YASHAR 33 (Jasher 33)

1 And after some time, Ya’aqoḇ went away from the borders of the land, and he came to the land of Shalĕm, that is the city of Sheḵem, which is in the land of Kena’an, and he rested in front of the city.

2 And he bought a portion of the field which was there, from the children of Ḥamor the people of the land, for five sheqels.

3 And Ya’aqoḇ built himself a house there, and he pitched his tent there. And he made booths for his cattle, therefore he called the name of that place Sukkoth.

4 And Ya’aqoḇ remained in Sukkoth a year and six months.

5 At that time, some of the women of the inhabitants of the land went to the city of Sheḵem to dance and rejoice with the daughters of the people of the city, and when they went, Raḥĕl and Lĕ’ah the wives of Ya’aqoḇ with their clans also went to see the rejoicing of the daughters of the city.

6 And Dinah the daughter of Ya’aqoḇ also went along with them and saw the daughters of the city. And they remained there before these daughters while all the people of the city were standing by them to see their rejoicings, and all the great people of the city were there.

7 And Sheḵem son of Ḥamor, the prince of the land was also standing there to watch them.

8 And Sheḵem saw Dinah the daughter of Ya’aqoḇ sitting with her mother before the daughters of the city, and the maiden pleased him greatly, and he asked his friends there and his people, saying, “Whose daughter is that sitting among the women, whom I do not know in this city?”

9 And they said to him, “Indeed this is the daughter of Ya’aqoḇ son of Yitsḥaq the Iḇri, who has dwelt in this city for some time, and when it was reported that the daughters of the land were going forth to rejoice she went with her mother and female servants to sit among them as you see.”

10 And Sheḵem saw Dinah the daughter of Ya’aqoḇ, and when he looked at her his being became fixed upon Dinah.

11 And he sent and had her taken by force, and Dinah came to the house of Sheḵem and he seized her forcibly and lay with her and humbled her. And he loved her exceedingly and placed her in his house.

12 And they came and told the matter to Ya’aqoḇ, and when Ya’aqoḇ heard that Sheḵem had defiled his daughter Dinah, Ya’aqoḇ sent twelve of his servants to take Dinah from the house of Sheḵem, and they went and came to the house of Sheḵem to take away Dinah from there.

13 And when they came, Sheḵem went out to them with his men and drove them from his house, and he would not allow them to come before Dinah, but Sheḵem was sitting with Dinah kissing and embracing her before their eyes.

14 And the servants of Ya’aqoḇ came back and told him, saying, “When we came, he and his men drove us away, and thus did Sheḵem do unto Dinah before our eyes.”

15 And Ya’aqoḇ also knew that Sheḵem had defiled his daughter, but he said nothing. And his sons were feeding his cattle in the field, and Ya’aqoḇ remained silent till their return.

16 And before his sons came home Ya’aqoḇ sent two female servants from his servants’ daughters to take care of Dinah in the house of Sheḵem, and to remain with her. And Sheḵem sent three of his friends to his father Ḥamor son of Ḥiddeqem, son of Pereḏ, saying, “Get me this maiden for a wife.”

17 And Ḥamor son of Ḥiddeqem the Ḥiwwite came to the house of Sheḵem his son, and he sat before him, and Ḥamor said to his son, “Sheḵem, is there then no woman among the daughters of your people that you will take an Iḇri woman who is not of your people?”

18 And Sheḵem said to him, “You must get only her for me, for she is delightful in my sight.” And Ḥamor did according to the word of his son, for he was greatly loved by him.

19 And Ḥamor went to Ya’aqoḇ to speak with him concerning this matter, and when he had gone from the house of his son Sheḵem, before he came to Ya’aqoḇ to speak to him, see, the sons of Ya’aqoḇ had come from the field as soon as they heard the matter that Sheḵem son of Ḥamor had done.

20 And the men were very much grieved concerning their sister, and they all came home kindled with wrath, before the time of gathering in their cattle.

21 And they came and sat before their father and they spoke to him kindled with wrath, saying, “Indeed death is due to this man and to his household, because 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 Elohim of the whole earth commanded Noaḥ and his children that man shall never rob, nor commit adultery! Now see, Sheḵem has both ravaged and committed whoring with our sister, and not one of all the people of the city spoke a word to him!

22 “Indeed you know and understand that the judgment of death is due to Sheḵem, and to his father, and to the whole city because of the matter which he has done.”

23 And while they were speaking before their father in this matter, see, Ḥamor the father of Sheḵem came to speak to Ya’aqoḇ the words of his son concerning Dinah, and he sat before Ya’aqoḇ and before his sons.

24 And Ḥamor spoke to them, saying, “The being of my son Sheḵem longs for your daughter; I pray you give her to him for a wife and intermarry with us. Give us your daughters and we will give you our daughters, and you shall dwell with us in our land and we will be as one people in the land,

25 for our land is very large. So dwell and trade therein and get possessions in it, and do therein as you desire, and no one shall prevent you by saying a word to you.”

26 And Ḥamor ceased speaking to Ya’aqoḇ and his sons, and see, Sheḵem his son had come after him, and he sat before them.

27 And Sheḵem spoke before Ya’aqoḇ and his sons, saying, “May I find favour in your sight that you will give me your daughter, and whatever you say to me, that I will do for her.

28 “Ask me for a large dowry and gift, and I will give it, and whatever you shall say to me, that I will do, and whoever it is that will rebel against your orders, he shall die! Only give me the maiden for a wife.”

29 And Shim’on and Lĕwi answered Ḥamor and Sheḵem his son deceitfully, saying, “All you spoken to us we will do for you.

30 “And see, our sister is in your house, but keep away from her until we send to our father Yitsḥaq concerning this matter, for we can do nothing without his consent.

31 “For he knows the ways of our father Aḇraham, and whatever he says to us we will tell you. We will conceal nothing from you.”

32 And Shim’on and Lĕwi spoke this to Sheḵem and his father in order to find a pretense, and to seek counsel what was to be done to Sheḵem and to his city in this matter.

33 And when Sheḵem and his father heard the words of Shim’on and Lĕwi, it seemed good in their eyes, and Sheḵem and his father went out to go home.

34 And when they had gone, the sons of Ya’aqoḇ spoke to their father, saying, “Look, we know that death is due to these wicked ones and to their city, because they transgressed that which Elohim had commanded to Noaḥ and his children and his seed after them.

35 “And also because Sheḵem did this matter to our sister Dinah in defiling her, for such wickedness shall never be done among us.

36 “Now therefore know and see what you will do, and seek counsel and what matter is to be done to them, in order to kill all the inhabitants of this city.”

37 And Shim’on said to them, “Here is right advice for you: tell them to circumcise every male among them as we are circumcised, and if they do not want to do this, we shall take our daughter from them and go away.

38 “And if they consent to do this and will do it, then when they are weakened with pain, we will attack them with our swords, as upon one who is quiet and peaceable, and we will slay every male among them.”

39 And Shim’on’s advice pleased them, and Shim’on and Lĕwi resolved to do to them as it was proposed.

40 And on the next morning Sheḵem and Ḥamor his father came again to Ya’aqoḇ and his sons, to speak concerning Dinah, and to hear what answer the sons of Ya’aqoḇ would give to their words.

41 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ spoke deceitfully to them, saying, “We told our father Yitsḥaq all your words, and your words pleased him.

42 “But he spoke to us, saying, ‘Thus did Aḇraham his father command him from Elohim, Aḏon of the whole earth, that any man who is not of his descendants that should want to take one of his daughters, shall cause every male belonging to him to be circumcised, as we are circumcised, and then we may give him our daughter for a wife.’

43 “Now we have made known to you all our ways that our father spoke to us, for we cannot do this of which you spoke unto us, to give our daughter to an uncircumcised man, for it is a disgrace to us.

44 “But hereby will we consent to you, to give you our daughter, and we will also take unto ourselves your daughters, and will dwell among you and be one people as you have spoken, if you will listen to us, and consent to be like us, to circumcise every male belonging to you, as we are circumcised.

45 “And if you will not listen to us, to have every male circumcised as we are circumcised, as we have commanded, then we will come to you, and take our daughter from you and go away.”

46 And Sheḵem and his father Ḥamor heard the words of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and they pleased them exceedingly, and Sheḵem and his father Ḥamor hastened to do the request of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, for Sheḵem exceedingly loved Dinah, and his being was fixed on her.

47 And Sheḵem and his father Ḥamor hurried to the gate of the city, and they assembled all the men of their city and spoke to them the words of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, saying,

48 “We came to these men, the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and we spoke to them concerning their daughter, and these men will consent to do according to our wishes, and see, our land is of great size for them, and they will dwell in it, and trade in it, and we shall be one people. We will take their daughters, and our daughters we will give to them for wives.

49 “But only on this condition will these men consent to do this matter, that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised, as their Elohim commanded them. And when we have done according to their instructions to be circumcised, then they will dwell among us, together with their cattle and possessions, and we shall be as one people with them.”

50 And when all the men of the city heard the words of Sheḵem and his father Ḥamor, then all the men of their city were agreeable to this proposal, and they obeyed to be circumcised, for Sheḵem and his father Ḥamor were greatly esteemed by them, being the princes of the land.

51 And on the next day, Sheḵem and Ḥamor his father rose early in the morning, and they assembled all the men of their city into the middle of the city, and they called for the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, who circumcised every male belonging to them on that day and the next.

52 And they circumcised Sheḵem and Ḥamor his father, and the five brothers of Sheḵem, and then every one rose up and went home, for this matter was from 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 against the city of Sheḵem, and Shim’on’s counsel was from 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 in this matter, in order that 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 might deliver the city of Sheḵem into the hands of Ya’aqoḇ’s two sons.