Context
Genesis 31
Jacob flees from Laban, leaving the land of Canaan.
Genesis 32
Jacob prepares to meet Esau twenty years after departing from the land of Canaan. Jacob attempts to appease Esau with very large gifts but later wrestles with God and comes to realise his need of God's blessing.
Genesis 33
Esau receives Jacob favourably and the pair are reconciled. Jacob returns to Canaan but again places distance between himself and Esau.
Genesis 34
- Shortly after Jacob returns to the land of Canaan, Dinah (Jacob's daughter) is defiled by an important figure from the Hivite people (Shechem).
- Shechem subsequently requests Dinah to be his wife and Shechem's father effectively suggests that the two peoples become one group and dwell together.
- Jacob's sons (particularly Simeon and Levi) respond very angrily to Shechem's abuse of Dinah. They appear to agree to allow Shechem to marry Dinah on the condition that all of the men of Shechem become circumcised (and they also agree that the two people groups will dwell together as one people).
- Once the men are circumcised and while they are sore (and presumably unable to fight back as they would otherwise), Jacob's sons attack the men, killing them all and plundering the city.
Observations from Genesis 34:
- Shechem's abuse of Dinah was a horrible thing and Jacob's sons were right to be angry. However, their response was excessive and unwise. Jacob rebukes them for their actions and expresses concerns that other people groups living in Canaan might attack them.
- Genesis 34 shows Jacob rebuking his sons because of the potential negative consequences of their actions rather than the immorality of the response itself. It's possible this isn't all Jacob was concerned about and the story focuses on the threat this foolish response could cause to Jacob and his offspring (God's chosen people).
- Circumcision was given as a sign of God's covenant with His people (and was originally introduced as part of God's covenant with Abraham). Jacob's sons use circumcision as part of their strategy to kill the men of Shechem as an act of revenge for the abuse inflicted on Dinah (rather than as a means of God's blessing to His people).
- This is a very dark chapter in Genesis and as part of the broader story of Genesis, it shows that God's chosen people Israel live in a fallen world and are themselves sinful people. The trouble occurring here shortly after the return to Canaan shows that a return to Canaan does not free them from their sinfulness – only God in Christ can do that.
Questions for discussion
What occurred at Bethel earlier in the story of Jacob and how does that help us understand what occurs in this chapter? (clue: see Genesis 28)
Jacob refers to God helping him in his times of distress. What other moments in his life might Jacob be referring to?
In light of the events of the previous chapter (and particularly the discussion between Jacob and his sons in Genesis 34:30–31), what is the significance of God causing a terror to fall upon the surrounding cities in Genesis 35:5?
What do the promises God makes to Jacob in Genesis 35:11–13 remind you of from earlier in the book of Genesis (consider both the lives of Jacob and others)? Can you think of any possible reasons why the promises are repeated here?
What is the significance of the birth of Benjamin and how does this impact events that occur later in Genesis? What is being foreshadowed here?
What is the significance of Reuben sleeping with his father's concubines? How does Reuben's sin here and the revenge Jacob's sons seek in Genesis 34 help us understand one of the key themes of Genesis?
What is the importance of God's promise that kings will come from Jacob's line?
How does this help us understand one of the key themes of Jacob's life (and the book of Genesis more broadly)?
What does that teach us about our lives?
Mitch Genesis 35 notes
Genesis 35:1–8: God blesses and renames Jacob
- God commands Jacob to return to Bethel to build an altar there.
- Bethel is the place where Jacob had the dream of the stairway to heaven, following his departure from Canaan.
Read Genesis 28:18–22
- Jacob originally sets up a pillar at Bethel and promises that if God gives him a safe return to Canaan, he will build a house for God.
- Jacob also commands his household to put away foreign gods (which might include the household god Rachel stole from Laban) and to purify themselves. This shows Jacob's growing obedience to the Lord.
- Now that Jacob has returned safely to Canaan and has been reconciled to Esau, he returns to Bethel to build an altar to the Lord as he said he would in Genesis 28.
- Jacob reflects on how God sustained him through all the difficulties he faced (some of which were the result of his own sin).
- Here in this chapter, a terror from God protects Jacob and his family from potential opposition that might have come as a result of the revenge Jacob's sons exacted against the men of Shechem in the previous chapter (Genesis 35:5).
- God graciously protects His people from the opposition of other nations notwithstanding that any opposition would be at least partly the result of their own sin.
- The events summarised below show God's faithfulness to Jacob despite his own sin.
| Passage |
Difficulty |
God's care and provision |
| Genesis 28–31 |
As a result of his deception of Isaac and Esau, Jacob is forced to leave Canaan. Laban subsequently mistreats Jacob on numerous occasions. |
God provides wives, children and riches for Jacob in a foreign land and calls him back to Canaan. |
| Genesis 32 |
Jacob fears Esau will attack him. |
God wrestles with Jacob to teach him to depend on God and grants reconciliation between Jacob and Esau. |
| Genesis 34–35 |
Jacob's sons kill all the men of Shechem as an act of revenge for the defiling of Dinah. |
God causes a terror to fall upon the surrounding cities to protect Jacob and his sons as they travel to Bethel. |
Genesis 35:9–15: God blesses Jacob
- God's blessing of Jacob in this chapter reminds us of when God blessed Jacob in previous encounters at Bethel and Peniel when Jacob originally departed Canaan and on his return (see Genesis 28:13–16 and Genesis 32:28).
- The promises are largely a repeat of previous promises to Jacob and may have been given as a reminder to Jacob now that he has returned to Canaan and is to carry on the family line with the death of Isaac imminent.
- It is also possible God repeated the promises after Jacob's reconciliation with Esau to demonstrate that the reconciliation was part of Jacob's journey to truly become Israel.
- The promises are also very similar to promises made to Abraham in Genesis 17:1–7, including the promise of nations and even kings coming from Abraham / Jacob's line.
- This confirms that the same promises made to Abraham are now made to Jacob. Not only shall nations come from Israel, but kings (and Christ, the ultimate King) shall come through Abraham and now Jacob's line.
- This is one of the key themes in Jacob's life – God will fulfill His promises to Israel, notwithstanding their sinfulness.
Genesis 35:16–29: The deaths of Rachel and Isaac
- In this last section of the story of Jacob, Rachel and Isaac perish.
- This is only the second son Rachel gives birth to (the other being Joseph) and is the only son of Jacob's born in Canaan. This might explain why Jacob loves Joseph and Benjamin so dearly as shown later in the book of Genesis.
- Reuben sins against his father by sleeping with his father's concubines. This is not just a sexual act but appears to be Reuben's attempt to effectively challenge Jacob's position as head of the household (Absalom later does the same thing to David in 2 Samuel 16).