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⇱ Genesis 34:9 Intermarry with us; give us your daughters, and take our daughters for yourselves.

Bible > Genesis > Chapter 34 > Verse 9
◄ Genesis 34:9 ►
New International Version
Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.

New Living Translation
In fact, let’s arrange other marriages, too. You give us your daughters for our sons, and we will give you our daughters for your sons.

English Standard Version
Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

Berean Standard Bible
Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.

King James Bible
And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

New King James Version
And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves.

New American Standard Bible
And intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves.

NASB 1995
“Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves.

NASB 1977
“And intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

Legacy Standard Bible
And intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves.

Amplified Bible
And [beyond that] intermarry with us; give your daughters to us [as wives] and take our daughters for yourselves.

Christian Standard Bible
Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

American Standard Version
And make ye marriages with us; give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

Contemporary English Version
Why don't you start letting your families marry into our families and ours marry into yours?

English Revised Version
And make ye marriages with us; give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take ours for yourselves.

Good News Translation
Let us make an agreement that there will be intermarriage between our people and yours.

International Standard Version
Intermarry with us. Give your daughters to us and take our sons for yourselves.

NET Bible
Intermarry with us. Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves.

New Heart English Bible
Arrange marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

Webster's Bible Translation
And make ye marriages with us: give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to you.
Majority Text Translations
Majority Standard Bible
Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.

World English Bible
Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and join in marriage with us; you give your daughters to us, and you take our daughters for yourselves,

Young's Literal Translation
and join ye in marriage with us; your daughters ye give to us, and our daughters ye take to yourselves,

Smith's Literal Translation
And contract ye marriages with us; ye shall give your daughters to us, and ye shall take our daughters to you.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And let us contract marriages one with another: give us your daughters and take you our daughters,

Catholic Public Domain Version
And let us celebrate marriages with one with another. Give us your daughters, and receive our daughters.

New American Bible
Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

New Revised Standard Version
Make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Intermarry with us, and give your daughters to us in marriage, and take our daughters to you,

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And be married with us; give your daughter to us and take our daughters to yourselves.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And make ye marriages with us; give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
and intermarry with us. Give us your daughters, and take our daughters for your sons.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Defiling of Dinah
…8But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9Intermarry with us; give us your daughters, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10You may settle among us, and the land will be open to you. Live here, move about freely, and acquire your own property.”…

Cross References
Exodus 34:16
And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.

Deuteronomy 7:3-4
Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, / because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

Joshua 23:12-13
For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them, / know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.

1 Kings 11:1-2
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. / These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.

Nehemiah 13:25-27
I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves! / Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin. / Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”

Judges 3:5-6
Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. / And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

Ezra 9:12
Now, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Never seek their peace or prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, leaving it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’

2 Corinthians 6:14-17
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? / What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? / What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” ...

1 Corinthians 7:39
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 9:5
Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?

2 Corinthians 11:2
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

Ephesians 5:31
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

Matthew 19:4-6
Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ / and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? / So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

Mark 10:6-9
However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ / ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, / and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ...

Romans 7:2-3
For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. / So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.


Genesis 6:2
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Genesis 19:14
And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

Genesis 24:3
And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

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Daughters Intermarry Join Joined Marriage Marriages Peoples Together Yourselves
Genesis 34
1. Dinah is ravished by Shechem.
4. He requests to marry her.
13. The sons of Jacob offer the condition of circumcision to the Shechemites.
20. Hamor and Shechem persuade them to accept it.
25. The sons of Jacob upon that advantage slay them, and spoil their city.
30. Jacob reproves Simeon and Levi.














Intermarry with us;
This phrase reflects the proposal made by Hamor and Shechem to Jacob and his sons after the incident involving Dinah. In the ancient Near Eastern context, intermarriage was often a means of forming alliances and ensuring peace between different tribes or groups. However, for the Israelites, intermarriage with the Canaanites was discouraged due to the potential for leading them away from their covenant relationship with God (Exodus 34:16, Deuteronomy 7:3-4). This proposal can be seen as a test of the Israelites' commitment to their distinct identity and covenant obligations.

give us your daughters
The request to give daughters in marriage highlights the cultural practice of arranged marriages, which were common in biblical times. Daughters were often given in marriage to strengthen familial ties and alliances. This request also underscores the patriarchal nature of the society, where family heads made decisions regarding marriages. The giving of daughters to the Canaanites would have been seen as compromising the purity and distinctiveness of the Israelite lineage, which was meant to be set apart for God's purposes.

and take our daughters for yourselves.
This part of the proposal suggests a reciprocal arrangement, where the Israelites would also take Canaanite women as wives. Such intermarriage could lead to the assimilation of Israel into Canaanite culture and religious practices, which was contrary to God's command for Israel to remain separate and holy (Leviticus 20:26). The potential for idolatry and syncretism was a significant concern, as seen in later biblical narratives where intermarriage led to spiritual decline (e.g., Solomon's marriages in 1 Kings 11:1-4). This phrase also foreshadows the ongoing struggle for Israel to maintain its identity amidst surrounding nations.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Shechem
A city in the land of Canaan, significant in biblical history as a place of both covenant and conflict.

2. Hamor
The father of Shechem, a Hivite prince, who proposes intermarriage between his people and Jacob's family.

3. Jacob
The patriarch of the Israelites, whose family is involved in the events of Genesis 34.

4. Dinah
Jacob's daughter, whose defilement by Shechem sets off the events of this chapter.

5. The Hivites
A Canaanite people living in the region, represented by Hamor and Shechem in this account.
Teaching Points
The Dangers of Compromise
The proposal for intermarriage represents a temptation to compromise the distinctiveness of God's people. Believers today must be cautious of alliances that could lead them away from their faith.

Cultural Influence vs. Godly Influence
The account highlights the tension between cultural assimilation and maintaining a godly identity. Christians are called to be in the world but not of it, influencing rather than being influenced by secular culture.

The Importance of Obedience
God's commands regarding separation from pagan practices were meant to protect His people. Obedience to God's Word remains crucial for spiritual health and witness.

Family and Faith
The family unit is central to God's plan for His people. Decisions about marriage and family should be guided by faith and commitment to God's principles.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1. What is the meaning of Genesis 34:9?

2. How does Genesis 34:9 illustrate the dangers of unequal yoking with unbelievers?

3. What lessons can we learn about family alliances from Genesis 34:9?

4. How does Genesis 34:9 connect with 2 Corinthians 6:14 on partnerships?

5. What are the spiritual implications of intermarriage as seen in Genesis 34:9?

6. How can Genesis 34:9 guide us in making godly relationship decisions today?

7. How does Genesis 34:9 reflect ancient marriage customs and their implications for today?

8. What does Genesis 34:9 reveal about intermarriage and its theological significance in biblical times?

9. How does Genesis 34:9 challenge modern views on cultural integration and religious identity?

10. What are the top 10 Lessons from Genesis 34?

11. Genesis 34:22 - Could the use of circumcision as a deceptive tactic reflect an anachronistic or exaggerated element in the text?

12. In Genesis 36:2-3, Esau's wives differ from those mentioned in Genesis 26:34 and 28:9--why the discrepancy?

13. Does Ezra 9:2 contradict the acceptance of foreign converts in other passages of Scripture, such as the story of Ruth?

14. Genesis 34:27-29 - How does the looting and enslavement of the city align with later biblical laws condemning such acts?
What Does Genesis 34:9 Mean
Intermarry with us

Hamor’s invitation reaches beyond a single wedding; it offers a social merger between Jacob’s family and the Hivite city of Shechem.

• Genesis 34:8–10 shows Hamor promising free movement, land, and commerce if Jacob’s household unites with his.

• For Jacob’s sons, the request clashes with God’s call to remain distinct (Genesis 17:7–9). To mingle would blur the covenant line that began with Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3).

• Later Scripture confirms the danger: Exodus 34:15–16 warns that Canaanite intermarriage leads to idolatry, and Deuteronomy 7:3–4 predicts it will “turn your sons away from following Me.”

• The New Testament echoes the principle—2 Corinthians 6:14 urges believers not to be “unequally yoked.”

give us your daughters

Hamor asks Jacob to surrender his own daughters to pagan husbands.

• In that culture, fathers directed a daughter’s future (Genesis 29:19; 1 Corinthians 7:36-38). Handing them to idol-worshipers would jeopardize their faith and the family’s spiritual legacy.

• Genesis 24:3-4 records Abraham’s opposite resolve: he would not let Isaac marry a Canaanite. The same care is now expected of Jacob.

• Ezra 9:1-2 shows how later generations learned this lesson the hard way; foreign marriages diluted Israel’s holiness and required repentance.

and take our daughters for yourselves

Hamor offers a reciprocal trade—Jacob’s sons may choose Hivite wives.

• Such two-way intermarriage would weave the chosen family into Canaanite society, dissolving its separateness. Judges 3:5-7 describes that very outcome: Israel “lived among” the nations, married their daughters, and “served the Baals.”

• The pattern reappears in Numbers 25:1-3, where intermarriage with Moabites leads to worship of Baal Peor and God’s judgment.

• By proposing a mutual exchange, Hamor seeks peace and prosperity, but at the cost of covenant purity—an offer the brothers later reject through deceitful circumcision demands (Genesis 34:13-17).

summary

Genesis 34:9 voices a seemingly generous invitation to merge two peoples, but beneath the courtesy lies a threat to God’s distinct, covenant family. Scripture consistently treats intermarriage with idol-worshipers as spiritual compromise that invites judgment. Hamor’s offer, therefore, is not merely social—it challenges the line through which God plans to bless the world. The verse reminds believers in every age to guard their allegiance to the Lord, even when cultural partnerships promise short-term comfort or gain.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Intermarry with us;
וְהִֽתְחַתְּנ֖וּ (wə·hiṯ·ḥat·tə·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hitpael - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 2859: To give, away in marriage, to contract affinity by marriage

give
תִּתְּנוּ־ (tit·tə·nū-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

us
לָ֔נוּ (lā·nū)
Preposition | first person common plural
Strong's Hebrew

your daughters,
בְּנֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ (bə·nō·ṯê·ḵem)
Noun - feminine plural construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 1323: A daughter

and take
תִּקְח֥וּ (tiq·ḥū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 3947: To take

our daughters
בְּנֹתֵ֖ינוּ (bə·nō·ṯê·nū)
Noun - feminine plural construct | first person common plural
Strong's 1323: A daughter

for yourselves.
לָכֶֽם׃ (lā·ḵem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew


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OT Law: Genesis 34:9 Make marriages with us (Gen. Ge Gn)