• Torah (T): Bereshiyt (Genesis) 34:1-31
• Prophets (P): Nahum 1:12 – 2:5
• Apostolic (A): 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 30:1 – 31:2

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Joshua 24:29-33 (T)
• Genesis 29:33-34; Genesis 30:19-21 (T)
• Genesis 34:1-3 LXX (T)
• Exodus 22:16-17 (T)
• Deuteronomy 22:28-29 (T)
• Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (T)
• Hosea 2:9-10 (T)
• Leviticus 15:16-18, 31-33 (T)
• Genesis 49:1-2, 5-7 (T)
• Romans 10:15 (P)
• Leviticus 21:9 (ADD)
• Leviticus 18:21 (ADD)
• Leviticus 20:1-5 (ADD)
• Exodus 32:30-32 (ADD)
• Revelation 20:11-15 (ADD)

RELATED ADDITIONAL READINGS

• Judith 9:1-4 (T)
• Sirach 42:9-11 (T)
• Jubilees 25:1, 4-5 (T)
• The Temple Scroll 11QT LXV (T)
• Enoch 47:1-4 (ADD)
• Genesis 34:1 – 35:7 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 1.21.1-2 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

Prophets Portion (P)

1:12 YHWH says: “Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so they will be cut down, and he will pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. 13 Now I will break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart.” 14 YHWH has commanded concerning you: “No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your elohim, I will cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.” 15 Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the wicked one will no more pass through you. He is utterly cut off. 2:1 He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your waist! Fortify your power mightily! 2 For YHWH restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel, for the destroyers have destroyed them and ruined their vine branches. 3 The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished. 4 The chariots rage in the streets. They rush back and forth in the wide ways. Their appearance is like torches. They run like the lightnings. 5 [And their great men will be remembering, and flee day by day].^(LXX) They stumble on their walk. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place.

Apostolic Portion (A)

6:14 Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 What agreement does Messiah have with Belial? Or what portion does a believer have with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement does a temple of Elohim have with idols? For we are a temple of the living God. Even as Elohim said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their Elohim and they will be my people.” (cf. Leviticus 26:12; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 37:27)  17 Therefore “ ‘Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you. (cf. Isaiah 52:11; Ezekiel 20:34; Ezekiel 20:41) 18 I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,’ says the YHWH Almighty.” (cf. 2 Samuel 7:14; Isaiah 43:6)

Additional Portion (ADD)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

30:1 And in the first year of the sixth week [2143 A.M.] he went up to Salem, to the east of Shechem, in peace, 2 in the fourth month. 2. And there they carried off Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, into the house of Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, the prince of the land, and he lay with her and defiled her, and she was a little girl, a child of twelve years. 3. And he besought his father and her brothers that she might be given to him to wife. And Jacob and his sons were wroth because of the men of Shechem; for they had defiled Dinah, their sister, and they spake to them with evil intent and dealt deceitfully with them and beguiled them. 4. And Shimon and Levi came unexpectedly to Shechem and executed judgment on all the men of Shechem, and slew all the men whom they found in it, and left not a single one remaining in it: they slew all in torments because they had dishonoured their sister Dinah. 5. And thus let it not again be done from henceforth that a daughter of Israel be defiled; for judgment is ordained in the heavens against them that they should destroy with the sword all the men of the Shechemites because they had wrought shame in Israel. 6. And the Lord delivered them into the hands of the sons of Jacob that they might exterminate them with the sword and execute judgment upon them, and that it might not thus again be done in Israel that a virgin of Israel should be defiled. 7. And if there is any man who wisheth in Israel to give his daughter or his sister to any man who is of the seed of the Nations he will surely die, and they will stone him with stones; for he hath wrought shame in Israel; and they will burn the woman with fire, because she hath dishonoured the name of the house of her father, and she will be rooted out of Israel. 8. And let not an adulteress and no uncleanness be found in Israel throughout all the days of the generations of the land; for Israel is holy unto the Lord, and every man who hath defiled (it) will surely die: they will stone him with stones. 9. For thus hath it been ordained and written in the heavenly tables regarding all the seed of Israel: he who defileth (it) will surely die, and he will be stoned with stones. 10. And to this law there is no limit of days, and no forgiveness, nor any atonement: but the man who hath defiled his daughter will be rooted out in the midst of all Israel, because he hath given of his seed to Moloch, and wrought impiously so as to defile it. 11. And do thou, Moses, command the sons of Israel and exhort them not to give their daughters to the Nations, and not to take for their sons any of the daughters of the Nations, for this is abominable before the Lord. 12. For this reason I have written for thee in the words of the Law all the deeds of the Shechemites, which they wrought against Dinah, and how the sons of Jacob spake, saying: “We will not give our daughter to a man who is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us.” 13. And it is a reproach to Israel, to those who give, and to those who take the daughters of the Nations; for this is unclean and abominable to Israel. 14. And Israel will not be free from this uncleanness if it hath a wife of the daughters of the Nations, or hath given any of its daughters to a man who is of any of the Nations. 15. For there will be plague upon plague, and curse upon curse, and every judgment and plague and curse will come (upon him): if he do this thing, or hide his eyes from those who commit uncleanness, or those who defile the sanctuary of the Lord, or those who profane His holy name, (then) will the whole nation together be judged for all the uncleanness and profanation of this (man). 16. And there will be no respect of persons [and no consideration of persons], and no receiving at his hands of fruits and offerings and burnt offerings and fat, nor the fragrance of sweet savour, so as to accept it: and so fare every man or woman in Israel who defileth the sanctuary. 17. For this reason I have commanded thee, saying: “Testify this witness to Israel: see how the Shechemites fared and their sons: how they were delivered into the hands of two sons of Jacob, and they slew them under tortures, and it was (reckoned) unto them for righteousness, and it is written down to them for righteousness. 18. And the seed of Levi was chosen for the priesthood, and to be Levites, that they might minister before the Lord, as we, continually, and that Levi and his sons may be blessed for ever; for he was zealous to execute righteousness and judgment and vengeance on all those who arose against Israel. 19. And so they inscribe as a witness in his favour on the heavenly tables blessing and righteousness before the Elohim of all: 20. And we remember the righteousness which the man fulfilled during his life, at all periods of the year; until a thousand generations they will record it, and it will come to him and to his descendants after him, and he hath been recorded on the heavenly tables as a friend and a righteous man. 21. All this account I have written for thee, and have commanded thee to say to the sons of Israel, that they should not commit sin nor transgress the ordinances nor break the covenant which hath been ordained for them, (but) that they should fulfill it and be recorded as friends. 22. But if they transgress and work uncleanness in every way, they will be recorded on the heavenly tables as adversaries, and they will be destroyed out of the book of life, and they will be recorded in the book of those who will be destroyed and with those who will be rooted out of the land. 23. And on the day when the sons of Jacob slew Shechem a writing was recorded in their favour in the heavens that they had executed righteousness and uprightness and vengeance on the sinners, and it was written for a blessing. 24. And they brought Dinah, their sister, out of the house of Shechem, and they took captive everything that was in Shechem, their sheep and their oxen and their donkeys, and all their wealth, and all their flocks, and brought them all to Jacob their father. 25. And he reproached them because they had put the city to the sword; for he feared those who dwelt in the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 26. And the dread of the Lord was upon all the cities which are around about Shechem, and they did not rise to pursue after the sons of Jacob; for terror had fallen upon them.

31:1 And on the new moon of the month Jacob spake to all the people of his house, saying: “Purify yourselves and change your garments, and let us arise and go up to Bethel, where I vowed a vow to Him on the day when I fled from the face of Esau my brother, because He hath been with me and brought me into this land in peace, and put ye away the strange elohim that are among you.” 2. And they gave up the strange elohim and that which was in their ears and the idols which Rachel stole from Laban her brother she gave wholly to Jacob. And he burnt and brake them to pieces and destroyed them, and hid them under an oak which is in the land of Shechem.

Related Scriptures

Joshua 24:29-33 (T)

24:29 After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of YHWH, died, being one hundred ten years old. 30 They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. 31 Israel served YHWH all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of YHWH, that he had worked for Israel. 32 They buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. 33 Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

Genesis 29:33-34; Genesis 30:19-21 (T)

29:33 She (Leah) conceived again, and bore a son, and said, “Because YHWH has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also.” She named him Shimon. 34 She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.

30:19 Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob. 20 Leah said, “Elohim has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons.” She named him Zebulun. 21 Afterwards, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

34:1 And went forth Dinah, the daughter whom Leah bore to Jacob, to study the daughters of the native inhabitants.  2  And Shechem beheld her, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of the land. And taking her, he went to bed with her, and humbled her.  3  And he took heed to the soul of Dinah the daughter of Jacob. And he loved the virgin, and he spoke concerning the thought of her virgin state.

22:16 If a man entices a virgin who isn’t betrothed, and lies with her, he will surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife. 17 If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he will pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

22:28 If a man finds a lady who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, grabs her and lies with her, and they are found, 29 then the man who lay with her will give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver. She will be his wife, because he has humbled her. He may not put her away all his days.

22:13 If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, hates her, 14 accuses her of shameful things, gives her a bad name, and says, “I took this wife, and when I came near to her, I didn’t find in her the tokens of virginity;” 15 then the young lady’s father and mother will take and bring the tokens of the young lady’s virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. 16 The young lady’s father will tell the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man as his wife, and he hates her. 17 Behold, he has accused her of shameful things, saying, ‘I didn’t find in your daughter the tokens of virginity;’ and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity.” They will spread the cloth before the elders of the city. 18 The elders of that city will take the man and chastise him. 19 They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young lady, because he has given a bad name to a virgin of Israel. She will be his wife. He may not put her away all his days. 20 But if this thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young lady, 21 then they will bring out the young lady to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city will stone her to death with stones, because she has done folly in Israel, to whore in her father’s house. So you will remove the evil from among you.

15:16 “ ‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he will bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening. 17 Every garment and every skin which the semen is on will be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening.18 If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they will both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening…31 Thus you will separate the sons of Israel from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.’ ” 32 This is the law of him who has a discharge, and of him who has an emission of semen, so that he is unclean by it; 33 and of her who has her period, and of a man or woman who has a discharge, and of him who lies with her who is unclean.

Genesis 49:1-2, 5-7 (T)

49:1 Jacob called to his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come. 2 Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father…5 “Shimon and Levi are brothers. Utensils of violence are their [caves].^(MTT) 6 My soul, don’t come into their council. My glory, don’t be united to their assembly; for in their anger they killed men. In their will they hamstrung cattle. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

10:15 And how will they proclaim unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”

21:9 The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, she profanes her father. She will be burned with fire.

20:1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Moreover, you will tell the sons of Israel, ‘Anyone of the sons of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners in Israel, who gives any of his seed to Molek will surely be put to death. The people of the land will stone that person with stones. 3 I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given of his seed to Molek, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. 4 If the people of the land all hide their eyes from that person when he gives of his seed to Molek, and don’t put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who whore after him to whore with Molek, from among their people.

20:11 I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the land and the heavens fled away. There was found no place for them. 12 I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Sheol gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Death and Sheol were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.

Additional Readings​

The Book of Judith relates the story of Elohim’s deliverance of the Jewish people. This was accomplished “by the hand of a female”—a constant motif meant to recall the “hand” of Elohim in the Exodus narrative. The work may have been written around 100 B.C., but its historical range is extraordinary.

9:1  But Judith fell upon her face, and put ashes upon her head, and uncovered the sackcloth with which she was clothed. The incense of that evening was now being offered at Jerusalem in the house of Elohim, and Judith cried to the Lord with a loud voice, and said,  2  “O Lord Elohim of my father Shimon, into whose hand you gave a sword to take vengeance on the strangers who loosened the belt of a virgin to defile her, uncovered the thigh to her shame, and profaned the womb to her reproach; for you said, ‘It will not be so;’ and they did so.  3  Therefore you gave their rulers to be slain, and their bed, which was ashamed for her who was deceived*, to be dyed in blood, and struck the servants with their masters, and the masters upon their thrones;  4  and gave their wives for a prey, and their daughters to be captives, and all their spoils to be divided among your dear children; which were moved with zeal for you, and abhorred the pollution of their blood, and called upon you for aid. O Elohim, O my Elohim, hear me also who am a widow.

*Some authorities read, “which was ashamed for their deceit that they practiced.”

Sirach, or Wisdom of Sirach, and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (abbreviated Ecclus.) or Ben Sira, is a work of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 B.C., written by the Jewish scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his father Joshua son of Sirach, sometimes called Jesus son of Sirach or Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira. The Sirach was almost completely uncovered in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls, at Masada, and the Cairo Geniza. The multiplicity of manuscript fragments uncovered in the Cairo Genizah evidence its authoritative status among Egyptian Jewry until the Middle Ages. Quotes from Sirach can be found in Rabbinic literature in multiple places  including the Talmud in Bava Kamma 92b:13 and Hagigah 13a:2. Additionally, the Gospels and other Apostolic Scriptures quote from the Book of Sirach including the Song of Miriam in Luke 1:52 (cf. Sirach 10:14); the description of the seed in Mark 4:5, 16–17 (cf. Sirach 40:15); the statement by Yeshua in Matthew 7:16,20 (cf. Sirach 27:6); and Ya’aqov (James) 1:19 (cf. Sirach 5:11).

42:9  A daughter is a secret cause of wakefulness to a father; And the care for her puts away sleep; In her youth, lest she pass the flower of her age; And when she is married, lest she should be hated:  10  In her virginity, lest she should be defiled And be with child in her father’s house; And when she has a husband, lest she should transgress; And when she is married, lest she should be barren.  11  Keep a strict watch over a headstrong daughter, Lest she make you a laughing stock to your enemies, A byword in the city and notorious among the people, And shame you before the multitude.

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

And in the second year of this week in this jubilee, [2109 A.M.] Rebecca called Jacob her son, and spake unto him, saying: “My son, do not take thee a wife of the daughters of Canaan, as Esau, thy brother, who took him two wives of the daughters of Canaan, and they have embittered my soul with all their unclean deeds: for all their deeds are fornication and coveting, and there is no righteousness with them, for (their deeds) are evil…” … 4. And then spake Jacob to Rebecca, his mother, and said unto her: “Behold, mother, I am nine weeks of years old, and I neither know nor have I touched any woman, nor have I betrothed myself to any, nor even think of taking me a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 5. For I remember, mother, the words of Abraham, our father, for he commanded me not to take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, but to take me a wife from the seed of my father’s house and from my kindred.

The Temple Scroll is the longest of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among the discoveries at Qumran it is designated: 11QTemple Scroll. It describes a Jewish temple which was never built, along with extensive detailed regulations about slaughters and temple practices. There is no scholarly consensus regarding the date, origin, author or authors, or its relationship to the Qumran community.[4] Some scholars attribute the Temple Scroll to the isolated Qumran community, while others see no connection with the Qumran community; instead they see the work as a priestly (possible Zadokite) document that was hidden in a cave by Zealots during their flight from Jerusalem in 70 A.D. before the Roman destruction of the Temple.

When a man takes a wife, has sexual intercourse with her and takes a dislike to her, and brings a baseless charge against her, ruining her reputation, and says, ‘I have taken this wife, approached her, and did not find the proof of virginity in her’, the father or the mother of the girl will take the girl’s proof of virginity and bring it to the elders at the gate. The girl’s father will say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to be this man’s wife; he has taken a dislike to her and has brought a baseless charge against her saying, “I have not found the proof of virginity in your daughter.” Here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.’ They will spread out the garment before the elders of that city. The elders of that city will take that man and chastise him. They will fine him one hundred pieces of silver which they will give to the father of the girl, because he (the husband) has tried to ruin the reputation of an Israelite virgin.

The Book of Enoch (also known as 1 Enoch) was written during the second century B.C. The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) of the text are estimated to date from about 300–200 B.C., and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to 100 B.C. Various Aramaic fragments found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Koine Greek and Latin fragments, were proof that The Book of Enoch was known by early Jews and Christians.

You will note some abbreviations, brackets, and symbols specially used in the translation of 1 Enoch:

• ⌈ ⌉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are found in the Greek Version preserved In Syncellus but not in the Ethiopic Version.
• ⌈⌈ ⌉⌉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are found in E the Ethiopic Version but not in the Greek Version preserved In Syncellus or the Greek Version discovered at Akhmîm.
• 〉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are restored.
• [ ] The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are interpolations.
• ( ). The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are supplied by the editor.
• The use of thick type denotes that the words so printed are emended.
• † † corruption in the text.
• . . . = some words which have been lost.

47:1 And in those days will have ascended the prayer of the righteous, And the blood of the righteous from the land before the Lord of Spirits. 2. In those days the holy ones who dwell above in the heavens Will unite with one voice And supplicate and pray [and praise, And give thanks and bless the name of the Lord of Spirits] On behalf of the blood of the righteous which has been shed, And that the prayer of the righteous may not be in vain before the Lord of Spirits, That judgement may be done unto them, And that they may not have to suffer for ever. 3. In those days I saw the Head of Days when He seated himself upon the throne of His glory, And the books of the living were opened before Him: And all His host which is in the heavens above and His counselors stood before Him, 4 And the hearts of the holy were filled with joy; Because the number of the righteous had been offered, And the prayer of the righteous had been heard, And the blood of the righteous been required before the Lord of Spirits.

Genesis 33:18 – 35:7 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 33 …Then came Jakob in peace with all that he had to the city of Shekem, in the land of Kenaan, in his Coming from Padan Aram; and he dwelt near the city, and bought the possession of a field where lie spread his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor father of Shekem, for a hundred pearls. And he raised there an altar, and there he gave the tithes which he had set apart of all that he had before God, the Elohim of Israel.

Chapter 34 And Dinah the daughter of Leah whom she bare to Jakob, went forth to see the manners of the daughters of the people of the land And Shekem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the land, saw her, and took her by force, and lay with her and afflicted her. And his soul delighted in Dinah the daughter of Jakob; and he loved the girl, and spake kindly to the heart of the girl. And Shekem spake to Hamor his father, saying, Take for me this damsel to wife. But Jakob had heard that he had polluted Dinah his daughter, And his sons were with the flocks in the field, and Jakob was silent until they came.

And Hamor the father of Shekem came forth to Jakob to speak with him. And the sons of Jakob had come up from the field when they heard. And the men were indignant, and very violently moved, because Shekem had wrought dishonour in Israel in lying with the daughter of Jakob; for so it was not right to have been done.

And Hamor spake with them, saying, The soul of Shekem my son delighteth in your daughter: give her, I pray, to him to wife; and conjoin yourselves by marriage with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to you; and dwell with us, and the land will be before you, to dwell where you please and do business in it and possess it. And Shekem said to her father and to her brethren, Let me find grace in your sight, and what you will tell me I will give. Multiply upon me greatly dowry and gift, and I will give as you will tell me; only give me the damsel to wife. [JERUSALEM. Dotation and marriage portion.] But the sons of Jakob answered Shekem. and Hamor his father with subtilty, and so spake, because he had polluted Dinah their sister, and said to them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, because that would be a disgrace to us. But in this we will accede to you, if you will be as we are by circumcising every male. And we will give our daughters to you, and will take your daughters to us, and dwell with you, and be one people. But if you will not hearken to us to be circumcised, we will take our daughter by force and will go. And their words were pleasing in the eyes of Hamor, and in the eyes of Shekem, the son of Hamor. And the young man delayed not to do the thing; because he wished for the daughter of Jakob; and he was more honourable than all his father’s house.

And Hamor and Shekem his son came to the gate of their city, and spake with the men of the gate of their city, saying, These men are friendly with us; and they may dwell in the land and do business in it; and the land, behold, it is broad (in) limits before them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and give our daughters to them. But in this only will the men accede to us, to dwell with us, and to be one people, by every male of us being circumcised as they are. Their flocks, and their substance, and all their cattle, will they not be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us. And all they who came out of the gate of his city received from Hamor and from Shekem, his son; and they circumcised every male, all who came out of the gate of the city.

And it was on the third day, when they were weak from the pain of their circumcision, two of the sons of Jakob, Shimeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, took each man his sword, and came upon the city, which was dwelling securely and killed every male. And Hamor and Shekem his son they killed with the edge of the sword; and they took Dinah from the house of Shekem, and went forth. And the rest of the sons of Jakob came to the spoil of the slain, and they sacked the city because they had polluted their sister in the midst of it. Their flocks, and oxen, and donkeys, and whatever was in the city or in the field they spoiled; and all their wealth and all their little ones they took and spoiled, and all that was in the houses.

And Jakob said to Shimeon and Levi, You have made my name to go forth as evil among the inhabitants of the land, among the Kenaanites and Phezerites. And I am a people of (small) number, and they will gather together against me, and destroy me and the men of my house. And Shimeon and Levi answered, It would not have been fit to be said in the congregations of Israel that the uncircumcised polluted the virgin, and the worshippers of idols debased the daughter of Jakob: but it is fit that it should be said, The uncircumcised were slain on account of the virgin, and the worshippers of idols on account of the daughter of Jakob. Shekem bar Hamor will not (now) deride us with his words; for as a whorish woman and an outcast who hath no avenger would he have made our sister, if we had not done this thing.

[JERUSALEM. The two sons of Jakob answered together, and said to Israel their father, It would not be fit to be said in the congregations of Israel, in their house of instruction, that the uncircumcised polluted the virgin, and the worshippers of idols the daughter of Jakob; but it is fit that it be said in the congregations of Israel and in their house of instruction, that the uncircumcised were put to death for the sake of the virgin, and the worshippers of idols because they had defiled Dinah the daughter of Jakob. And Shekem bar Hamor will not boast in his heart and say, As a woman who hath no man to avenge her injury, so hath Dinah the daughter of Jakob been made. And they said, As an impure woman and an outcast would he have accounted our sister.]

Chapter 35 And the Lord said to Jakob, Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there, and make there an altar unto Eloha, who revealed Himself to thee in thy flight from before Esau thy brother. And Jakob said to the men of his house, and to all who were with him, Put away the idols of the peoples which are among you which you took from the temple[6] of Shekem, and purify you from the uncleannesses of the slain whom you have and change your raiment. And we will arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar unto Eloha, who heard my prayer in the day when I was afflicted, and whose Word was my helper in the way that I went.

And they delivered into Jakob’s hand all the idols of the people which were in their hands which they had taken from the temple of Shekem, and the jewels that had been in the ears of the inhabitants of the city of Shekem, in which was portrayed the likeness of their images; and Jakob hid them under the terebinth that was near to the city of Shekem.

And they journeyed from thence, offering praise and prayer before the Lord. And there was a tremor from before the Lord upon the people of the cities round about them, and they pursued not after the sons of Jakob. And Jakob came to Luz in the land of Kenaan, which is Bethel, he and all the people who were with him. And he builded there an altar, and named that place, To God, who made His Shekinah to dwell in Bethel, because there had been revealed to him the angels of the Lord, in his flight from before Esau his brother.

And Deborah, the nurse of Rivekah, died, and was buried below Bethel, in the field of the plain. And there it was told Jakob concerning the death of Rivekah his mother; and he called the name of it, The other weeping…

---

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

1.21.1. Hereupon Jacob came to the place, till this day called Tents [Sukkot]; from whence he went to Shechem, which is a city of the Canaanites. Now as the Shechemites were keeping a festival Dina, who was the only daughter of Jacob, went into the city to see the finery of the women of that country. But when Shechem, the son of Hamor the king, saw her, he defiled her by violence; and being greatly in love with her, desired of his father that he would procure the damsel to him for a wife. To which desire he condescended, and came to Jacob, desiring him to give leave that his son Shechem might, according to law, marry Dina. But Jacob, not knowing how to deny the desire of one of such great dignity, and yet not thinking it lawful to marry his daughter to a stranger, entreated him to give him leave to have a consultation about what he desired him to do. So the king went away, in hopes that Jacob would grant him this marriage. But Jacob informed his sons of the defilement of their sister, and of the address of Hamor; and desired them to give their advice what they should do. Upon fills, the greatest part said nothing, not knowing what advice to give. But Shimon and Levi, the brethren of the damsel by the same mother, agreed between themselves upon the action following: It being now the time of a festival, when the Shechemites were employed in ease and feasting, they fell upon the watch when they were asleep, and, coming into the city, slew all the males 38 as also the king, and his son, with them; but spared the women. And when they had done this without their father’s consent, they brought away their sister.

1.21.2. Now while Jacob was astonished at the greatness of this act, and was severely blaming his sons for it, Elohim stood by him, and bid him be of good courage; but to purify his tents, and to offer those slaughters which he had vowed to offer when he went first into Mesopotamia, and saw his vision. As he was therefore purifying his followers, he lighted upon the elohim of Laban; [for he did not before know they were stolen by Rachel;] and he hid them in the land, under an oak, in Shechem. And departing thence, he offered slaughter at Bethel, the place where he saw his dream, when he went first into Mesopotamia.