Genesis 34:27

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 34:27 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.
Genesis 34:27 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 34

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
27The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, etc.] 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 substance, spoiled all the inhabitants of it of their wealth: because they had defiled their sister; one of them had done it, which is imputed to them all, they not restraining him from it, when it was in their power; and perhaps approving of it, and made a laugh of and jest at it; or however did not punish him for it.”
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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