Bible Strands
Genesis 34:30
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob addresses Simeon and Levi immediately after their violent retaliation for Dinah’s violation. He warns them that their actions have exposed his small household to fatal retaliation from the surrounding Canaanite and Perizzite populations.
The words — The Hebrew עֲכַרְתֶּם ('a.khar.Tem) literally means "you have troubled" or "you have made stinking," describing how their deed damaged Jacob’s standing. This aligns with the text’s explicit claim that they made him a "stench" to the local inhabitants.
The thread — The same idiom for becoming a "stench" or bringing "trouble" appears when Israel’s leaders blame Moses in Exodus 5:21, when Joshua condemns Achan in Joshua 7:25, and when Saul’s raid makes Israel a "stench" to the Philistines in 1 Samuel 13:4. Each instance marks a leadership failure that triggers collective danger.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that reckless violence, even when justified by personal grievance, can endanger the entire community. It asks readers to weigh immediate retaliation against the concrete survival of their household or group.
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
And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
Cross-references
- Exodus 5:21 “May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!”
- Joshua 7:25 “Why have you brought this trouble upon us?” said Joshua. “Today the LORD will bring trouble upon you!” And all Israel stoned him to death. Then they stoned the others and burned their bodies.
- 1 Samuel 13:4 And all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines!” Then the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
- Psalms 105:12 When they were few in number, few indeed, and strangers in the land,
- Genesis 13:7 And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.
- Genesis 28:13 And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie.
- Genesis 49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.
- 1 Samuel 27:12 So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”
- 1 Chronicles 16:19 When they were few in number, few indeed, and strangers in the land,
- 1 Chronicles 19:6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.