Genesis 34-36
Day 25: Genesis 34-36 Notes & Takeaways
Map of Jacob’s Journey to Haran and Back, creditWe begin today’s reading with a tough story of the crime committed against Dinah, Leah’s daughter.
Jacob chose a place for his family to live for all the wrong reasons. “He wanted to be close to the city (Genesis 33:18), though the city had a strong and ungodly influence. God called him to Bethel, and Jacob’s poor choice of a place to live left his family open to ungodly influence.” (Enduring Word Commentary)
Dinah had gone out to the city to visit the women of the land but was unaccompanied. This was a mistake on her and her family’s part as it was unsafe in those times for a woman to be alone, especially in a town such as Shechem, where the morals were low and unaccompanied women were thought of as fair game.
“This occurrence serves to illustrate the low standard of morals prevalent among the Canaanites. Any unattended female could be raped, and in the transactions that ensue neither father nor son feel the need of apologizing for or excusing what had been committed.” (Leupold, H.C. Exposition of Genesis, Volumes 1 and 2)
This is not the first time we hear of rape in the Bible. We might remember that in Gen 19 the men tried get in to Lot's house to rape the men (angels). This was the first attempt of rape in the Bible, but they were blinded by the angels. The first mention of actual rape would be in Gen 19: 30-38, where both daughters had sex with their father Lot without his consent. Now in today's reading this is the second time we see rape happen again in the Bible.
Although the sin of Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, a prince in the land, was awful, it does not minimize the sin of Jacob’s son’s, Simeon and Levi, for their retribution. This shows us that without a leader of the household taking action when sin is committed, it may leave space for others to take action by sinning. We see that the sons, not Jacob, are the ones that come into agreement, acting as leaders of the household.
“Things never go well when the authority of a parent runs low in a family. Let every man bear rule in his own house, and have his children in subjection with all gravity [1 Timothy 3:4-5].” (Matthew Henry Commentary)
Shechem and his father go to Jacob and ask for Dinah’s hand in marriage, but not once do they apologize for the dishonor of what Shechem has done. Now this was a dangerous proposal, as we know that they were not to marry a Canaanite woman because of God’s redemptive plan. If Jacob were to agree to this than it would make all future marriages to Canaanite women okay and therefore they would assimilate into a worldly culture.
Simeon and Levi set a counter proposal and lie in order to deceive them. They ask them to circumcise every male in order for them to become like them. Shechem and his father agree and as they speak to the men of the city, they convinced them to circumcise as well with the promise that they would be at an advantage to ally with them because it would improve their ground and trade and bring extra money into their city. “Won’t their livestock, their property, and all their other animals become ours?” (Gen 34:23)
3 days later Simeon and Levi slaughter all the men in the town while they were recovering from their circumcision wounds. We see that Simeon and Levi are not alone in their sin, when their brothers come upon the dead bodies they looted the city as well; they take Dinah, the women and children, flocks, herds, and donkeys, along with wealth as plunder.
“The boldness with which they executed their foul plan shows the hardness of their hearts.” (Barnhouse)
“By way of making some amends for their sister’s defilement, with dastardly treachery they slay the whole of the Shechemites, and so bring the guilt of murder upon a family which ought to have been holiness unto the Lord.” (Spurgeon)
Upon their return they encounter Jacob and Jacob says, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious 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” (Gen 34:30). Jacob seemed to only care about the retribution that might happen or the way he might look to other people. What he should have focused on was the sin of murder, the sin against God, and what God thought about this. His family was supposed to be holy unto the Lord and instead had let their sinful flesh cause them to slaughter all the men in town.
Their reply, “should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?” Is understandable, but does not justify the mass murder they had committed. Later in Genesis 49:5-7 Jacob curses them both for their cruelty, but unfortunately it is too late for the people of Shechem.
5“Simeon and Levi are brothers—
their swords are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
The tribe of Simeon does end up dissolving into the tribe of Judah later because of their lack of faithfulness and the tribe of Levi is scattered later as well but because of their future loyalty and obedience they are blessed in Exodus 32:26-28.
We move on to Chapter 35 where Jacob finally reaches Bethel, the place where God had wanted him to go back to all along. We see that in verse 2, the Lord instructs Jacob to tell the people to get rid of the foreign gods they had with them and to purify themselves, and their clothing. Being in such close proximity to the city of Shechem had not surprisingly, influenced them to become like them. Also, the fact that Rachel had stolen her father’s idols and kept them, meant that their family probably continued to use them thereafter. We know that the parents of the household are the examples for their children and they learn more by what we do than by what we say. So, therefore we must make sure that the example we give is a godly one.
In the Bible, garments are always used to symbolize character. Take a look at Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Or Ephesians 4:22-24, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” See also Isaiah 64:5-6.
As they traveled back, the LORD protected Jacob from the cities around them (Genesis 35:5). God could have left them there without protection due to the sinful acts in Genesis 34 and the lack of leadership on Jacob’s part, but the Lord was merciful and full of grace and still protected them, just as he does for us when we fall short. God is good and loving and gives us chance after chance to come back to him and do the right thing.
We see also the death of Rebekah’s nurse, whom we’ve really not heard much about, but we can assume that she was beloved as the place she was buried was named Allon Bachuth, which means “Oak of Weeping.”
When Jacob arrived at the place where God wanted him to go God shows up to tell him that his name is Jacob, “but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel” (Gen 35:9-10). He went on to remind him of the great covenant he was a part of and that the land he was on would be the land of his descendants. Jacob sets up an altar and pours a drink offering to the LORD there. We see other examples of a drink offering in:
Numbers 15:5
Exodus 29:41
Numbers 6:17
Numbers 27:7-8
Jeremiah 7:18
Philippians 2;17
“The drink offering is a promise of eventual victory and settlement in the land… It is a sign also of God’s faithfulness to His covenant with Israel. the drink offering, like the grain offering, was symbolic of the works of the worshiper… The fruits of that dominion over the land — grain, oil, and wine — were to be offered to the Lord.” (Leithart)
Sadly, not long after we see that Rachel dies while giving birth to her son Ben-Oni, which means son of my trouble, but that Jacob changes to Benjamin, which means son of my right hand. The right side was a sign of honor and strength. We see that Jesus sits at the right hand of God in Colossians 3:1 and in Exodus 15:6: “Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces” also shows the power of the right side. She is buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem) and on her tomb, Jacob sets a pillar.
We see that soon after Reuben sleeps with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and that even though he is the oldest, and should be the wisest of his brothers, he makes the greatest offense towards his father. This means that the blessing would now pass down to the 4th son, Judah, after the three older brothers have allowed themselves to be influenced by their fleshly desires to commit acts of sin.
More than 20 years after he left his father Isaac’s home, Jacob returns to bid him farewell for the very last time. We do not see any final words given to him by Isaac and when he is gathered to his people, both Jacob and Esau bury him together.
We finish the reading with the descendants of Esau, the Edomites. Esau was also called Edom, meaning "red" (Heb: `admoni); the same color used to describe the color of the hairs of Esau. Genesis parallels his redness to the "red lentil pottage" that he sold his birthright for. The Edomites are very important neighbors to Israel in the Bible, they are mentioned about 130 times.
We see that Esau was blessed even though he was not the child with the promises. Therefore we can see that if God blesses abundantly those whom he does not choose, how much more will he bless those he does choose. Lastly, many of the names have meanings that don’t reflect a godly heart. And one, Baah-Hanna, even has a name embracing the false god Baal. Showcasing Esau’s legacy disregarding the one true God. Below is a few images containing charts of the names is his genealogy to make it easier to comprehend. These helped me immensely and I’m sure they will help you as well.
Genesis 36:1-19 – The Family of Esau & Chiefs of Edom
Hupp, Brian (The Surly Curmudgeon)We must note that the Amalekites are a very important group. Amalek was the son of Eliphaz’s concubine Timna. “From him came the Amalekites, notable enemies of Israel (Exodus 17:8-16; Deuteronomy 25:17-19; 1 Samuel 15:1-8)” (Enduring Word Commentary).
Genesis 36:20-30 – The Family of Seir:
Hupp, Brian (The Surly Curmudgeon)Genesis 36:31-39 – Kings of Edom:
Hupp, Brian (The Surly Curmudgeon)Genesis 36:40-43 – Chiefs of Esau:
Hupp, Brian (The Surly Curmudgeon)This is where we leave off. I hope you’re learning a lot and enjoying it all at the same time. I know I am! Make sure to follow RF on Instagram, and join our FB Group to stay up to date for our upcoming weekly zoom sessions!
REFERENCES:
Barnhouse, Donald Grey Genesis, A Devotional Exposition, Volumes 1 and 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1973)
Enduring Word Commentary (enduringword.com, 2023)
Henry, Matthew Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, Complete and Unabridged (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1991)
Hupp, Brian The Surly Curmudgeon (https://www.huppbrian.us/all/notes/genesis-36-the-genealogy-of-esau/, 2021)
Leithart, Peter The Theology of the Drink Offering (https://theopolisinstitute.com/the-theology-of-the-drink-offering-2/, 2018)
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon The New Park Street Pulpit, Volumes 1-6 and The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volumes 7-63 (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications, 1990)
