Rape of Dinah, Massacre of Shechem

One of the most sorry incident in scriptural history would be the following incident of the rape of Dinah, Jacob's daughter, followed by the revenge massacre of the city by Jacob's sons. This almost parallel's the incident of the rape of King David's daugther, Tamar, by her half brother and the following revenge by another of David's evil son, Absalom.

A few things to note in the incident. Firstly the man who raped Dinah, a prince named Shechem, appeared to be infatuated with her and perhaps even loved her. It is mentioned that "he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman". Secondly, instead of an apology or heart felt regret, Shechem asked for Dinah to be his wife and expressed his love for her; "The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter". They do not seem to realise the grave sin of rape. If so, then it appears that they are living in a society where rape was not an offence. It was certainly offensive to Jacob's family.

Thirdly, in addition to the request of Dinah to be given to their family, Shechem's father went further to make an agreement with Jacob to request that their men and take Jacob's women to be wifes and Jacob's men can take their women to be wifes. Although the scriptures did not elaborate further, it certainly seems that the society of Hamor and Shechem are as peverted as Sodom and Gomorrah.

As Jacob's sons, namely Simeon and Levi, plotted revenge and asking Hamor's men to be circumcised as a condition, Hamor even appeared to be coveting Jacob's wealth. Hamor tried to convince his people about the agreement by appealing to their greed, saying: "Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours?".

The murderous rampage of Jacob's sons were inexcusable. However, the reprimand from God did not come immediately. Jacob too was more concerned and fearful for their safety from the surrounding peoples because of the massacre, instead of punishing his sons. So the question was what has gone so wrong? Is this an isolated incident with no divine causes but sheer bad luck that something like that occurred?

To understand this, look back in the previous chapter where God actually told Jacob in Gen 31:3 "Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.". Instead after facing Esau, for some reason, Jacob took a detour and settled in Shechem. In addition if we look at the next chapter, Gen 35:

 1 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

So the seemingly innocent detour, which is in fact delaying the obedience of God to return to his land, resulted in this disgraceful incident for Jacob's family. In addition, note that Jacob's family, through Rachel, had in possession those stolen idols of foreign gods from Laban's household. Only in Gen 35, that we see Jacob realizing his mistakes and sought to correct them. So for us, lets decide to follow and obey God for our sakes.


Genesis 34

The Dinah Incident

 1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her. 3 His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman. 4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”
5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came. 6 Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing which ought not to be done. 8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. 10 So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”
11 Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”
13 But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us. 15 But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, 16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 17 But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”
18 And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19 So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was more honorable than all the household of his father.
20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying: 21 “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.” 24 And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25 Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. 26 And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. 28 They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, 29 and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”
31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”