"Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.” (vv.1-2)
Here Dinah (Jacob's daughter) did something that was dangerous in those days. What seemed like a harmless act, "to visit the daughters of the land,” ended in tragedy. What we are not told in this story is why she went into the city. Maybe she was curious, or maybe she wanted to make some friends. Whatever the reason, for a young women to go unescorted in a unfamiliar city, was not a smart idea. It's unclear whether or not her parents knew that she was gone, but in the rest of the chapter we will see the outcome of her visit.
During Dinah's trip into the city, one of the men there, Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, saw her, took her, and lay with her by force. Then Shechem’s father, Hamor, came with Shechem with a marriage proposal to ask for the hand of Dinah from Jacob. Shechem says that he will pay for a dowry for Dinah, any amount that Jacobs deems is fair. And, being the prince of the city he could afford it. But Jacob deferred answering the man until he discussed the matter with his sons. (vv.1-12)
Something to take note of here is that we do not see Shechem apologizing for raping Dinah. There is no admission in any sense that he has done anything wrong. Rape seems to have been something that was accepted and happened often in this community. This omission is probably also what most enraged the brothers of Dinah to conceive their plan of deception to kill every man in the city, and take all of the wealth of the city as booty, along with the women and children. (vv.25-31).
What had been done to Dinah was terrible in any culture of any time, but the response of Simeon and Levi (sons of Jacob) was simply awful. And nowhere in all this was any real concern expressed for Dinah, their sister. All that had been done was in the name of revenge and done for themselves. This attack by Simeon and Levi was done in anger trying to defend the Lord and His righteousness as well as their sister, but in the end, they just ended up defiling themselves by shedding innocent blood. Instead of representing the Lord properly they brought shame to the Name of the Lord.
We Christians need to be very careful in our actions. Sometimes in our tactics we can mimic our persecutors and be as wrong as those we oppose.
The Truth: “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give no place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19)
