Genesis Bible Study: Genesis 34

The Rape of Dinah

⁽¹⁾ One day Dinah*, Leah's daughter, went to visit some of the young women who lived in the area.

*Dinah: Means "Judged" or "Vindicated". She was full sister of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, and the half-sister of Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin.

According to Josephus, she had gone to take part in a feast of the Shechemites; but it is highly probable that she had been frequently mixing in that society and that she, being a simple, inexperienced, and vain 12 to 15 year old girl, had been flattered by the attentions of the ruler's son. There must have been time and opportunities of acquaintance to produce the strong attachment that Shechem had for her. She went to see, yet that was not all, she went to be seen too; she went to see the daughters of the land, but, it may be, with some thoughts of the sons of the land too. We too must be careful to be "in the world, but not part of it". Unattached young women were considered fair game in cities of the time, in which promiscuity was not only common but a part of the very religious system itself. She was bored with her Jewish heritage and wanted to experience the world. She had spiritual training and was probably a believer, but she had failed to prepare for the approaching crisis. She was a naive "country girl" and was easy prey for a worldly "city boy". Shechem saw her, deceived her, and sexually abused her. Shechem was a typical wild, promiscuous teen boy - approximately 16 years old. Descended from a Hamor (Chamor), which means donkey, he was the son of a donkey - a jackass.

⁽²⁾ But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw her, he took her and raped* her.

*raped: Hebrew - "humbled her".

Deuteronomy 22:28-29: If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver (about 1.25 pounds ) to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her.

⁽³⁾ But Shechem's love for Dinah was strong, and he tried to win her affection.

⁽⁴⁾ He even spoke to his father about it. "Get this girl for me," he demanded. "I want to marry her."

This proves that the consent of parents was required for marriage in those times.

⁽⁵⁾ Word soon reached Jacob that his daughter had been defiled, but his sons were out in the fields herding cattle so he did nothing until they returned.

Evidently, Jacob has learned patience. Jacob, as a father and a good man, must have been deeply distressed, but thought he could do little. In the case of a family by different wives, it is not the father, but the full brothers, on whom the protection of the daughters devolves--they are the guardians of a sister's welfare and the avengers of her wrongs. It was for this reason that Simeon and Levi, the two brothers of Dinah by Leah , appear the chief actors in this episode; and though Jacob and Hamor would have probably brought about a resolution of the affair, the hasty arrival of these enraged brothers introduced a new element into the negotiations. The expected response would be anger or rage; but Jacob remained silent. He appears too indifferent or confused to act decisively. When the leader does not act decisively, the younger zealots will, and often with disastrous results. This whole situation shows what happens when the father or husband is weak - like Eli was with his sons resulting in God's judgment. The father/husband is to be the head of the home, the leader, the family priest.

⁽⁶⁾ Meanwhile, Hamor, Shechem's father, came out to discuss the matter with Jacob.

⁽⁷⁾ He arrived just as Jacob's sons were coming in from the fields. They were shocked and furious that their sister had been raped. Shechem had done a disgraceful thing against Jacob's family*, a thing that should never have been done.

*Jacob's family: Hebrew - "in Israel."

⁽⁸⁾ Hamor told Jacob and his sons, "My son Shechem is truly in love with your daughter, and he longs for her to be his wife. Please let him marry her.

Hamor and Shechem neither express regret nor restore Dinah to her family; and this great error was the true cause of the negotiations ending in so unhappy a manner. Shechem seems to show no remorse nor seems to feel that he did anything wrong - after all "everyone else is doing it".

⁽⁹⁾ We invite you to let your daughters marry our sons, and we will give our daughters as wives for your young men.

⁽¹⁰⁾ And you may live among us; the land is open to you! Settle here and trade with us. You are free to acquire property among us."

⁽¹¹⁾ Then Shechem addressed Dinah's father and brothers. "Please be kind to me, and let me have her as my wife," he begged. "I will give whatever you require.

The consideration of the proposal for marriage belonged to Jacob, and he certainly showed great weakness in yielding so much to the fiery impetuosity of his sons. The sequel shows the unhappy consequences of that concession.

⁽¹²⁾ No matter what dowry or gift you demand, I will pay it--only give me the girl as my wife."

The gift refers to the presents made at betrothal, both to the bride elect and her relations (compare Genesis 24:53), the dowry to a suitable settlement upon her.

⁽¹³⁾ But Dinah's brothers deceived* Shechem and Hamor because of what Shechem had done to their sister.

*deceived: Jacob's old deceitful nature and the meaning of his name comes back on him. He's passed this nature on to his sons.

⁽¹⁴⁾ They said to them, "We couldn't possibly allow this, because you aren't circumcised. It would be a disgrace for her to marry a man like you!

⁽¹⁵⁾ But here is a solution. If every man among you will be circumcised* like we are,

*circumcised: Genesis 179-14: "Your part of the agreement," God told Abraham, "is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised; the flesh of his foreskin must be cut off. This will be a sign that you and they have accepted this covenant. Every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family, but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. All must be circumcised. Your bodies will thus bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. Anyone who refuses to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for violating the covenant."

The honor of their family consisted in having the sign of the covenant. Circumcision was the external rite which showed that they descended from Abraham and were part of the Abrahamic covenant with Jehovah God. But that outward rite could not make the Shechemites true Israelites. Nothing is said of their teaching the people to worship the true God, but only of their insisting on their being circumcised; and it is evident that they did not seek to convert Shechem, but only made a show of religion--a cloak to cover their diabolical design. Hypocrisy and deceit, in all cases vicious, are infinitely more so when accompanied with a show of religion; and here the sons of Jacob, under the pretense of conscientious scruples, conceal a scheme of treachery as cruel and diabolical as was, perhaps, ever perpetrated.

⁽¹⁶⁾ we will intermarry with you and live here and unite with you to become one people.

Could they really do this - to intermarry?

⁽¹⁷⁾ Otherwise we will take her* and be on our way."

*take her - She's still at Shechem's house - voluntarily?

⁽¹⁸⁾ Hamor and Shechem gladly agreed,

⁽¹⁹⁾ and Shechem lost no time in acting on this request, for he wanted Dinah desperately. Shechem was a highly respected member of his family,

⁽²⁰⁾ and he appeared with his father before the town leader* to present this proposal.

*before the town leader - literally, "at the city gate", where official business was conducted - as with Boaz negotiating over Ruth. That was the place where every public communication was made; and in the ready obsequious submission of the people to this measure we see an evidence either of the extraordinary affection for the governing family, or of the abject despotism of the East, where the will of a chief is an absolute command.

⁽²¹⁾ "Those men are our friends," they said. "Let's invite them to live here among us and ply their trade. For the land is large enough to hold them, and we can intermarry with them.

Who is really behind all this? - Satan! If Jacob went along with this proposal, Israel as a nation would have disappeared, as have so many other peoples, and the line of Messiah would have been destroyed - leaving Satan victorious over God.

⁽²²⁾ But they will consider staying here only on one condition. Every one of us men must be circumcised, just as they are.

⁽²³⁾ But if we do this, all their flocks and possessions will become ours*. Come, let's agree to this so they will settle here among us."

*become ours - There was a financial advantage to do this - Jacob's family would be absorbed and they would be richer and stronger.

⁽²⁴⁾ So all the men agreed and were circumcised.

⁽²⁵⁾ But three days later, when their wounds were still sore, two of Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, took their swords, entered the town without opposition, and slaughtered every man there,

⁽²⁶⁾ including Hamor and Shechem. They rescued Dinah from Shechem's house and returned to their camp.

⁽²⁷⁾ Then all of Jacob's sons plundered the town because their sister had been defiled there.

⁽²⁸⁾ They seized all the flocks and herds and donkeys--everything they could lay their hands on, both inside the town and outside in the fields.

⁽²⁹⁾ They also took all the women and children and wealth of every kind.

⁽³⁰⁾ Afterward Jacob said to Levi and Simeon, "You have made me stink among all the people of this land--among all the Canaanites and Perizzites. We are so few that they will come and crush us. We will all be killed!"

This atrocious outrage perpetrated on the defenseless citizens and their families made the cup of Jacob's affliction overflow. We may wonder that, in speaking of it to his sons, he did not represent it as a heinous sin, an atrocious violation of the laws of God and man, but dwelt solely on the present consequences. It was probably because that was the only view likely to rouse the cold-blooded apathy, the hardened consciences of those ruffian sons. Nothing but the restraining power of God saved him and his family from the united vengeance of the people (compare Genesis 35:5). All his sons had not been engaged in the massacre. Joseph was a boy, Benjamin not yet born. If all the Shechemites were put to death for the offense of their chief's son, what wonder if the natives should extend their hatred to all the family of Jacob; and who probably equalled, in number, the inhabitants of that village.

⁽³¹⁾ "Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?" they retorted angrily.

Jacob's sons are complaining that Jacob had done absolutely nothing to resolve the problem and had left it in the hands of his sons. Where was Israel, the strong prince who had power with God, when action was needed? How should this problem have been solved? How could it have been prevented in the first place? Because of their sin, Jacob cursed Simeon and Levi with his dying breath in Genesis 49:5-7: "Simeon and Levi are two of a kind--men of violence. O my soul, stay away from them. May I never be a party to their wicked plans. For in their anger they murdered men, and they crippled oxen just for sport. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; cursed be their wrath, for it is cruel. Therefore, I will scatter their descendants throughout the nation of Israel." The Tribe of Simeon received land within the territory of Judah and served as itinerant teachers in Israel, traveling from place to place to earn a living. The Tribe of Levi received a few Cities of Refuge spread out over Israel, and relied for their sustenance on the priestly gifts that the Children of Israel gave them.

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Okay, if 2 Timothy 3:16 is right that "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.", what lessons are here for us?

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