We’ve made our way to Genesis 34, a chapter that is hard to read. This devotional reading looks at the lust, vengeful violence, and deception caused by one act of sin.
Nuggets
- Dinah was the only daughter that we know of born to Jacob.
- Jacob had moved his family to Shechem upon return from Paddan-aram.
- Shechem seemed like he wanted to make amends for forcing himself on Dinah.
Rape, in the Ancient Near East culture, was primarily considered an offense against the woman’s family. - Since Shechem had fallen in love with Dinah, a required marriage fit into his plans.
- Whether Jacob was stunned by the turn of events or biding his time for the boys to get home, he and his household faced a really dreadful calamity.
- While there was no indication of remorse in the rape of Dinah, a bigger alliance than just a marriage was being offered.
This story is one of the saddest ones in God’s Word. We can’t look at it through the lens of today’s society, though. We have to look at it through Ancient Near Eastern culture.
Even when we get a better idea of the cultural backdrop, we see that the of actions taken by Shechem can’t be justified.
But then, the consequences of those actions were not justifiable, either. Let’s jump into this sad story.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the Jacob the Patriarch series
The Defiling of Dinah
“One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the young women who lived in the area. But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her.But then he fell in love with her, and he tried to win her affection with tender words. He said to his father, Hamor, “Get me this young girl. I want to marry her’” (Gen. 34: 1-4 NLT)
Dinah Went to Visit
Dinah was the only daughter that we know of born to Jacob.
Dinah was the daughter of Jacob and Leah. “Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah” (Gen. 30: 21 NLT).
So, where did Dinah come in on the baby war?
1716 BC – Jacob, 84, was tricked into marrying Leah. He agreed to work seven more years for Rachel
~1715 BC — Reuben born (Leah)
~1714 BC — Simeon born (Leah)
~1713 BC — Levi born (Leah)
~1712 BC — Judah born (Leah)
~1712 BC — Dan born (Bilhah)
~1711 BC — Naphtali born (Bilhah)
~1711 BC — Gad born (Zilpah)
~1710 BC — Asher born (Zilpah)
~1710 BC — Issachar born (Leah)
~1709 BC — Zebulun born (Leah)
~1709 BC — Dinah born (Leah)
1709 BC – Joseph was born (Rachel)
1703 BC – Jacob, 97, and his family left to return to Canaan (Gen. 31: 3)
Based on Timeline from
We know that Dinah fit in between Zebulon and Joseph. She would have been around seven when Jacob moved the family back to Canaan.
The thing is that we don’t know how long Jacob had been in the land. Ness and Kalisch estimated that it was six to eight years. That would have made Dinah around 13 to 15 – marriageable age.
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While she was not yet married (which usually happened when they were 15 to 17 years old, she was old enough to —apparently — go out on her own. Dinah interacted socially with Canaanite women of the area.
Lived in the Area
Jacob had moved his family to Shechem upon return from Paddan-aram.
We have to put things into perspective. When we left Jacob in Genesis 33, we had just been told that he had bought some land.
“Later, having traveled all the way from Paddan-aram, Jacob arrived safely at the town of Shechem, in the land of Canaan. There he set up camp outside the town. Jacob bought the plot of land where he camped from the family of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver” (Gen. 33: 18-19 NLT).
Jacob would have moved his family to Shechem in 1703 BC. Dinah would have been seven at the time.
If she was a teenager in this story, that would have put it at least five years at a minimum after the family moved into the area.
It appears that Dinah had become friendly with other girls in the neighborhood. One day, she paid them a visit. An Ancient Near East teenager would typically do this.
Leale thought Dinah had developed a curiosity about her new homeland. When we move somewhere new, it is understandable to want to learn that areas customs and way.
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But as people who walk with Jehovah, we have to watch very carefully that we aren’t reeled into walking away from Him. The world and its glitter can be very tempting – especially to a teenager.
Shechem
Shechem seemed like he wanted to make amends for forcing himself on Dinah.
We know a couple of things about Shechem.
- He was a prince.
- His father’s name was Hamor — remember Jacob – who hadn’t owned land before – had bought this land from the family of Hamor.
- Hamor was a Hivite.
We haven’t talked about Hivites before, but they are important in the history of Israel. This was one of the nations the Israelites were told that Jehovah would clear out of Canaan upon their return from captivity in Egypt (Deut. 7: 1).
As well as living here at the city of Shechem, Hivites lived in the region of Gibeon. This group tricked Joshua and the Israelites into making a treaty with them (Josh. 9).
It is believed that the Hivites could be either city-dwelling or agriculturally based. Under local prince’s rule, some cities like Shechem were organized as small kingdoms.
This is an element that upped the ante a bit. When the marriage proposal was introduced in a couple of verses, Hamor suggestions of intermarriage, shared land, and economic integration were not things Jehovah wanted.
Why did Jehovah want the Hebrews intermingling with the Canaanite people? “You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you” (Deut. 7: 3-4 NLT).
Israelites tended to adopt Canaanite customs – especially idol worship – when alliances were formed.
Anyway, back to Shechem.
Seized and Raped Her
Rape, in the Ancient Near East culture, was primarily considered an offense against the woman’s family.
Versions in the Sefaria Library run the gamut on the word used to describe Shechem’s actions toward Dinah.
- Lay
- Humbled
- Mistreated
- Disgraced/violated
- Forced/defiled
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Some scholars, though, do not think this should be classified as a rape. They point to her silence in trying to defend herself by calling out.
Did you catch that Dinah said nothing during this whole chapter. But the whole chapter started with her honor and ended with her honor.
If we go back to the Hebrew for verse 2, we see the words do cry rape. These are
• “took her” (lāqaḥ) – forceful taking
• “lay with her” (šākab) – sexual relations
• “humiliated/defiled” (ʿānâ) – violation or dishonor
Kadari documented some of the interpretations in the Midrash and Aggadah. I have to be honest. Some of the rabbinical interpretations presented to fill in the gaps – for me – were really out there. One such interpretation noted Dinah’s desire to be noticed as she visited the Canaanite daughters.
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Whatever Shechem’s actions were, the outcome had disastrous results for Dinah. Adelman explained. She wrote,
“In the biblical world of the Ancient Near East, when a virgin had sex out of wedlock — whether seduced or raped — she was devalued in terms of her social status, bringing shame upon the family. Her virginity was crucial in negotiations over bride-price and the familial alliances forged through marriage. In the legal discourse around sexual intercourse with a virgin outside of wedlock, whether she was betrothed to another man or not, the woman was presumed to have consented if she did not cry out in protest in the city or town, and to have been raped if she was taken in the open country where her cries could not have been heard (Deuteronomy 22:23-29). The woman’s will or testimony was simply not taken into account.”
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I keep thinking this may just be another example of Moses’ brevity of information. Whether the act was committed through violence or promiscuity, it was committed.
The outcome was the same. Dinah’s mohar (bride-price) just went down big time.
But did it? “Suppose a man has intercourse with a young woman who is a virgin but is not engaged to be married. If they are discovered, he must pay her father fifty pieces of silver. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives” (Deut. 22: 28-29 NLT).
Jehovah established consequences that allowed victims to be united in marriage with their violator.
It was interesting that Kalisch equated this with two other accounts where the women in Abraham’s line were taken by the leaders of the area they were in. Sarah was taken by Pharaoh, and Rebekah was taken by Abimelech.
The difference, of course, in those two cases were that the men – Abraham and Isaac – lied, saying their wives were their sisters.
Here, Jacob did everything right (that we can tell). Where the older women were probably taken to establish alliances, this sounds like pure lust on Shechem’s part.
The difference here, too, was that Dinah was defiled. Sarah and Rebekah weren’t.
Look at what Kalisch said about this. He wrote,
“She paid the full penalty of her carelessness. She suffered the fate which Sarah and Rebekah encountered in the land of Pharaoh and of Abimelech; she was seen and taken by the son of the prince; but no angel guarded her innocence; no Divine vision shielded her from disgrace; and she fell a victim to Shechem’s passion. She did not require that immediate protection which her ancestors had enjoyed; she was a maiden, no wife; her father possessed a piece of land within which he was safe; and she belonged to a numerous family well capable of defending their rights.”
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This instance turned out very differently. One reason was probably because she was never chosen to bear a covenant son.
He Fell in Love with Her
Since Shechem had fallen in love with Dinah, a required marriage fit into his plans.
But then the plot thickens. Shechem fell in love with Dinah. He wanted her for his wife.
No, I don’t think that should excuse Shechem; but under other circumstances, that would have been a benefit to a forced marriage.
Regardless of whether he forced or seduced Dinah, Shechem did the right thing and pursued marriage.
So, Shechem sent his dad Hamor to negotiate with Jacob so he could have Dinah as his wife. This was normally the way the negotiations worked. It’s called standard patriarchal marriage diplomacy.
We’ve talked about the marriage negotiations before – and it was negotiations!
True, a big part was the mohar or bride price. It was a transfer of wealth. It could be silver, animals, or some other valuables.
No, the Law hadn’t been given yet. But Jehovah is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I think this forced marriage with the bride-price would have been required anytime the offense occurred.
Jacob’s Response
“Soon Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter, Dinah. But since his sons were out in the fields herding his livestock, he said nothing until they returned. Hamor, Shechem’s father, came to discuss the matter with Jacob. Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the field as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious that their sister had been raped. Shechem had done a disgraceful thing against Jacob’s family, something that should never be done” (Gen. 34: 5-7 NLT)
Whether Jacob was stunned by the turn of events or biding his time for the boys to get home, he and his household faced a really dreadful calamity.
In the New Living Translation in these verses, Jacob is portrayed as someone who wants to keep peaceful relations with those around him. That makes us think of Abraham. We can see his response to the situation stemming from that.
In the Complete Jewish Bible, though, it says that Jacob had to restrain himself until his sons came back. They are described as saddened and very angry.
That would put Jacob’s feelings on par with those of his sons.
But let’s put it into context again. We said that rape, in the Ancient Ner East culture, was primarily considered an offense against the woman’s family. That meant it affected more than just dear old dad. It affected brothers, too.
Think clan mentality. This was clan business. Honor issues required a family response.
But remember, Hamor was a prince. Shechem himself was probably a powerful local ruler. Jacob would have been a resident alien.
Hamor did his part. He went to see Jacob. It sounds like he, too, wanted to make the situation right. He wanted to work the established process.
If we look at verse 7 in the Orthodox Jewish Bible, it says that the offense was against Israel. Not Jacob. Not his family.
Against the nation. This is the first time the nation of Israel is addressed. They are starting to get their identity.
The Negotiations
“Hamor tried to speak with Jacob and his sons. ‘My son Shechem is truly in love with your daughter,’ he said. ‘Please let him marry her. In fact, let’s arrange other marriages, too. You give us your daughters for our sons, and we will give you our daughters for your sons. And you may live among us; the land is open to you! Settle here and trade with us. And feel free to buy property in the area.’ Then Shechem himself spoke to Dinah’s father and brothers. ‘Please be kind to me, and let me marry her,’ he begged. ‘I will give you whatever you ask. No matter what dowry or gift you demand, I will gladly pay it — just give me the girl as my wife’” (Gen. 34: 8-12 NLT)
While there was no indication of remorse in the rape of Dinah, a bigger alliance than just a marriage was being offered.
Hamor didn’t say a word about the rape. He offers a political integration:
- Intermarriage
- Shared land
- Economic cooperation
Yeah, it sounded like a treaty deal, didn’t it?
If Hamor wasn’t going to address it, why did Shechem feel he had done something wrong?
But wasn’t Shechem offering the normal bride price and gifts? Plus, he added he would do whatever was demanded – as long as he got the girl.
God did not want Jacob’s sons marrying the local girls. It is sad that He allowed it to go to this length to make it so.
Making the Connections #1
We all know that sin can bring fairly immediate consequences. Depending on how long a time had occurred from arrival in Shechem to the disastrous visit to Canaanite daughters, this may or may not have been the case.
But it may have been punishment for sin. Look back at some verses.
· “What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you” (Gen. 28: 15 NLT).
· “I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land” (Gen. 31: 13 NIV).
Jacob, that night at Bethel, said his condition was that he bring him back to his father’s house (Gen. 28: 21).
Meyer argued that Jacob was not where he was supposed to be. “God had not said, Go to Shechem; but, “I am the God of Bethel.” Bethel, rather than Shechem, was his appointed goal.”
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We can’t bite on Jacob for disobeying Sovereign God when we do the same thing. We either don’t listen or decide to do things our own way.
Meyer took Jacob’s disobedience one step farther. He set up his new home before the Shechem (just as Lot did before Sodom).
Making the Connections #2
Was this Satan trying to get Jacob to disobey Jehovah and allow intermarriage with the Canaanites? Maybe. Maybe not.
Making the Connections #3
The issue wasn’t whether or not Shechem loved Dinah. We know he wanted her.
The issue was that Jacob’s family was not to intermarry with the Canaanites. That is why Abraham sent Eliezer to get Isaac a wife. That is why Jacob went himself.
The covenant line needed covenant people from Abraham’s extended family to ensure a pure bloodline.
How Do We Apply This?
- Recognize that even believers will face trials.
- Accept that the faith of the parents is not always reflected in their children.
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Father God. Sin is a terrible thing. When we sin reacting to a sim, that is worse. Help us to focus on You. Amen.
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