The Defiling of Dinah

Story: The Defiling of Dinah

Passage: Genesis 34

Characters: Shechem, Hamor, Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Dinah

Summary: Dinah went to see the woman of the land. Shechem, the prince of the land saw her and slept with her. He loved her and spoke tenderly to her and wanted her as his wife. Hamor, his father went to negotiate with Jacob. Jacob’s sons were horrified. Hamor wanted to intermarry with Jacob’s family. Shechem asked what the bride price would be and Jacob’s sons said that the Hivites must circumcise themselves. They did just what Jacob’s sons asked. While they were still sore and weak, Simeon and Levi killed all the males in the city. Abraham was worried that they were now a stench to the inhabitants of the land. Simeon and Levi justified their actions by saying that their sister should not have been treated like a prostitute.

Notes: This is another ridiculous story. First of all, Dinah was visiting the women of the land. It is possible she was developing relationships with the native women. This might have been unwise of her, but she could not have seen the results coming. The Hivites did not follow God and thus their morals were not very good. Shechem saw someone he wanted, so he took her before worrying about the formalities of marriage. Hamor wanted to intermarry because he wanted to absorb Israel. If they intermarried, they would become one people and Israel’s possessions would be his. Hamor was motivated by greed, but it appears that Shechem was madly in love with Dinah. Jacob’s sons were deceitful and honestly cruel! Their plan for revenge was awful! They claimed they wanted the Hivites to be circumcised and set themselves apart like them. Shechem gladly obliged and he and his people went through this painful process. They basically temporarily disabled every man in the city for a few days. Simeon and Levi were sons of Leah and thus sisters of Dinah and I suspect they were the masterminds of this plan. They went in and killed every male in the city. God wanted the gentiles cleared from the land eventually, but that was not the motivation on Simeon and Levi. They did not kill the Hivites to keep from mixing with them. They killed them out of hatred for what was done to their sister. They plundered the city of Shechem taking everything, including their wives. This makes me wonder if they did intermarry after all. Either way, Jacob was well aware that the people in the land were not going to be very friendly anymore. But the brothers had a fierce devotion to their sister and they felt like their actions were justified.

Questions: Why was Dinah visiting the women of the land? Did Shechem truly love Dinah or was he just attracted to her? Was the only motivation of Simeon and Levi revenge for their sister? What did the other people in the land think of this incident? How did Leah react to this?

Lessons: We can learn from Simeon and Levi’s devotiong to their sister. While their reaction was way too much, we see how important their sister’s honor was and they were obviously willing to fight for her. Any males out there need to have this attitude for their sisters. In Song of Solomon we see that the beloved’s brothers were responsible for protecting their sister’s honor and purity. Women are treasures belonging to God. God entrusts them to their father and brothers for the beginning of her life and then entrusts the treasure to their husbands. Ultimately though they belong to God and as a male, our job is to keep that treasure safe for God. While this does not mean slaughtering a city for your sister, it does mean being active in her life and willing to fight for her.