What Does Genesis 34:28 Mean in the King James?
They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,
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 same Hebrew verb that says Shechem “took” Dinah now names the seizure of every living thing and resource around the city.
THE MEANING
The verse shows violence spreading from a person to the things that sustain life: flocks, herds, transport, homes, and fields. Its list carries the taking from inside the city out into the surrounding land, leaving nothing beyond its reach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that violence ends when the killing stops: the taking continues through livelihoods, homes, and fields.
THE ROOT
לָקָחוּ
lāqāḥû
GROWS FROM
לקח
L-Q-Ḥ
to take, receive, or seize
English uses “took” for both Shechem’s violation of Dinah and the taking of the flocks and goods here. The repeated root binds the seizure of a person to the seizure of everything around her, making the material plunder part of the same violence.
ALSO GROWS
lāqaḥ: The verb’s range includes taking hold of something or receiving it.
לָקַח
Here it names the seizure of the livestock and all that is in the city and field.
leqaḥ: Something received or taken in as instruction.
לֶקַח
This noun from the same root shows that לָקַח can extend from taking outwardly to receiving something inwardly; the verse shows its force as seizure.
THE PATTERN
Predatory taking reaches beyond a person to the goods and shelter that sustain a life.
And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.THE THREAD
And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.The same Hebrew verb, לָקַח (lāqaḥ), governs Shechem’s taking of Dinah and the brothers’ taking of the livestock and goods. Its repetition binds sexual violation to material plunder, showing seizure expanding from a person to everything around her.
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