What Does Genesis 34:11 Mean?

The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. The narrator's characterization of the sons' response as "deceitful" (bemirmah, with deceit) is the key word of the verse and the key moral judgment of the chapter's first movement. The sons will propose a condition (circumcision) under the guise of an integration requirement while planning all along to use the period of recovery to attack. The "deceit" the narrator names does not exonerate Shechem but does not excuse the sons of Jacob either.

The motivation for the deceit, "because he had defiled their sister Dinah," provides the moral context for the brothers' action without endorsing the method. The defilement of Dinah is the cause; the deceit is the means chosen; the massacre of verse 25 will be the result. The logical chain from cause to means to result is the chapter's dark arithmetic. The narrator who says "because he had defiled their sister" allows the reader to understand why the brothers act as they do while the word "deceitfully" ensures the action is not morally whitewashed.

The repetition of "defiled their sister Dinah" throughout the chapter (verses 5, 13, 27) functions as a refrain that keeps the original violation in the reader's view even as the chapter moves into negotiation, agreement, and revenge. The negotiations might seem to be about circumcision and integration; the refrain reminds the reader that they are always about the violation. The brothers' deceit, however morally compromised, is always in response to Shechem's initial moral failure.