Recap: (For Genesis chapters 1-18 see Genesis 18 recap).
So far in the second section of Genesis, we have looked at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham’s move to the area between Gerar and Beersheba, the birth of Isaac and the driving out of Ishmael, the offering of Isaac, Esau’s attitude to his birthright and Isaac’s deceit in taking the blessing intended for Esau, and Isaac’s swift departure to Paddan Aram. We have seen Isaac’s marriage to Leah and Rachel, the birth of his children and his growth in prosperity. We have also witnessed his escape from Laban, and his journey home. On the way he wrestled with God and received the name Israel, and is reconciled with Esau.
Read Genesis 34:1-31
Why do we have passages like this recorded in the Bible? (We will ask the same question at the end and hopefully will have some answers!)
Firstly, let’s recap a little on the descendants of Canaan (son of Ham, son of Noah)
Genesis 10:15-19
15 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.
Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon towards Gerar as far as Gaza, and then towards Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.
It seems that the Hivites settled in upper Canaan. When the Children of Israel finally entered the land they were driven north to live in the Lebanon Mountains (Judges 3:3)
1 Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3 His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.
Dinah was around 14 years old. Leah had had six sons, and ‘some time later she gave birth to…Dinah’ (Genesis 30:20-21). Shortly after her birth Rachel had Joseph, and we are told that he was seventeen when he was taken to Egypt. (Genesis 37:2)
(It is presumed that Jacob had spent a couple of years in Succoth: he ‘built a place for himself’ (Genesis 33:17), and then also in Shechem where he purchased land on which to pitch his tent ‘within sight of the city’ (Genesis 33:18-19). That would then allow another couple of years before the events of chapter 37.)
Dinah decided she was now old enough to go into the city to ‘visit the women of the land’. Jacob and his family would be well known to the locals. They would have been regarded as a large tribe with many animals – rich foreigners, and friendly. They had actually asked to buy land in order to set up camp just outside the city.
Would this have been the first time Dinah had visited the city?
How did she come to the attention of Shechem?
(It is probable that although described as a city, Shechem may have only been the size of a large village, and the tribe of Hamor not much different to that of Jacob; although other Hittite families would have been living there too.)
We are told that ‘His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her’ (v3).
Her response to this attention from the rich young prince who had a city named after him can only be imagined.
We are told in verse 2 that Shechem ‘saw her, he took her and raped her’. But it apppears that she then stayed with him in the palace (v26).
4 And Shechem said to his father Hamor, ‘Get me this girl as my wife.’
Although he had done wrong, Shechem genuinely wanted to marry Dinah, and asked his father to conduct the necessary discussions to legalise the existing situation.
5 When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.
Why was that?
This was a delicate situation and he probably was unsure how to react. Whatever was decided he would need the full support of his sons.
6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. 7 Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter – a thing that should not be done.
Would Dinah’s older brothers have bothered to notice what their younger sister had been getting up to?
Probably not – until it was too late. So it was quite understandable that they should react in this way. It is also likely that because of cultural attitudes towards women, Jacob too had no idea what his daughter had been up to.
(It is most likely that she would also have had older sisters who may also have had no interest in this teenager. The births of women were generally not recorded, but as Jacob had eleven sons by his four ‘wives’ it could be expected that he had a similar number of daughters.)
But I wonder if the brothers were more concerned for their own feelings. They had not cared about what Dinah had been doing. They had not warned her of the potential dangers. Some may even have considered ‘visiting the women of the land’ themselves. Did they now feel that as they had let their sister down, their own honour had suffered? If so it was as much to justify themselves that they now reacted so strongly.
8 But Hamor said to them, ‘My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9 Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it.’
11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, ‘Let me find favour in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. 12 Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.’
In any normal inter-tribal relations this would be a sound basis for a mutually beneficial agreement. Often such agreements were sealed with the giving and taking of wives, to encourage family bonds that would ensure future loyalty.
But it is here that we need to notice that during this whole chapter, God is not mentioned. The honour of the brothers has suffered but no account has been taken of God’s honour. The brothers are proud of their covenant sign but ignore the God who made the covenant.
Having learnt that taking things into his own hands was not the best solution to his problems, again we see Jacob involved in more deceit – although the idea seems to have come from his sons. Notice too that the writer of this passage does not use the new name of Israel, but continues with the name Jacob – deceiver.
Remember that Jacob would have limped as he went to the meeting. What should that have reminded him of?
Buy Jacob says nothing and allows his son to take action on his behalf.
13 Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14 They said to them, ‘We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 15 We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We’ll settle among you and become one people with you. 17 But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.’
It seems that the suggestion is based on their ‘religion’. The sign was a token of God’s covenant with them, passed down from their father Abraham. They had been specifically told not to intermarry with the Canaanites. Here God’s covenant design is reduced to a simple physical ‘get-out’ clause.
18 Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man, who was the most honoured of all his father’s family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city. 21 ‘These men are friendly towards us,’ they said. ‘Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. 22 But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. 23 Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.’
It seems that here was an opportunity for the Hittites to get their hands on the obvious wealth of Jacob’s family, and it would have been well worth suffering for.
24 All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.
25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.
Reuben was the oldest son and heir of Jacob, the first of Leah’s children. Next were Simeon and Levi, also blood brothers of Dinah. They were the ones who directly took it upon themselves to avenge their sister. Having done the deed, they took Dinah home.
If the story ended there it would be bad enough. How many innocent men were killed unnecessarily in this terrible act of revenge? Even if Dinah had been totally innocent herself?
The other brothers, not wanting to be left out of the carnage then join in.
27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29 They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.
Jacob still says nothing. I suppose some might say that this could be normal retributive procedure; although many would consider it wildly excessive, demonstrating that they were no better than the heathen tribes they would one day have to drive out.
What also concerns me is verse 29.
For what purpose did they carry off ‘all their women’?
(If it was to add rape to the pillage, they demonstrated that they were no better that the Hittites)
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.’
And that was a very real possibility. To carry out such a raid could easily lead to a counter-attack. (Remember Abram’s response when the kings of the north attacked Sodom and Gomorrah and carried off their possessions and people (Genesis 14)).
For the third time in the last four chapters Jacob is again genuinely frightened that he will be attacked. He turns on Simeon and Levi and effectively says ‘It’s all your fault’ – as if they would now be able to do anything to avert the perceived threat.
31 But they replied, ‘Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?’
Obviously not, But how often do we see that two wrongs do not make a right? And how often are we tempted to go beyond ‘an eye for an eye’?
There is no comment from God here on this episode. The next chapter however opens with his instructions for Jacob to move to Bethel, and for his whole family to purify and reconsecrate themselves. But God did not forget, and neither did Jacob. Shortly before his death he assembled his sons and prophesied over them:
Genesis 49:
5 ‘Simeon and Levi are brothers – their swords are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.
There would be no territory named for Simeon and Levi in the Promised Land. The tribe of Simeon would occupy land within Judah (Joshua 19:1-9) and Levi was allocated 48 scattered towns in which to settle. (Joshua 14:4)
So: why do we have passages like this recorded in the Bible?
