Midrasch zu Bereschit 34:24

And Shechem and his father heard the words of the sons of Jacob, and their words pleased ‎them, and Shechem and his son deferred not to do the thing, because Shechem had delight in ‎Jacob’s daughter, and his soul was bound to her. And Shechem and his father hastened to the ‎gate of their city, and they assembled all the people of their city, and they spoke unto them ‎the words of Jacob's sons, saying: We came to these men, to the sons of Jacob, and we ‎communed with them concerning their daughter, and these men agreed to do what we ‎desired of them; and behold our land so very spacious is before them and they can trade and ‎dwell therein, and we will be as one people with them. Their daughters we will take to ‎ourselves, and our daughters we will give unto them to wives. But they have consented only ‎on the condition that we circumcise every male person amongst us, even as they are ‎circumcised, for thus their God had commanded them. And as soon as we comply with their ‎demand then all of them with their wealth and cattle will dwell with us, and we will become ‎one people with them. And the people of the city hearing the words of Shechem and his ‎father, Hamor, accepted the proposal, and they agreed to be circumcised; for Shechem and his ‎father, Hamor, were highly respected in their eyes, being the princes of the land. And next ‎morning Shechem and his father, Hamor, rose early and gathered together all the male ‎persons unto the middle of the city, and they called the sons of Jacob and they circumcised ‎every male among them on that day and the following one. And they circumcised also ‎Shechem and his father, Hamor, with his five brothers, and they each of them returned to his ‎house. For this was from the Lord, as also the advice of Simeon, in this matter, so that the Lord ‎might deliver the city of Shechem unto the hands of Jacob’s two sons. And the numbers of all ‎the males then circumcised were six hundred and forty-five men and two hundred and ‎seventy-six children. But Hidekem, the son of Pered, Hamor's father, and his six brothers, ‎were not circumcised for the proposal of the sons of Jacob was abominable in their eyes, and ‎they were greatly wroth at the people of the city for not re fusing, also, according to their ‎advice. And it was on the second day, in the evening, that eight small boys were found which ‎were not circumcised, for their mothers had concealed them from Shechem and his father, ‎and from the people of the city. And Shechem and his father, Hamor, sent for those boys to ‎have them brought before them to be circumcised, but Hidekem and his six brothers jumped ‎at them with their swords and sought to kill them. And they sought to kill Shechem and his ‎father, Hamor, and Dinah was to be killed likewise on account of that matter.

And they said to them: What is this thing that you have done? is there not among the ‎daughters of your brothers, the Canaanites, a woman, that you must take to you one from the ‎daughters of the Hebrews whom you have not known neither yesterday nor day before, and ‎besides, you do such things as have never been commanded unto us by our fathers? Do you ‎really believe to prosper in this matter, and what answer will you make to your brethren, the ‎Canaanites, if they come and question you to-morrow concerning these things? and if your ‎actions should not be regarded just in their eyes, what will you do for your souls, for not ‎having listened to our voices? And further, if all the inhabitants of the land and all your ‎brethren, the sons of Ham, will hear of your action, saying: On account of a Hebrew woman ‎Shechem and his father, Hamor, and all the people of their city com mitted things of which ‎they never knew, and which their forefathers never commanded unto them, whither then will ‎you flee and whither shall ye go with all your endless shame before the inhabitants of Canaan, ‎your brethren? And now, we cannot stand this thing that you have done, and we cannot ‎endure it to carry upon us this yoke, something our forefathers never commanded unto us. ‎Behold, we will go to-morrow and assemble all our brethren, the Canaanites that dwell in the ‎whole land, and we will smite you and all those that trust in you, that there will not be left of ‎you or of them a remnant. And Hamor and Shechem, his son, and the in habitants of the place, ‎hearing these words were in great fear of Hidekem and his brothers, and they were afraid of ‎their lives, and they repented of all that they had done. And Shechem and his father, Hamor, ‎replied unto Hidekem and his brothers, saying unto them: Every one of the words you have ‎spoken is correct, but do not say or think in your hearts that we have done out of love to the ‎Hebrews, these things, which our forefathers never commanded unto us. For we did it ‎because we have seen that they had not the heart nor the willingness to grant us our wish ‎concerning their daughter, so that we could take her unto us, save upon this condition; and we ‎have listened to their voice and done these things merely to obtain what we desired from ‎them. And after we shall have gained what we sought of them we will do unto them ‎whatsoever you may say unto us. And now, we pray ye, wait and be patient until our flesh ‎shall be healed and we gain strength, and we will unite and go against them and do unto them ‎as it is in your hearts and in ours.

(Gen. 38:24, cont.:) THAT IT WAS TOLD TO JUDAH, SAYING: YOUR DAUGHTER-IN-LAW TAMAR HAS PROSTITUTED HERSELF; AND SHE IS ALSO PREGNANT FOR LEWDNESS. What is the meaning of FOR LEWDNESS? That she would enter a bathhouse and say to her women friends: Go away from me because I am bearing kings. But Isaac, Jacob, and Judah were sitting there in judgment. They said (ibid., cont.): BRING HER OUT AND LET HER BE BURNED. R. Johanan said: In property cases one begins with the eldest, but in capital cases one begins with the youngest and finishes with the eldest.⁵⁹Sanh. 4:2; Git. 59a. Thus the younger judges would not be unduly influenced by their elders. And why does one say: WITH THE YOUNGEST? Because one ascribes corruption to the youngest. Why did he say (in Gen. 34:24): LET HER BE BURNED, and not say: "Let her be killed"? Ephraim the Disputant said in the name of R. Me'ir: She was Shem's daughter, and Shem was a priest. For this reason he said: BRING HER OUT, AND LET HER BE BURNED.⁶⁰See Lev. 21:9. Now they were dragging her and bringing her out against her will, as stated (in Gen. 38:25): AS SHE WAS BEING BROUGHT OUT. Now while she was being brought out, she sought < the tokens of > the pledge but did not find them. In that hour she raised her eyes to the heavens. Immediately the Holy One sent her others.