Genesis 34:19

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 34:19 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob`s daughter: and he was honored above all the house of his father.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob`s daughter: and he was honored above all the house of his father.
Genesis 34:19 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 34

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
19And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob`s daughter: and he was honored above all the house of his father.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And the young man deferred not to do the thing, etc.] 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 brutish lust, but a true affection he bore to her, that he desired her in marriage: and he [was] more honourable than all the house of his father; for though he had done a base thing in defiling Jacob’s daughter, yet in this he was honourable, that he sought to marry her, and to do any thing that was in his power to recompence the injury; and he was…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“- Dinah’s Dishonor This chapter records the rape of Dinah and the revenge of her brothers. Genesis 34:1-5 Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land. The Jewish doctors of a later period fix the marriageable age of a female at twelve years and a day. It is probable that Dinah was in her thirteenth year when she went out to visit the daughters of the land. Six or seven years, therefore, must have been spent by Jacob between Sukkoth, where he abode some time, and the neighborhood of Shekerm, where he had purchased a piece of ground. If we suppose Dinah to have been born in the same year with Joseph, who was in his seventeenth year at the time of his being sold as a bondslave Genesis 37:2,…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification