The Canaan Years Series

December 21, 2024

When we left Jacob last week, he and Esau had reconciled and he had purchased some land from Hamor, not far from the city of Shechem, and had settled his family there.

Maybe Jacob would finally get some rest……

-Dinah-

Genesis 34:1 - Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land.

The Bible tells us that Shechem, the son of Hamor, saw Dinah, liked what he saw and “violated” her. It goes on to say that his heart was drawn to her, that he loved her and spoke tenderly to her.

So taken was he that he told his father to make marriage arrangements.

Jacob was told about what happened but kept it to himself – he exhibited no anger – he did nothing. As a matter of fact, Jacob seems to be completely MIA throughout most of this story. Makes me wonder what he would have done if it had been a daughter from Rachel……..

Her brothers, however responded completely differently. When they found out what happened they were filled with fury and thoughts of revenge.

Really hoping to smooth things over, Hamor insisted that Shechem loved Dinah and really hoped to marry her. He invited the brothers to intermarry with the local women, acquire some land and settle in the area. Then Shechem added, “I will give you whatever you ask. Set the bride price as high as you like – I will pay it.”

The theme of deceit and betrayal that we have seen throughout Jacob’s story continues in the lives of his sons. The brothers had a plan, but it could only be implemented successfully if Shechem was incapacitated, so when Shechem opened the door, the brothers were ready:

Genesis 34:13-17 - … "Sorry, no can do. We cannot give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. However, we will give our consent on one condition: you and all your men must be circumcised. At that point we will have no problem intermarrying with you. We will settle among you and become one people with you. If you decline, we will take our sister and go."

Clearly the sons of Jacob had a distorted understanding of the sacred covenant between Yahweh and the descendants of Abraham.

Shechem wasted no time. He went to the city gate to convince the men that being circumcised was a great idea. He emphasized that circumcision would lead to them joining together with Jacob and sharing in his wealth. At no point did he reveal the real reason for the request (stipulation to marrying Dinah). Deceit was being employed on two fronts ---- Shechem was both deceived and a deceiver. As the result of his carefully crafted argument, all the men of the city consented to be circumcised.

3 days later, while the men were still in pain, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s older brothers, took their swords, went to Shechem and killed every male in the city. Then they went to Hamor’s home killed him and his son, Shechem, took Dinah and left. When the sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies, they looted the city – taking flocks, herds, donkeys and anything else they could carry – along with all the women and children.

It is only now that Jacob seems to care about what has been going on:

Genesis 34:30 - Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench 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."

Jacob’s fear is palpable. What his sons have done could lead to the total annihilation of Jacob’s clan. But what is also glaringly obvious is that Jacob cares little for Dinah. He is afraid of the impact his son’s choices will have on him, but no reference was made to her trauma. Jacob is only upset because he has been dragged into someone else’s mess. He is in danger and now he’s mad. It would seem that Simeon and Levi understood that to be case as well:

“What were we supposed to do? Let our sister be treated like a prostitute?” They replied.

Notice that they did not say, “your daughter,” but “our sister.” The lack of respect that Simeon and Levi showed Jacob and Jacob’s obvious lack of care for Dinah, gives the reader a glimpse into the family dynamic and anticipates future conflict.

Yahweh told Jacob to go to Bethel.

Jacob told his family they needed to get rid of all their idols, purify themselves and change their clothes because they were moving to Bethel where he would build an altar to God.