Genesis 34

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:31:42utc

This chapter is another deep point in the book of Genesis. It is one of the dark pages in the history of Israel. Outwardly, what happened resembles the action in the book of Joshua, but there was no divine sanction for the acts of Simeon and Levi.

Commentators have wondered about Dinah's age. Obviously she must have been in her early teens, otherwise Sechem would not have been interested in her at all. The reason given for Dinah's visit to the place is unknown. Josephus suggests a festival. This is quite plausible, but Josephus wrote two millennia after the event took place. Evidently women were not restricted in their movements then as they are now in the Middle East. It could also be that Dinah was used to freedom, whereas women in Canaan were not free to go as they pleased. This fact would have caught Shechem's attention.

Dinah is raped by Shechem and kept in his house. Shechem was the son of Hamor, the chief of the area. He comes through as a spoiled brat who gets whatever he wants. He would probably have used Dinah and then thrown her away if it weren't for the fact that he fell in love with her.

The way the story is written shows what a great psychologist Moses must have been. The rape is not condoned, but the romantic feelings of Shechem are described in detail. Somehow this part of the story must have been preserved in Israel's tradition until it was written down. The natural tendency would have been to describe Shechem and his family as enemies and deny them any kind of tender feelings. Shechem is painted as a passionate rascal, but also as a human being with warm feelings. If we think of it there is a lot of romance in the book of Genesis. There was no place for romance in the hearts of Simeon and Levi though.

Jacob's reaction is muted. He is afraid of the people in the area. This feeling comes through strongly at the end of the chapter. We read in verse 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.'" Yet, as a father, Jacob must have been indignant when he heard what had happened to his daughter. Some righteous indignation toward Shechem and Hamor would have been more appropriate than his prudent waiting till his sons came back.

The reaction of Jacob's sons seems certainly more understandable. The NIV says that they were "filled with grief and fury"; the RSV renders it with "indignant and very angry." The Pulpit Commentary says: "Literally, grieved themselves, or became pained with anger" and "and they were very wroth"; "- literally, it burned to them greatly." This feeling seems to have been shared by all the brothers, although the rest of the story mainly portrays the acts of Simeon and Levi. Why Zebulon and Issachar did not act is not clear. They may have had moral restraints. Or maybe they were too young to act in this.

Hamor presents the matter in a larger context. He proposes that not only his son, Shechem marry Dinah, but also that intermarriage take place between both parties. Dinah is kept at Shechem's house. There seems to have been no intention to return her and it is quite probable that if the brothers would have refused to make this marriage official, their sister would have stayed with Shechem without their blessing. Hamor talks smoothly, but he has Jacob and his sons over a barrel. This does not justify Simeon's and Levi's action, but we can understand how infuriated they were.

Shechem seems to have been present when Hamor when over to Jacob's camp for the proposal. It could be, of course, that there was more than one conference between the two parties.

There is no excuse for the deceit by Jacob's sons. The demand for circumcision of the bridegroom sounds reasonable. The additional demand that all the males of the clan would be circumcised gives the impression to Hamor and Shechem that in principle the brothers do not oppose the proposal of becoming one people with these Canaanites. There is no indication that Jacob was involved in all this. He would probably have objected. Simeon himself married a Canaanite woman, according to Ex. 6:15. The genealogy of Jacob's sons says there: "The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon." Whether that marriage had taken place at this point, we do not know.

If it is true that taking Dinah back from Shechem's house was an option, the brothers should have done so immediately. But maybe there words in verse 17 "But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we'll take our sister and go," were an empty threat.

Shechem looses no time in getting himself circumcised. The conference with the other clan members must have taken place promptly, otherwise the whole city would not have been so defenseless three days later. The argument that convinces everyone is the economical gain that would result from having these rich shepherds live in their area. So everybody submits. Three days later the city is raided, all the males are killed and the brothers take off with the loot.

As we said before, this is a dark page in the history of Israel. The offense against them was a serious one, but the medicine used to deal with the sickness was worse than the ailment itself. Israel's sin shall weigh heavier in the day of judgement than the sin of Shechem. Jacob refers to this incident and to his sons' guilt when he is on his deathbed. He says: "Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel." (Ch. 49:5-7). Those words would indicate that Simeon and Levi did not act out of righteous indignation only, but also because they were sadistic by nature.

Probably the worst part in the story is that the brothers used the sign of the covenant that God had made with Abraham to achieve their end. This demonstrates a complete absence of spiritual awareness. They did not value their own circumcision and they had no idea who God was. They were godless people. They had no scruples to kill their own brother, as we shall see later.

Although Jacob condemns the brothers' act on his deathbed, he shows no moral indignation at the time it happens. His only concern is his own safety. We do not get the impression that Jacob had much authority in his own family. He did not set the moral standard for his children. It seems that what God said about Abraham in Ch. 18:19 - "For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him," does not apply to Jacob. At least Jacob does not seem to have made an effort to "direct his children .... to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just ...."