What Does Genesis 34:24 Mean in the King James?
And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The city’s hearing becomes a cut written into every male body that goes out through its gate.
THE MEANING
The men hear Hamor and Shechem, and their response takes physical form: every male going out through the city gate is circumcised. The repeated gate phrase gathers the act into a collective decision while each body bears its cost.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A shared agreement is not costless simply because the whole city accepts it; here, assent leaves a mark on each male body.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ
vayyishmeʿu
GROWS FROM
שׁמע
sh-m-ʿ
To hear, listen, and heed; here, hearing carries into response.
“hearkened” in this verse is vayyishmeʿu. The verb וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ (vayyishmeʿu, “they heard and heeded”) comes from שׁמע (sh-m-ʿ), a root that joins listening with response. Hamor (חֲמוֹר, ḥămôr, “donkey”) and Shechem (שְׁכֶם, shekhem, “shoulder”) name the leaders whose proposal the city takes into its bodies.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
The same root makes hearing active; the men’s circumcision shows their response in the body.
shemuʿah: Report, news, or tidings.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch is what has been heard and carried onward; here, the response reaches across the city, gathered by the repeated gate phrase.
THE PATTERN
When hearing becomes allegiance, the response becomes visible in action.
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.THE THREAD
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:The opening “Hear” uses שׁמע (sh-m-ʿ, “hear and respond”), the same root as “hearkened” here. Genesis makes that response bodily: the city’s hearing becomes a collective act marked on each male.
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