Beresheet 34:1-4 "Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 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. His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman. So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, 'Get me this young woman as a wife.'"
The number of things wrong with this picture isn't very large, but the things that are wrong are huge. Dinah just wanted to go hang out with some other girls. She's lived her whole life with eleven guys, so this is totally understandable. She might've gone to a party or something, but it says she went to "see the daughters of the land" not to find a man. Finding a husband wasn't even her job! But Shechem saw her and he had to have her. In more ways than one. You'll notice he took her and then he loved and sweet-talked her. This is backwards and very wrong and missing the very important element of marriage. One of the few things that will still shock the modern American is rape, and this is also the case with the culture there and then. This shock, my dear readers, is an understatement, as you will soon find.
Beresheet 34:5-10 "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. Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 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. But Hamor spoke with them, saying, 'The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. 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.'"
Hamor understands that his son royally messed up, and he is trying to make amends. Make an alliance, so maybe they won't be attacked. Jacob could very well have been practically a king in those days. True, he and his family were nomads, but it was a very large family, with a lot of servants and people in the camp. A prince is pleading for an alliance with Jacob, but will he get it? Also, Jacob's sons are growing up, not all of them are little kids anymore and they love their sister. Imagine being a girl with eleven brothers. Do you honestly think any guys who treat you badly will get away with it?
Beresheet 34:11-12 "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. 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.'"
Excuse me Shechem, but you need to butt out. It's understood and obvious that you want this girl. You took her and stole her virginity. You need to shut up. Your dad is trying to make things better, but you're not helping. Oh, and another thing, Dinah's brothers will definitely take you up on that offer.
Beresheet 34:13-17 "But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 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. But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, 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. But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.'"
Circumcision is an outward sign of a man's devotion to Yahuah. Asking an entire city of pagans to become circumcised is a big deal; if the city really wanted to do it, it would be like converting a ton of people, but no, these two men are speaking for an entire city. They don't know if the individuals living therein actually want to join with Jacob or not, and they're making a big, painful promise. I have no idea how painful, as I am a girl and never had to go through it, but I've heard it'll have a perfectly healthy, strong man laying in bed in pain for a few days. As far as I know, they didn't have any local anesthetic back then either.
Beresheet 34:18-19 "And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son. 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."
I will have to assume that the last sentence in that paragraph was true, even though up until now it's seemed pretty unlikely. If a rapist is more honorable than the household of his father, then what in the world has his father's household been up to?? ...Don't answer that, I don't want nightmares.
Beresheet 34:20-24 "And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying: '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. 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. 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.' 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."
Hamor is pretty dang sneaky. He knows what to say to get the men of the city interested; plenty of ladies and free property and livestock? I'm beginning to understand the idea that Shechem might be more honorable than his father, as nasty as that suggestion might be.
Beresheet 34:25-29 "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. And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem's house, and went out. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses."
That's a pretty low blow, somehow I doubt Jacob was in on it.
Beresheet 34:30-31 "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.' But they said, 'Should he treat our sister like a harlot?'"
If it takes the Canaanites and Perizzites together to come up with a force big enough to take down Jacob, he can't be that small. It's a legitimate fear though, the neighbors probably saw what was going on. They could've heard about the deal made; every male circumcised in exchange for living in peace. The deal was made and Simeon and Levi broke it. That labels Jacob's household as being untrustworthy and blood thirsty, and it would be a good idea to get out of there. It definitely sets an example for the other nations; you mess with Jacob's daughter, you will die.
I noticed one thing in my research, Dinah's name is only mentioned 8 times in the entire NKJV. We don't know how her story ends. We don't know if she had Shechem's kid. We don't know if she married or died alone. We don't know the end of this story. So the homework for this passage is listen to the song "Beautiful Ending" by Barlow Girl. Let's hope Dinah's story had an ending like this, the story is depressing enough without a good ending.
So tell me, what is our ending?
Will it beautiful? So beautiful?
Will my life find me by your side?
'Cause your love is beautiful, so beautiful...
Next time: Beresheet 35.
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