Hamor

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

HAMOR (‘he-ass’). Some think that the name points to a totem clan, such as there is reason to believe existed among the early Canaanite, and other Semitic, peoples. He is ‘the father of Shechem ’ (  Genesis 33:19 , 34,   Joshua 24:32 ,   Judges 9:28 ); but in the first and last two of these passages, the inhabitants of Shechem are called ‘the sons of Hamor’ and ‘the men of Hamor.’ It would seem, therefore, that Hamor is not to be considered an historical individual, but the eponymous ancestor of the Hamorites [cf. ‘the sons of Heth’ = the Hittites,   Genesis 23:3 ], who were a branch of the Hivites (  Genesis 34:2 ); and ‘the father of Shechem’ means the founder of the place Shechem (cf.   1 Chronicles 2:50 f.).

 Genesis 34:1-31 contains a composite narrative. According to p (  Genesis 34:1-2 a,   Genesis 34:4;   Genesis 34:6;   Genesis 34:8-10;   Genesis 34:13-18;   Genesis 34:20-25 (partly)   Genesis 34:27-29 ), Hamor negotiates with Jacob and his sons for the marriage of Shechem and Dinah, with the object of amalgamating the two peoples; circumcision is imposed by the sons of Jacob upon the whole Hamorite tribe, and then they attack the city, slaying all the males and carrying off the whole of the spoil. In the remaining verses of the chapter, the earlier narrative (J [Note: Jahwist.] ) pictures a much smaller personal affair, in which Shechem loves, and is ready to marry, Dinah; he only is circumcised, and he and Hamor alone are slain by Simeon and Levi an incident to which   Genesis 49:5-7 appears to refer. It is probable that not only Hamor, but also Dinah, Simeon, and Levi, stand for tribes or communities. See, further, under these names.

There is a curious fusion of traditions in  Acts 7:10 , where Jacob ‘and our fathers’ are said to have been ‘laid in the tomb which Abraham bought for a money price from the sons of Emmor in Sychem.’ Abraham bought a tomb in Machpelah, not in Shechem (  Genesis 23:17 f.), and Jacob was buried in it (  Genesis 50:13 ). Of the latter’s sons, Joseph alone is related in the OT to have been buried in the tomb bought from the sons of Hamor (  Joshua 24:32 ).

A. H. M’Neile.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("a large he-ass".) So ( Genesis 49:14) Issachar. A Hivite; but Alex. manuscript, Septuagint, a Horite; prince of Shechem and the adjoining district, probably named from his son. Head of the clan named from him while yet alive "the children of Hamor." ( Genesis 33:19.) From them Jacob bought for 100 kesita (i.e. bars or rings of silver of a certain weight, perhaps stamped with a "lamb," see margin, all the versions translated "lambs," which were the original representative of wealth) a parcel of a field. Abraham bought only a burying place, Jacob a dwelling place, which long after was also Joseph's burial place ( Joshua 24:32) referred to by Stephen ( Acts 7:16). "Jacob and our fathers were carried over into Sychem and laid in a sepulchre that Abraham bought ... of the sons of EMMOR" (the Greek form of Hamor).

Stephen with elliptical brevity sums up from six chaps, of Old Testament in one sentence the double purchase (by Abraham from Ephron the Hittite, Genesis 23; and by Jacob from the children of Hamor), the double burial place (Abraham's cave of Machpelah and Jacob's ground near Shechem), and the double burial (of Jacob in the cave of Machpelah, and of Joseph in the ground at Shechem), just because the details were familiar to both himself and the Jewish council; not, as rationalism objects, because he was ignorant of or forgot the historical facts so notorious from the Old Testament. In  Judges 9:28 Hamor's name is made to Shechemites the signal of revolt from Israelite rule. The cruel retaliation by Simeon and Levi of Shechem's wrong to Dinah (Genesis 34) left a lasting soreness in the minds of the Hivite remnant, who even without such ancient grudge would be ready enough to cast off Israel's yoke and revert to their original government by Hivite sheikhs. (See Gaal .)

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ha'mor. (An Ass). A Hivite who, at the time of the entrance of Jacob on Palestine, was prince of the land and city of Shechem.  Genesis 33:19;  Genesis 34:2;  Genesis 34:4;  Genesis 34:6;  Genesis 34:8;  Genesis 34:13;  Genesis 34:18;  Genesis 34:20;  Genesis 34:24;  Genesis 34:26. (B.C. 1737). See Dinah .

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Prince of the Hivites and father of Shechem, of whose family Jacob bought a piece of ground in which Joseph was buried.  Genesis 33:19;  Joshua 24:32;  Judges 9:28 . He is called EMMOR in  Acts 7:16 . He with Shechem and all the males of the city were slain with the sword by Simeon and Levi in vindication of their sister Dinah.  Genesis 34:2-26 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 33:19 Joshua 24:32 Genesis 34:25-26 Judges 9:28

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 33:19 Acts 7:16 Genesis 34:20

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

See Shechem.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hā´mor ( חמור , ḥămōr , "an ass"; Ἐμμώρ , Emmō̇r ): Hamor was the father of Shechem from whom Jacob bought a piece of ground on his return from Paddan-aram for one hundred pieces of silver (  Genesis 33:19 ), and the burial place of Joseph when his body was removed from Egypt to Canaan ( Joshua 24:32 ). "The men of Hamor" were inhabitants of Shechem, and suffered a great loss under Abimelech, a prince over Israel (Jdg 9:22-49). Dinah, Jacob's daughter, was criminally treated by Hamor, who requested her to be given to him in marriage, in which plan he had the coöperation of his father, Shechem. The sons of Jacob rejected their proposition and laid a scheme by which the inhabitants of the city were circumcised, and in the hour of helplessness slew all the males, thus wreaking special vengeance upon Hamor and his father Shechem. It is mere conjecture to claim that Hamor and Dinah were personifications of early central Palestinian clans in sharp antagonism, and that the course of Simeon and Levi was really the treachery of primitive tribes. Because the word Hamor means "an ass" and Shechem "a shoulder," there is no reason for rejecting the terms as designations of individuals and considering the titles as mere tribal appellations.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Chamor', חֲמוֹר , A He-Ass; Sept. Ε᾿Μμώρ , N.T. Εμμόρ ), a Hivite, from whom (or his sons) Jacob purchased the plot of ground in which Joseph was afterwards buried ( Genesis 33:19;  Joshua 24:32;  Acts 7:15; in which last passage the name is Anglicized E.M-OR), and whose son Shechem seduced Dinah ( Genesis 34:2). B.C. cir. 1905. As the latter appears to have founded the city of Shechem (q.v.), Hamor is also named as the representative of its inhabitants ( Judges 9:28) in the time of Abimelech (q.v.). His character and influence are indicated by his title ("prince" of the Hivite tribe in that vicinity), and his judicious behavior in the case of his son; but neither of these saved him from the indiscriminate massacre by Dinah's brothers. (See Jacob).