Biblical Relevance

Genesis 34 records that Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, raped Levi’s sister Dinah. Afterwards, Shechem asks his father, Hamor, to arrange a marriage with Dinah. As a condition of the marriage, Jacob’s sons stipulate that Hivite males be circumcised as the bride price (Gen 34:13–24). While the Hivite men are still recovering, Levi and his brother Simeon avenge Dinah’s rape by killing Hamor, Shechem, and all the men of the town (Gen 34:25–31; compare 49:5).

Levi becomes the eponym for the Levites, the tribe responsible for the priesthood and maintenance of the tabernacle and temple. The Levites are first addressed as a tribe in Gen 49 when Jacob prophesies they will be scattered throughout the land as a result of Levi’s violence against the Hivites.