Genesis 34:11

Summary

Shechem speaks to Dinah's father and brothers, asking to find favor in their eyes and promising to give whatever they request of him. The verse presents Shechem's direct speech as a plea followed by an open-ended offer.

Key words

• va.Yomer ("he said", H0559) — qal imperfect with narrative vav, marking the next event in sequence: "and he said."
• 'em.tza' ("let me find", H4672) — qal imperfect, first person singular, expressing Shechem's request/wish rather than a completed action — "let me find" or "may I find."
• chen ("favor", H2580) — masculine singular noun, the object sought; paired idiomatically with "in the eyes of" to mean gaining approval.
• 'einei ("view/eyes", H5869A) — feminine dual construct, literally "eyes of," used here in the fixed expression "in the eyes of you (plural)," i.e., "in your view/opinion."
• 'etten ("I will give", H5414G) — qal imperfect, first person singular, the verb that closes the verse, expressing future commitment: "I will give."

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative formula va.Yomer ("and he said", H0559), attaching Shechem's speech to the preceding narrative flow. The addressees are marked by two parallel prepositional phrases: 'el- 'a.Vi-ha ("to her father") and ve'el- 'a.chei-ha ("and to her brothers"), each using the preposition 'el (H0413) with a construct noun ('a.Vi, H0001G; 'a.chei, H0251G) plus the third-person feminine suffix -ha ("her"), referring back to Dinah from the wider context.

The content of Shechem's speech has two parts joined by va ("and", H9002). First, 'em.tza'-chen be'einei-Khem ("let me find favor in your eyes") uses the qal imperfect 'em.tza' (H4672) to express a wish or request rather than a statement of fact — Shechem is not claiming to have already found favor but is asking for it. The phrase be'einei-Khem ("in your eyes", H5869A + H9026) is a construct idiom meaning "in your view/estimation," with the dual noun 'einei reflecting the grammatical dual form of "eyes" in Hebrew even when used figuratively for opinion or judgment.

The second part begins with the relative particle 'asher ("that which", H0834A), introducing a clause: 'asher to.me.Ru 'elai 'etten ("whatever you say to me, I will give"). Both verbs — to.me.Ru ("you will say", H0559, second person masculine plural imperfect) and 'etten ("I will give", H5414G, first person singular imperfect) — are imperfect forms, giving the clause a conditional, open-ended future sense: the content of what will be said and given is left unspecified, contingent on the brothers' and father's response.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders chen ("favor") with the optative Εὕροιμι χάριν ("may I find favor"), closely matching the Hebrew's volitive nuance in 'em.tza'. The Vulgate uses the simple future Inveniam gratiam ("I will find favor"), which softens the wish-form into a more declarative future statement. In the closing clause, the LXX uses first-person plural δώσομεν ("we will give"), differing from the Hebrew's first-person singular 'etten ("I will give"), while the Vulgate's dabo ("I will give") matches the Hebrew's singular subject.