Genesis 34:3

Genesis 34:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.
• New International Version (NIV)His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.
• New King James Version (NKJV)His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman.

Context of Genesis 34:3

1Dinah, daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to visit some of the Canaanite women. 2When Shechem, son of the local ruler Hamor the Hivite, saw her, he took her and raped her. He became very fond of Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her. 4So Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl for my wife.” 5Jacob heard that Shechem had dishonored his daughter Dinah. His sons were with his livestock out in the open country, so Jacob kept quiet until they came home.

Genesis 34:3 word by word

וַתִּדְבַּ֣ק נַפְשׁ֔וֹ בְּדִינָ֖ה בַּֽת־יַעֲקֹ֑ב וַיֶּֽאֱהַב֙ אֶת־הַֽנַּעֲרָ֔ וַיְדַבֵּ֖ר עַל־לֵ֥ב הַֽנַּעֲרָֽ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And his soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soulH5315
• claveדָּבַקdâbaq · to cleaveH1692
• unto Dinahדִּינָהdîynâh · DinahH1783
• the daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of Jacobיַעֲקֹבya‛ăqôb · JacobH3290
• and he lovedאָהֵב'âhab 'âhêb · to love: loverH157
• the damselנַעֲרָהna‛ărâh · maidenH5291
• and spakeדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
• kindlyלֵבlêb · heartH3820

Cross-references for Genesis 34:3

• Ruth 1:14They began to cry loudly again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth held on to her tightly.
• 1 Samuel 18:1David finished talking to Saul. After that, Jonathan became David’s closest friend. He loved David as much as ⌞he loved⌟ himself.
• 2 Samuel 19:7Now, get up, go out, and encourage your men. I swear to you by the Lord that if you don’t go out, no one will stay with you tonight, and that will be worse than all the trouble you’ve had in your entire life.”
• 2 Chronicles 30:22Hezekiah spoke encouraging words to all the Levites who had the skills to serve the Lord. They ate the festival meals for seven days, sacrificed fellowship offerings, and confessed their sins to the Lord God of their ancestors.
• Isaiah 40:2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and announce to it that its time of hard labor is over and its wrongs have been paid for. It has received from the Lord double for all its sins.”
• Hosea 2:14“That is why I’m going to win her back. I will lead her into the desert. I will speak tenderly to her.

Commentaries on Genesis 34:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Spake kindly unto the damsel - Literally, he spake to the heart of the damsel - endeavored to gain her affections, and to reconcile her to her disgrace. It appears sufficiently evident from this and the preceding verse that there had been no consent on the part of Dinah, that the whole was an act of violence, and that she was now detained by force in the house of Shechem. Here she was found when Simeon and Levi sacked the city, Genesis 34:26.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-31Verses 1-31 - 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4Shechem had strong feelings for Dinah, and he was willing to go through great trouble because of her (34:11–12, 17–18, 24). However, the way he showed his “love” (not true love, but a selfish desire) was impulsive and self-centered. It also broke accepted moral standards of that time (compare Judges 14:2; see 1 Corinthians 13:4–7; 1 John 4:10). His character shows why Israel needed to stay separate from the Canaanites (the people living in the land at…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-311-4. Though freed from foreign troubles, Jacob met with a great domestic calamity in the fall of his only daughter. According to Josephus, she had been attending a festival; but it is highly probable that she had been often and freely mixing in the society of the place and that she, being a simple, inexperienced, and vain young woman, had been flattered by the attentions of the ruler's son. There must have been time and opportunities of acquaintance to…Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 34:3

• Lovers

In the dictionaries

• Jacob
• Jacob, Israel
• Ask
• Consent
• Daughter
• Defile
• Dinah
• Folly
• Please
• Archaeology; Archaeology and Criticism

Commentaries on Genesis 34

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings