33 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the young man deferred not to do the thing,.... To be circumcised himself, and to get all the males of the city circumcised; he delayed not a moment, but made all the haste he could to get it accomplished: because he had delight in Jacob's daughter; he really loved her, and delighted in her person and company: it was not the effect of a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Hamor and Shechem his son went unto the gate of their city,.... Where courts of judicature were held, and all public affairs respecting the common interest of the city were transacted: here, no doubt, Hamor their prince summoned them to come, by the usual method in which the citizens were convened on certain occasions: and communed with the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
These men [are] peaceable with us,.... Meaning Jacob and his sons, pointing to their tents which were near their city; and no doubt more was said than is here expressed, and that these words were introduced with a preface, in which notice was taken of Jacob and his family, and their names mentioned, as here their character is given; that they were...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Only herein will the men consent unto us,.... The only term or condition insisted upon, to come into an alliance and affinity with us, and for to dwell with us, to be one people, to become one body politic, is the following one: if every male among us be circumcised, as they [are] circumcised; submitting to this rite, they agree to take up their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Shall not their cattle, and their substance, and every beast of theirs, [be] ours?.... Which would in course come into their families in process of time, by intermarrying with them, or, being more numerous and powerful than they, could seize upon them when they pleased, and take all they had: thus they argue from the profit and advantage that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city,.... That is, all the inhabitants of the city who came to the gate of it, upon the summons given them, and departed from thence to their habitations, having a great opinion of their prince and his son; and moved either with awe of them or love to them, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore,.... Or in "pain" (k), when their pains were strong upon them, as the Targum of Onkelos; or when they were weak through the pain of circumcision, as the Targum of Jonathan; for it seems that the pain of circumcision was more intense on the third day (l), and the part the more inflamed, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword,.... Whom they had been just treating with in a seeming friendly manner: Shechem was the chief aggressor, and his crime was very heinous; but considering that he did all he could, after the fact was committed, to make recompence for the injury done, he deserved other treatment, at...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The sons of Jacob came upon the slain,.... That is, the rest of them, as the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it; understanding what their two brothers had done, they came and joined them, and partook of stripping the slain of their clothes, or from them what they found of any worth about them: and spoiled the city; plundered it of all its goods and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They took their sheep, their oxen, and their asses,.... The Shechemites hoped to have the cattle and substance of Jacob's family, and in a hypocritical manner submitted to circumcision, for the sake of worldly advantage; for that, and pleasing their prince, seem to be the only views they had in it; wherefore, in this there is a just retaliation of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all their wealth,.... Or "power" (o) or "strength"; every thing that made them mighty and powerful; their gold and silver, their jewels, and rich furniture of their houses, their arms and weapons of war, their goods and substance, in which they trafficked: and all their little ones and their wives took they captive: they spared the women and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi,.... who were the principals concerned in this affair: ye have troubled me; because of the sin they had committed, because of the dishonour brought upon religion, and because of the danger he and his family were hereby exposed unto; it greatly disquieted him, made him very uneasy, he was at his wit's end almost,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they said,.... Simeon and Levi, in a very pert and unseemly manner: should he deal with our sister as with an harlot? make a whore of her, and then keep her in his house as such? is this to be borne with? or should we take no more notice of his behaviour to our sister, or show no more regard to her than if she was a common prostitute, whom no...