The Bible Slam: Genesis Chapter 34

Back in Genesis 30, a rare thing happened:   A female was referenced in the genealogy.   Usually, it's just the males that are listed in biblical genealogies.     The girl's name was Dinah, daughter of Jacob and his first wife, Leah.

The prince of the country in which Jacob and his family is living rapes Dinah in Chapter 34 (although it is unclear if maybe there was a clandestine love affair going on).   He falls in love with her and Dinah's brothers are outraged.

Hamor, who is the father of Shechem the prince/rapist, talks with Jacob and they agree to let Shechem marry Dinah, and to trade off one another's other daughters in marriage, provided that all of the men in Hamor's village first get circumcised.   Everyone would live peacefully together in the village under this arrangement.

The men of Hamor's city agree to do this and when they were recovering from these mass circumcisions, two of Jacob's sons — Simeon and Levi — pillage the city, killing all of the men, taking all of the women, stealing and plundering all of the goods.   Jacob is angry with them for giving him a bad name. Simeon and Levi feel that their actions are justified, since Dinah is now a "harlot."

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Talking Points.

Were Dinah and Shechem Having a Clandestine Affair? The interpretations of Genesis 34 (King James Version, annotated) make it sound like Shechem raped Dinah and subsequently fell in love with her.   This chapter describes Dinah as a "damsel" and that she was "defiled" by Shechem.     There are numerous references in the King James version of this chapter about how Shechem's soul was enamored with Dinah, and when Dinah's brothers kill everyone in town, she was living in Shechem's home.   Many of these Old Testament stories indicate that a sexual act creates the marriage; could it be possible that Dinah's family was so angry simply because Shechem was of a different race and not circumcised?

Two Men Kill An Entire Town's Population? The chapter does not say how many people lived in Hamor's city, but even if there were a dozen or so men, it seems a bit far fetched that although they were recovering, they were unable to overcome the murderous two brothers.

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