“ But is Gen. xxxiv. to be taken literally? Shechem is the famous holy city, Hamor a well-known native family, Jacob talks of himself as being “few in number,” and the deeds of Simeon and Levi are those of communities, not of individuals. ”

“ The other tradition, that the Israelites were defeated there by Amalekites and Canaanites, explains the detour by Edom and Moab (ib. xiv. 25, 40-45) , and the appearance of the tribes E. of the Jordan to invade the land of their ancestors. Obviously these represent fundamentally differing views, which cannot be woven into a single outline; and they cannot be isolated from more profound questions which really affect all ordinary conceptions of the structure of biblical history. ”

“ The internal biblical evidence has forced all independent investigators to adopt some reconstruction, but the above theory is in many respects precarious. [3] It may explain the disappearance of a secular tribe of Levi, but not the rise of the sacred Levites. Even in Judges ix. 28 Shechem is still held by the family of Hamor (cf. Gen. xxxiii. 19) , and if Simeon was scattered and divided at any early date, its appearance in tradition many centuries later is inexplicable. ”