I love the way God structures the Bible. Right in the middle of Jacob’s story, he takes a side journey.  In Genesis 33 we read the beautiful story about Jacob and his reunion with his brother Essau and all of a sudden there is the story of Dinah. Her story comes after Jacob and Essau’s reunion and before God’s renaming of Jacob. 

Dinah means “justice or one who judges”. We pick up Dinah’s story in Gen 34. 

Genesis  34:1-4,  “Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land.  And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her.  And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.  So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.””

A tragedy had been waged against Dinah. Dinah was curious and went exploring. She wanted to meet other women. While we don’t think much about going into a city to meet people, it would have been unusual for the time. Women rarely went anywhere alone. It would have been deemed dangerous and inappropriate. She was a victim of Shechem’s sinful desire. She finds herself attacked by him and now unsuitable for marriage. Shechem goes to her father and demands that his father obtain Dinah as his wife. Shechem kept Dinah and did not allow her to return to her family. 

When we read that Dinah was Jacob and Leah’s daughter, it should alert us to one fact. She would not have been loved and regarded as highly as the children he had with Rachel. Jacob initially did nothing to address the attack on his daughter. Scripture tells us that he waited until his sons returned. Gen 34:5-6, “Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came.  And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.”As a parent, I cannot imagine sitting and waiting to address a situation like this with a daughter. 

Our story continues when the brothers return from the field. Gen 34:7-12, “The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing must not be done.  But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife.  Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.  You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.”  Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me for as great a bride-price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.” 

Hamor seeks to make the situation right by offering marriage. He also seeks to forge a partnership with Jacob by offering that their people join Jacob’s  people in marriage. There is no question that this relationship would benefit Hamor and his people. Jacob was well known for his wealth. Genesis 34:13-24,  “The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah.  They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.  Only on this condition will we agree with you–that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised.  Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people.  But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”  Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem.  And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his father’s house.  So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying,  “These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people–when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.  Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.”  And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.”

The brothers devised a plan for all of the men to be circumcised. The story gets really interesting on the third day after the men are circumcised. Genesis 34:25-29. 

 “On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males.  They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and went away.  The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.  They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field.  All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.””

Not only did Simeon and Levi kill all of the men, Dinah’s other brothers plundered their city. The brothers took everything including the animals, women and children. 

The story continues in verse 30,“Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.”  But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?””

There is no other mention of Dinah in Scripture except that she was part of the family when they entered Egypt. We do not know if Dinah ever married or had children. 

Do you notice Jacob’s reaction? At no time do we see that Jacob is distraught over what happened to his daughter. He is concerned about the trouble this has for himself. This is another example of poor leadership from Jacob.

The events of this story created conflict between Jacob and the brothers. Jacob did not bless Simeon and Levi. Jacob was passive in this situation like many other times.  He was more concerned with how this would impact him. God was not first and foremost in Jacob’s mind and heart at this time. 

There are several things we can take away from this story. God is never mentioned in this chapter. The brothers let their anger rule them. When God is not part of our decisions, we give the enemy an opportunity to guide our choices. Jacob doesn’t love his children equally. Did Simeon and Levi respond the way they did because they loved their sister more than their father? Would the events have played out differently had Jacob loved Dinah? Nothing good ever comes from favoring one child over another. Many of the difficulties Jacob had came from favoring some children over others.

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