Bible Strands
Genesis 34:28
They took their flocks and herds and donkeys, and everything else in the city or in the field.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob’s sons execute the plunder immediately following their violent retaliation for Dinah’s defilement. They act as a unified group seizing property from the defeated city and its surrounding fields.
The words — צֹאנָם (tzo.Na/m) and בּקָרָם (be.ka.Ra/m) denote “their flocks” and “their herds,” while חֲמֹרֵיהֶם (cha.mo.rei./Hem) specifies “their donkeys.” The repeated preposition אֶת (’et-) marks each item as the direct object of their taking action.
The thread — The seizure of livestock mirrors Job 1:15, where raiders similarly strip flocks and herds. The broader confiscation of city goods aligns with the plundering motif in Genesis 34:29 and echoes the warning against self-reliant wealth accumulation in Deuteronomy 8:17.
Why it lands — The text records the mechanical transfer of property from one group to another without moral commentary. It forces the reader to confront how vengeance immediately converts into material gain, demanding a clear-eyed assessment of human motives before any theological application.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,
Cross-references
- Numbers 31:17 So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,
- Deuteronomy 8:17 You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
- Job 1:15 the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
- Job 20:5 the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?