Read Genesis 33:18-35:8 at Bible Gateway.
the teaching tools of scripture
Hebrew paragraph divisions
Gen 33:18-20 {s} Jacob acquires property in Canaan + altar of Elohiym
Gen 34:1-31 {p} Defilement with Canaanites + killing/ plunder + rebuke
Gen 35:1-8 {p} Repentance and return to the house of God (Bethel)
Strong themes of the parashah
Gen 32:3-34:31 {s+s+p} Jacob’s faith in the promise tested (Esau + Shechem)
Gen 35:1-8 {p} Repentance and return to the house of God (Bethel)
the strong theme and defilement with Canaanites
Gen 33:18-35:8 chiastic structure
1a) Gen 33:18-20 {s} Jacob came to Shechem + bought land/ erected the altar El Elohe Israel;
1b) Gen 34:1-2, Shechem, the prince of the country, took Dinah, lay with her + violated her;
1c) Gen 34:3-13, Shechem asks for Dinah as wife/ proposed to become one people with Jacob;
1a.1) Gen 34:3-4, Shechem loved Dinah/ asked his father Hamor, Get her as a wife;
1a.2) Gen 34:5a, And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter;
1b) Gen 34:5b, His sons were with his livestock in the field/ Jacob held his peace until they came;
central axis) Gen 34:6, Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him;
2b) Gen 34:7, The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it/ grieved + very angry:
2a.1) Gen 34:8-12, The soul of Shechem longs for your daughter/ Give her to him as a wife;
1a) Gen 34:8, Hamor: The soul of Shechem longs for your daughter/ Please give her to him as a wife;
1b) Gen 34:9, Make marriages with us; give us your daughters + take our daughters;
central axis) Gen 34:10a, So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you;
2b) Gen 34:10b, Dwell + trade in it/ acquire possessions for yourselves in it;
2a) Gen 34:11-12, Shechem: I will give any dowry + gift, but give me the young woman as a wife;
2a.2) Gen 34:13, The sons of Jacob answered deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister;
1d) Gen 34:14, We cannot give our sister to the uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach;
1e) Gen 34:15a, But on this condition we will consent to you;
central axis) Gen 34:15b, If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised;
2e) Gen 24:16, Then we will give our daughters + take your daughters/ dwell here + become one people;
2d) Gen 34:17-18, But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter and be gone;
2c) Gen 34:19-30, Shechem agreed because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter/ proposed to the men of the city to become one people with Jacob;
1a) Gen 34:19, The prince did not delay because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter/ He was more honorable than his father’s household;
1b) Gen 34:20, Hamor + Shechem spoke with the men of their city at its gate;
1c) Gen 34:21, Let these men dwell + trade in the land/ take their daughters + give our daughters;
central axis) Gen 34:22, Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised;
2c) Gen 34:23, Will not their livestock + property be ours? If we consent, they will dwell with us;
2b) Gen 34:24, All in the gate of the city heeded Hamor + Shechem/ every male was circumcised;
2a) Gen 34:25-30, Simeon + Levi’s revenge of Dinah’s honor;
1a) Gen 34:25-26, On the 3rd day, Simeon + Levi killed all the males, Hamor, Shechem/ took Dinah from Shechem’s house;
1b) Gen 34:27a, The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city;
central axis) Gen 34:27b, Because their sister had been defiled;
2b) Gen 34:28-29, They took sheep, oxen, donkeys, wealth/ little ones + wives captive;
2a) Gen 34:30, Jacob rebuked Simeon + Levi: You have made me obnoxious to the Canaanites;
2b) Gen 34:31 {p} But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”
2a) Gen 35:1-8 {p} Jacob purified his household of idolatry + came to Bethel/ erected the altar El Bethel;
1a.1.1) Gen 35:1, God to Jacob: Go to Bethel + dwell there + make an altar to God who appeared to you when you fled from Esau;
1a.1.2) Gen 35:2, Jacob to his household: Put away your foreign gods + purify yourselves;
1a.2.1) Gen 35:3, Let us go to Bethel + I will make an altar to God, who answered me in my distress;
1a.2.2) Gen 35:4, They gave Jacob their foreign gods/ He hid them under the terebinth tree by Shechem;
central axis) Gen 35:5, They journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob;
2a.1) Gen 35:6-7, Jacob came to Bethel/ He built an altar there, because there God appeared to him when he fled from his brother;
2a.2) Gen 35:8 {p} Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died/ buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree.
Theme of the parashah
Jacob’s defilement with Canaanites/ his repentance and return to God
Finding Messiah in Torah
Compare these two verses:
Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. Gen 33:18 NKJV
And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city. Gen 33:18 KJV
The KJV translators had such respect for the word of God, that they did not change a jot or tittle of it. The modern translators feel compelled to improve the text (although the NKJV is the least tampered with). But here we find a clear discrepancy, where the NKJV and the KJV do not match at all.
Shalem is Salem. It is Strong’s H8004, and its definition is literally, the place of which Melchizedek was king. Melchizedek was, we learned earlier, the King of Peace, and the King of Righteousness – a preincarnate appearance of the Word of God made flesh. The Scripture is telling us, that Jacob came to the place where Melchizedek was king; to the place where the King of Peace and the King of Righteousness, Messiah Yeshua, reigned. Jacob built the altar, El Elohe Israel, there (God, the God of Israel). But at some time after that, he allowed himself to become defiled. But this is the gospel: defilement is not the end of our story. If we repent and return to God, He will restore us to His house (Bethel).
Additional readings for this parashah
Psa 28 (my notes) | Nah 1 (my notes) | Rev 22 (my notes)
Further study off site
Shechem: Its Archaeological and Contextual Significance – Associates for Biblical Research
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