I have often been intrigued by a story in Genesis 34. In this passage, we
read about Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah. On this occasion, Dinah
went out to visit the “women of the land.” While she was out with her
friends, she met a young man named Shechem. Things got out of hand, and
Shechem raped her (Genesis 34:2). The young man decided to marry Dinah,
but her Israelite family would only consent to marriage if all the men in his
city were circumcised. The men agreed to this, but on the third day after
their circumcision, Dinah’s brothers took their swords and slaughtered them
while they were still sore from their procedure.
(25) 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. (26) They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the
sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and went away.
(27) The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the
city, because they had defiled their sister. (28) They took their
flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the
city and in the field. (29) All their wealth, all their little ones
and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and
plundered. – Genesis 34:25-29 ESV
When their father Jacob rebuked them for what they had done, their
response was: “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?” (Genesis 34:31).
Consider what is happening here. Because Dinah was raped, her brothers
killed every male, looted their flocks, herds and plundered their city. They
also captured all their children and wives. Admittedly, the rape of Dinah
was a horrendous crime but was the action of Jacob’s sons less horrific? We
are left wondering which crime was worse –the rape of Dinah and
Shechem’s desire to marry her or the slaughter and destruction of the entire
city. To add to this is how Jacob’s brothers justified their actions by saying:
“Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?” I cannot read this passage
without seeing a picture of Jacob’s sons patting themselves on the back for
being so righteous. There can be no doubt that horrible things have