But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;
The proposal put to the people of Shechem was that Simeon and Levi would agree to their request only if the Shechemites became like them through the circumcision of every male among them. That apparent agreement was not sincere, but a deception that concealed what Simeon and Levi really intended to do. Under cover of that deceit they carried out violence and slaughter, destroying the Shechemites in a cruel and revengeful act. It was for this cruelty in the Shechem episode that Jacob afterward condemned them.
The proposal put to the people of Shechem was that Simeon and Levi would agree to their request only if the Shechemites became like them through the circumcision of every male among them. That apparent agreement was not sincere, but a deception that concealed what Simeon and Levi really intended to do. Under cover of that deceit they carried out violence and slaughter, destroying the Shechemites in a cruel and revengeful act. It was for this cruelty in the Shechem episode that Jacob afterward condemned them.