Genesis 34:4

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, "Get me this young lady as a wife."

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

1 first appearance in the Hebrew Bible

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הַיַּלְדָּ֥ה

yaldâh

H3207

“the · girl”

Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 3× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears here

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H3206

TWOT: 867b

girl, damsel, marriageable girl

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

12: words
10: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is הַיַּלְדָּ֥ה girl H3207 — appearing just 3 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

First appearance in Scripture

This word makes its first canonical appearance in the Hebrew Bible here:

הַיַּלְדָּ֥ה girl H3207

Shared distinctive vocabulary

הַיַּלְדָּ֥ה girl H3207 occurs in 3 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
5 nouns
1 pronoun
2 prepositions
1 particle

Verb forms

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר Qal · Sequential Imperfect
לֵאמֹ֑ר Qal · Infinitive Construct
קַֽח Qal · Imperative

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר to say H559 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 15 words from the Hebrew and 14 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 12 Hebrew tokens and 16 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Genesis 34:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Judges 14:2 He came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me as wife.
Genesis 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
2 Samuel 13:13 I, where shall I carry my shame? and as for you, you will be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Genesis 34:4 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר שְׁכֶ֔ם אֶל חֲמ֥וֹר אָבִ֖יו לֵאמֹ֑ר קַֽח לִ֛י אֶת הַיַּלְדָּ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את לְאִשָּֽׁה

Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, "Get me this young lady as a wife."

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Genesis 34:4 Septuagint · lemma form

εἶπον δέ συχεμ πρός εμμωρ ὁ πατήρ αὐτός λέγω λαμβάνω ἐγώ ὁ παιδίσκη οὗτος εἰς γυνή

Sychem spoke to Emmor his father, saying, Take for me this damsel to wife.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וַאֲמַר שְׁכֶם לַחֲמוֹר אֲבוּהִי לְמֵימָר סַב לִי יָת עוּלֶמְתָּא הָדָא לְאִנְתּוּ

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וַאֲמַר שְׁכֶם לַחֲמוֹר אָבוֹי לְמֵימָר סַב לִי יַת טַלְיְתָא הָדָא לְאִנְתּוּ

And Shekem spake to Hamor his father, saying, Take for me this damsel to wife.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Genesis 34:4 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Gen 34:4 And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.

Ver. 4: Get me this damsel to wife.] This is praise worthy in Shechem, as bad as he was, that he correcteth his base-born love, or lust rather, by seeking to make her his wife; not without consent of parents on both sides; which, in the Church of Rome, is ofttimes not regarded. Children are a principal part of their parents’ possessions, as Job’s children were accounted by Satan; yea, a piece of themselves. "Have mercy upon me," that is, "upon my daughter". {Mat 15:22} Fit it is, therefore, that they should by the parents be disposed of in marriage.

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.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

This proveth that the consent of parents is requisite in marriage, seeing the very Infidels did also observe it as a thing necessary.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

John Calvin's Commentaries

4. And Shechem said to his father Hamor. In this place it is more clearly expressed, that Shechem desired to have Dinah for his wife; for his lust was not so unbridled, that when he had defiled, he despised her. Besides, a laudable modesty is shown, since he pays deference to the will of his father; for he does not attempt to form a contract of marriage of his own mind, but leaves this to his father’s authority. For though he had basely fallen through the precipitate ardor of lust; yet now returning to himself, he follows the guidance of nature. So much the more ought young men to take heed to themselves, lest in the slippery period of their age, the lusts of the flesh should impel them to many crimes. For, at this day, greater license everywhere prevails, so that no moderation restrains youths from shameful conduct. Since, however, Shechem, under the rule and direction of nature, desired his father to be the procurer of his marriage, we hence infer that the right which parents have over their children is inviolable; so that they who attempt to overthrow it, confound heaven and earth. Wherefore, since the Pope, in honor of marriage, has dared to break this sacred bond of nature; this fornicator Shechem alone, will prove a judge sufficient, and more than sufficient, to condemn that barbarous conduct.

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.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

4. Get me] The parents were accustomed to obtain a wife for their son: see Gen_21:21, Gen_24:3-4; Jdg_14:2.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor,.... And told him the whole affair, at least what a strong affection he had for Dinah:

saying, get me this damsel to wife; by which he meant not only that he would give his consent that he might marry her, but that he would get her parents' consent unto it, and settle the matter with them; by which it appears how early, and that even among Heathen nations, consent of parents on both sides was judged necessary to marriage. It seems by this as if Dinah was now detained in the house of Hamor or Shechem, and was upon the spot, or near at hand, when Shechem addressed his father about her, see Gen 34:26.

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

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

He desires both his father’s consent and assistance herein.

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

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

Now Jacob

"Now" is used here to mark a change from the story to background information about Jacob. (See: Background Information)

Jacob heard that he

The word "he" refers to Shechem.

he had defiled

This means that Shechem had greatly dishonored and disgraced Dinah by forcing her to sleep with him.

held his peace

This is a way of saying that Jacob did not say or do anything about the matter. (See: Idiom)

translationWords

Shechem

Hamor

Jacob

defile

livestock

peace

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

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Genesis, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 12 words (10 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is yaldâh (“girl”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “girl” (yaldâh) shape what this verse is saying?
This is the first place “girl” appears in Scripture (first appears here). What does its debut here establish?
How does Joel 3:3, which shares the word «girl», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “to say” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
«וַיֹּ֣אמֶר» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

1 word makes its first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
This verse counts 12 Hebrew ↔ 16 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 7 words in this verse.
“to say” occurs 2× in this single verse.
10 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 12 words in this verse.