here but it is essentially the same word as Mahanaim, above. So the concept of "two camps" (Mahanaim) continues.  

Jacob expects violence from Esau. The old feud, caused long ago by Jacob's deceit, still festers. When one is a deceiver, this is always a concern.

Genesis 32:9-12, But You promised!

Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, `Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups.

"Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, `I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'"

Jacob reminds God of His covenant promise.

Throughout the book of Genesis, there is a certain honest selfishness in the way humans deal with God. I find this refreshing.

Genesis 32:13-20, A train of gifts for Esau

He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, "Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds." 

He instructed the one in the lead: "When my brother Esau meets you and asks, `To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?' then you are to say, `They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.'"

He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: "You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. And be sure to say, `Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.'" For he thought, "I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me."

Jacob prepares a large train of gifts for Esau, to soften him up.  Each is to arrive, one after the other, hoping to persist in getting Esau's attention and eventual goodwill.

Genesis 32:21-23, Jacob separates from his possessions

So Jacob's gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp. That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.

Jacob finally sends his family and possessions across the Jabbok. He is now alone. The tension of this coming meeting has reached its height.

Genesis 32:24-29, Jacob finally wrestles with God

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.

Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." 

But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

The man asked him, "What is your name?" 

"Jacob," he answered.

Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." 

Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." 

But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.

What a strange story. A determined Jacob wrestles with a stranger, a stranger who names him Israel, "one who struggles with God." It would seem, of course, that the stranger (angel?) had more power than demonstrated in this wrestling contest. That supernatural being will not give Jacob his own name, but blesses him.

We will see, throughout the Torah, that God often honors people who "wrestle". He gently chastises Sarah when she doubts His promise of a son; YHWH argues with Moses repeatedly in Exodus. YHWH, although a very scary God, intervenes personally in lives and seems to take pleasure in the conversation.

Genesis 32:30-32, Jacob limps

So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."

The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.

The Hebrew word panim (פָנִים) means "face" or "before". Combine that word with the general word "el" for "god" and one has Peniel, the "face of God." Crooked and deceitful Jacob has come face-to-face with God and now has been made literally crooked; he must walk with a limp.  The deceiver has faced numerous reckonings and must grow and mature. (Wrestling with God, whether physically or metaphorically, presumably forces this maturity on one.)

The last verse offers a tribal instruction for remembering this event.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

The Hebrew name Machanayim 

מַחֲניִם

means "two camps." Like most languages, Hebrew has singular and plural forms for its nouns but -- somewhat special to Semitic languages -- it also has a dual ending, which usually means "exactly two." That ending often appears in nouns where there are naturally pairs, such as two eyes, two legs, etc.. But in this chapter, the singular machaneh mentioned in the paragraph after verse 8, above, is dualized to give the place where Jacob meets the angels. The Hebrew dual is an interesting concept; see this article for more.

Some Random Thoughts

Jacob leads a stressful life, borne out of his natural tendency for deception. Occasionally one meets a person who seems to rely on deception. In my professional life I knew one woman who could not trust what others said because (I think) she believed that everyone lied. She certainly was dishonest; she seemed to always be on the make, and because of that, she seemed to believe everyone else was also.  I have also met several rather poisonous people that I would call "gaslighters." They could say one thing in one place and the complete opposite a moment later, and ever deny any deceit. I identified one of these individuals (an assistant pastor!) by eventually taking copious notes and collaborating with a colleague that saw what I saw. This individual did a lot of damage -- but along the way was fired from the pastorate, fired from a teaching job (for preying on high school girls) and divorced by his wife. I don't know if he was ever truly aware of his deceit; there is a certain mental condition, I think, in which one lies even to oneself.

The great deceiver Jacob pays a price, but over time is confronted and (slowly) changed. It is not easy to wrestle with God!

First published Feb 7, 2023; updated Feb 6, 2026