Genesis 34:27

Gen 34:27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.

Ver. 27. Because they had defiled their sister.] So it was just in God, though unjust in the instruments; who were therefore cursed by Jacob; {Gen 49:7} but yet not rejected by God. His election is of free grace, and not of foreseen faith or works.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 27. The sons of Jacob] The rest of Jacob's sons, the remaining brothers of Simeon and Levi, spoiled the city. Though the others could slay the defenceless males, it was not likely that they could have carried away all the booty, with the women, children, and cattle; it is therefore most natural to suppose that the rest of the sons of Jacob assisted at last in the business.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. The sons of Jacob came. Moses shows that, not content with simple revenge, they fly together to the spoil. As it respects the words, they are said to have come upon the slain, either because they made themselves a way over the slaughtered bodies; or because, in addition to the slaughter, they rushed to the plunder. In whichever way it is taken, Moses teaches that, not satisfied with their former wickedness, they made this addition to it. Be it, that they were blinded with anger in shedding blood; yet by what right do they sack the city? This certainly cannot be ascribed to anger. But these are the ordinary fruits of human intemperance, that he who gives himself the rein in perpetrating one wickedness, soon breaks out into another. Thus the sons of Jacob, from being murderers, become also robbers, and the guilt of avarice is added to that of cruelty. The more anxious then should be our endeavors to bridle our desires; lest they should mutually fan each other, so that at length, by their combined action, a dreadful conflagration should arise; but especially, we must beware of using force of arms, which brings with it many perverse and brutal assaults. Moses says that the sons of Jacob did this, because the Shechemites had defiled their sister; but the whole city was not guilty. Moses, however, only states in what way the authors of the slaughter are affected: for although they wish to appear just avengers of the injury, yet they pay no respect to what it was lawful for them to do, and make no attempt to control their depraved affections, and consequently set no bounds to their wickedness. Should any one prefer taking the expression in a higher sense, it may be referred to the judgment of God, by which the whole city was involved in guilt, because no one had opposed the lust of the prince: perhaps many had consented to it, as not being very much concerned about the unjust dishonor done to their guests; but the former sense is what I most approve.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(27) The sons of Jacob.—After slaying Hamor and Shechem, the two brothers “took Dinah and went out.” It was after this that Jacob’s sons generally—though not without exceptions, for several of them were still very young—joined in seizing the spoil.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. The sons of Jacob] This verse and Gen_34:28-29 record the version in which all the sons of Jacob united to massacre the males of Shechem, carried away captive the wives and children, and took possession of the wealth and property of the inhabitants: cf. Num_31:9; Num_31:11.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 them in Providence:

and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field; the cattle that were kept at home, and those that were brought up in the field, all became a prey.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They, i.e. one of them, as ofttimes that which is done by one man is imputed to the whole body. See Jos 7:1,11,12; 22:20; Mat 2:20. Or they impute Shechem’s fact to all, either invidiously and cunningly to take off from themselves the reproach of this cruel action; or because they made themselves guilty of it, either by not discouraging and hindering that filthiness as far as they might, or by their being instrumental in it, or by their approbation of it and complacency in it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 27-29. The sons of Jacob not all except Simeon and Levi (Delitzsch), nor Simeon and Levi alone (Kalisch, Inglis), but Simeon and Levi along with the others (Rosenm Keil, Lange)came upon the slain, the absence of the w conjunctive at the commencement of this verse, which partitionists account for by the hypothesis that vers. 27-29 are an interpolation, is explained by Keil as designed to express the subjective excitement and indignation of the historian at the revolting character of the crime he was narratingand spoiled the city, because they (i.e. the inhabitants being regarded, on the well-known principle of the solidarity of nations, as involved in the crime of their ruler) had defiled their sister, and so exposed themselves to reprisals, in which they (i.e. the sons of Jacob) took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, and all their wealth, and all their little ones, taph, a collective noun for boys and girls, who are so called from their brisk and tripping motion (Gesenius) and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. The words describe a complete sacking of the city, in which every house was swept of its inmates and its valuables.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tho' Simeon and Levi only were the murderers, yet others of the sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city - And so became accessary to the murder.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

the dead bodies

"the dead bodies of Hamor, Shechem, and their men"

looted the city

"stole everything in the city that was valuable"

because the people had defiled their sister

Shechem alone had defiled Dinah, but Jacob's sons considered Shechem's entire family and everyone in the city responsible for this act.

had defiled

This means that Shechem had greatly dishonored and disgraced Dinah by forcing her to sleep with him. See how you translated "defiled" in Genesis 34:5.

They took their flocks

"Jacob's sons took the people's flocks"

all their wealth

"all their possessions and money"

All their children and their wives, they captured

"They captured all their children and wives"

translationWords

Jacob

die

people group

defile

flocks

donkey

house

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

על החללים UPON THE SLAIN — to strip the slain.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

בני יעקב באו על החללים, to undress them and to take all their possessions

אשר טמאו אחותם, to demonstrate by means of this that the men of this city had defiled their sister. This became public knowledge in the region after the sons of Yaakov killed the people who had tolerated this crime, the townspeople had watched the violent rape and had not lifted a finger to stop it. The sons of Yaakov also took all the movable possessions of the city of Shechem both in the city and the fields belonging to that town.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.