Genesis 34:22

Summary

Genesis 34:22 records the condition set for the men of Shechem to live together with Jacob's family as a unified people: that every male among them undergo circumcision, matching the practice of Jacob's group. The verse is presented as a conditional statement introduced by a restrictive adverb.

Key words

• 'akh- ("only", H0389) — a restrictive adverb that narrows the scope of what follows; it signals that a single, exclusive condition is being introduced.
• ye.'O.tu ("they will agree", H0225) — niphal imperfect, third person masculine plural; the niphal stem here carries a reflexive/reciprocal sense of consenting or agreeing, and the imperfect aspect points to a future or not-yet-completed action.
• la.Shevet ("to dwell", H3427) — qal infinitive construct with prefixed preposition le-, expressing purpose or result ("in order to dwell" / "to dwell").
• hi.Mol ("has been circumcised", H4135A) — niphal infinitive construct, passive sense, functioning as a temporal clause with the prefixed be- ("when/in the circumcising").
• ni.mo.Lim ("circumcised", H4135A) — niphal participle, masculine plural, describing an ongoing or characteristic state of Jacob's men, used in the comparative clause ka.'a.Sher ("just as", H0834D) + hem ("they", H1992).

What the text says

The sentence opens with 'akh-be-zot ("only in this"), a construction that isolates a single condition before naming it, creating suspense before the content of the agreement is stated. The main verb ye.'O.tu ("they will agree", H0225) governs two purpose infinitives: la.Shevet ("to dwell", H3427) and li.h.Yot ("to become", H1961), both qal infinitives construct linked by le-, describing the intended outcome — dwelling together and becoming 'am 'echad ("one people", H5971A + H0259).

The condition itself is expressed through a temporal clause built on the niphal infinitive hi.Mol ("has been circumcised", H4135A), preceded by be- ("when"), governing the object kol-zachar ("every male", H3605 + H2145). This clause is then compared to the existing state of the Shechemites through ka.'asher hem ni.mo.Lim ("just as they are circumcised"), where ni.mo.Lim is a niphal participle indicating a durative or characteristic condition rather than a single completed event. The grammar thus distinguishes between the future circumcision required of Jacob's men (infinitive, event-oriented) and the already-existing circumcised state of the Shechemites (participle, state-oriented).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ye.'O.tu ("they will agree") with ὁμοιωθήσονται ("they will be made like/similar"), a verb of likeness rather than agreement, shifting the semantic focus from consent to resemblance. The Vulgate diverges further, omitting the third-person framing of the Hebrew and Greek altogether, instead phrasing the verse in first-person plural ("si circumcidamus... nostros"), presenting the condition as a direct proposal by Jacob's sons rather than as a report of what the Shechemites would require.