Hamor

Biblical Account

Hamor was a Hivite who lived in the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he was the father of Shechem. His name is identical to the Hebrew word meaning "male donkey."

After returning from Padan-aram, Jacob pitched his tent before the city of Shechem. He then bought that parcel of ground from the sons of Hamor for one hundred pieces (Genesis 33:18-19). The monetary unit in the original text is the qesitah, whose exact value is unknown. The Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Hangeul) renders this price as "one hundred pieces of silver" in Genesis but as "one hundred pieces of gold" in Joshua 24:32.

In Genesis 34, Hamor's son Shechem defiled Jacob's daughter Dinah. Shechem then asked his father to obtain Dinah for him as a wife (34:2-4). Hamor came to Jacob to propose the marriage and suggested that the two families give their daughters to one another and live and trade together in the land (34:8-10).

Jacob's sons answered deceitfully, saying that every male must be circumcised (34:13-17). Hamor and Shechem persuaded the men of the city at the city gate, telling them that the livestock and property of Jacob's household would eventually become their own (34:23). On the third day after the men were circumcised, Simeon and Levi attacked the city and killed the males. Hamor and Shechem were also slain with the sword at that time (34:25-26). Jacob rebuked his two sons (34:30), and on his deathbed he again referred to this event when he rebuked their anger (Genesis 49:5-7).

Significance in Scripture

In later Scripture, Hamor is chiefly called "the father of Shechem," that is, the ancestor of the land and people of Shechem.

• Joshua 24:32 records that the children of Israel buried the bones of Joseph at Shechem, in the ground that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor.
• In Judges 9:28, Gaal, opposing Abimelech, urges the people instead to "serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem." This verse is read as showing that the inhabitants of Shechem regarded Hamor as the ancestor of their city.
• In the New Testament, he appears once, in the speech of Stephen (Acts 7:16). Stephen says that the patriarchs were buried in the sepulchre "that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem."

Interpretation and Issues

• The problem of Acts 7:16: According to Genesis, what Abraham bought was the cave of Machpelah at Hebron, and the seller was Ephron the Hittite (Genesis 23). It was Jacob who bought land at Shechem from the sons of Hamor. Several explanations have been offered for this discrepancy:
• The view that Stephen condensed the two purchase accounts into one
• The view that Abraham is named as the representative of the patriarchs as a whole
• The conjecture that Abraham may have separately bought land at Shechem when he built an altar there (Genesis 12:6-7)

Those who emphasize biblical inerrancy offer such harmonizing interpretations. Some historical-critical scholars regard the discrepancy as the result of conflated traditions.

• Assessment of Hamor: The text does not record that Hamor apologized for his son's crime or rebuked him for it. Rather, it portrays him as a man who persuaded the people of the city by appealing to economic gain. For this reason, many interpreters hold Hamor responsible in the incident involving Dinah. At the same time, the text also indicates that the brothers' retaliation was excessive (34:30), and so some interpreters decline to place the blame on one side alone.
• The referent of "prince of the country": The Korean Revised Version takes "prince of the country" in 34:2 as referring to Shechem. However, some have noted that in the Hebrew sentence it is ambiguous whether this phrase refers to Shechem or to Hamor.
• Conjectures related to the name: Some scholars connect the name Hamor with the ancient Near Eastern custom of slaughtering a donkey to ratify a covenant. This remains only a conjecture. Hamor's age, character, and the rest of his life are not mentioned in the text.

In the Korean Church

Hamor is rarely the subject of a sermon in his own right. He is usually mentioned in connection with the incident involving Dinah in Genesis 34. Sermons on this passage reportedly often connect the incident with Jacob's settling near Shechem instead of going up to Bethel (Genesis 33:18-20; 35:1).