30 And Jacob saith unto Simeon and unto Levi, `Ye have troubled me, by causing me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanite, and among the Perizzite: and I `am' few in number, and they have been gathered against me, and have smitten me, and I have been destroyed, I and my house.'
In their being few in number, But a few, and sojourners in it.
And all Israel have heard, saying, `Saul hath smitten the garrison of the Philistines,' and also, `Israel hath been abhorred by the Philistines;' and the people are called after Saul to Gilgal.
and say unto them, `Jehovah look upon you, and judge, because ye have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants -- to give a sword into their hand to slay us.'
And the sons of Ammon see that they have made themselves abhorred by David, and Hanun and the sons of Ammon send a thousand talents of silver, to hire to them, from Aram-Naharaim, and from Aram-Maachah, and from Zobah, chariots and horsemen;
And Achish believeth in David, saying, `He hath made himself utterly abhorred among his people, in Israel, and hath been to me for a servant age-during.'
Simeon and Levi `are' brethren! Instruments of violence -- their espousals! Into their secret, come not, O my soul! Unto their assembly be not united, O mine honour; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will eradicated a prince. Cursed `is' their anger, for `it is' fierce, And their wrath, for `it is' sharp; I divide them in Jacob, And I scatter them in Israel.
and lo, Jehovah is standing upon it, and He saith, `I `am' Jehovah, God of Abraham thy father, and God of Isaac; the land on which thou art lying, to thee I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed hath been as the dust of the land, and thou hast broken forth westward, and eastward, and northward, and southward, and all families of the ground have been blessed in thee and in thy seed.
and there is a strife between those feeding Abram's cattle and those feeding Lot's cattle; and the Canaanite and the Perizzite `are' then dwelling in the land.
Whoso is troubling his own house inheriteth wind, And a servant `is' the fool to the wise of heart.
Who, against hope in hope did believe, for his becoming father of many nations according to that spoken: `So shall thy seed be;' and not having been weak in the faith, he did not consider his own body, already become dead, (being about a hundred years old,) and the deadness of Sarah's womb, and at the promise of God did not stagger in unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, having given glory to God,
A dishonest gainer is troubling his house, And whoso is hating gifts liveth.
And I make thee become a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.
Remember His wonders that He did, His signs, and the judgments of His mouth,
And sons of Carmi: Achar, troubler of Israel, who trespassed in the devoted thing.
And the Bene-Ammon see that they have been abhorred by David, and the Bene-Ammon send and hire Aram of Beth-Rehob, and Aram of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah `with' a thousand men, and Ish-Tob `with' twelve thousand men;
And David saith unto his heart, `Now am I consumed one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing for me better than that I diligently escape unto the land of the Philistines, and Saul hath been despairing of me -- of seeking me any more in all the border of Israel, and I have escaped out of his hand.'
`Not because of your being more numerous than any of the peoples hath Jehovah delighted in you, and fixeth on you, for ye `are' the least of all the peoples,
a form of any beast which `is' in the earth -- a form of any winged bird which flieth in the heavens --
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 34
Commentary on Genesis 34 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 34
At this chapter begins the story of Jacob's afflictions in his children, which were very great, and are recorded to show,
Gen 34:1-5
Dinah was, for aught that appears, Jacob's only daughter, and we may suppose her therefore the mother's fondling and the darling of the family, and yet she proves neither a joy nor a credit to them; for those children seldom prove either the best or the happiest that are most indulged. She is reckoned now but fifteen or sixteen years of age when she here occasioned so much mischief. Observe,
Gen 34:6-17
Jacob's sons, when they heard of the injury done to Dinah, showed a very great resentment of it, influenced perhaps rather by jealousy for the honour of their family than by a sense of virtue. Many are concerned at the shamefulness of sin that never lay to heart the sinfulness of it. It is here called folly in Israel (v. 7), according to the language of after-times; for Israel was not yet a people, but a family only. Note,
Hamor came to treat with Jacob himself, but he turns him over to his sons; and here we have a particular account of the treaty, in which, it is a shame to say, the Canaanites were more honest than the Israelites.
Gen 34:18-24
Here,
Gen 34:25-31
Here, we have Simeon and Levi, two of Jacob's sons, young men not much above twenty years old, cutting the throats of the Shechemites, and thereby breaking the heart of their good father.