But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.
Genesis 34:17 belongs to the account that follows Dinah going out to see the women of the land, a venture into association with people who did not fear God that led to her dishonor. That dishonor provides the setting for the dealings with Shechem and the violence that followed there. The words are the deceptive threat of Simeon and Levi to take their sister and be gone unless the men of Shechem consent to be circumcised. The demand for circumcision was made deceitfully, as a cover for their intent against the Shechemites. That deception was then followed by violence at Shechem, when Simeon and Levi cruelly destroyed the Shechemites.
Genesis 34:17 belongs to the account that follows Dinah going out to see the women of the land, a venture into association with people who did not fear God that led to her dishonor. That dishonor provides the setting for the dealings with Shechem and the violence that followed there. The words are the deceptive threat of Simeon and Levi to take their sister and be gone unless the men of Shechem consent to be circumcised. The demand for circumcision was made deceitfully, as a cover for their intent against the Shechemites. That deception was then followed by violence at Shechem, when Simeon and Levi cruelly destroyed the Shechemites.