The account in Genesis 34 tells us that the daughter of Jacob, Dinah, would spend time with the young women of the land. A young man called Shechem noticed her and, according to verse 2, he lay down with her and violated, or defiled (v5), her. This did not sit comfortably with her brothers who violently took matters into their own hands. As they were carrying out their despicable plot they ‘took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left’ (v26).
How long had she been there? It is hard to say but it was at least three days. We are told that Shechem fell in love with Dinah. The account uses words such as ‘finally’ and ‘later’ for the intervening period. These are unspecific words that suggest the passing of a reasonable period of time. All this time Dinah was still at Shechem’s house. This seems a rather curious state of affairs had Dinah actually been raped.
So what is rape? According to my Collins dictionary, in criminal law, it is ‘the offence of forcing a woman to submit to sexual intercourse against her will’. It is violent assault punishable under law. Having been assaulted by a person or persons unrelated to the victim, would the victim want to remain at the scene of the crime? It seems unlikely. The natural inclination would be to flee to somewhere safe, a place of refuge, home. Dinah did not flee, hence the question posed.
What is the Bible’s definition of rape? Deuteronomy 22:25 talks about a man overpowering a girl and laying down with her. This concurs with the usual definition. But, notably, the girl is obliged to scream for help. If she does not scream then she is dealt with as one who has engaged in normal sexual misconduct. If however she does scream, or claims to have screamed, and there was no one around to hear then in verse 27 she is given the benefit of the doubt and not treated as a fornicator. It might be reasonable to conclude that there could be bruising and other marks upon her body that would suggest a struggle to defend herself.
What words do other translations use? The word ‘violated’ is use in the NWT. Other translations are in harmony with this using words such as ‘raped’, ‘defiled’, ‘humbled’, ‘ravished’, ‘by force’ and so on. Clearly, and despite being known as the most honourable man in his family, this was a beastly and dishonourable thing to do. Dinah was raped. But why did she remain with Shechem at his home for many days thereby leaving herself open to repeated attacks? We don’t know. The account fails to enlighten us. But a number of possibilities present themselves.
Firstly we must consider the family background. Whilst Jacob, her father, is presented throughout the Bible as a God-fearing man and a loyal worshiper of Jehovah, that cannot be universally stated of the rest of his family. Of his sons, Joseph alone is portrayed in glowing terms. Jacob’s other sons were a bunch of rogues, collectively not at all averse to violence, murder, deceit and immorality. Did these attitudes rub off on Dinah? Possibly. She did not, however, go to the locals seeking such an outcome. She went looking for female friendship and in so doing unwittingly came to the attention of Shechem. When he started to make romantic overtures, she would have known that such activity was inappropriate and wrong. The account raises all sorts of unanswered questions. Presumably she was alone with him in his house. Why? Where had her female ‘friends’ gone? Why did she not flee as things started to go wrong? Was it an impulsive and sudden event? Or was she perhaps enjoying some attention, maybe flirtatious, finally standing out from the crowd. Was her defence a bit half-hearted? Although knowing sexual intercourse was wrong, did she nevertheless partially enjoy it?
For the second reason, we remain with the family. It is unlikely that Dinah was the only daughter even though she is the only one named. She did have eleven brothers at this point. There were four mothers in the family. We know of tensions between Rachel and Leah. Rachel was barren for a time and would take her frustrations out on Jacob. On one occasion, she had an argument with Leah over some mandrakes. They supposedly had aphrodisiac properties. She did eventually have two boys but as eleven of Jacob’s lads were born within a seven-year period one gets a picture of a large, busy, chaotic family. Maybe it was a relief to get away. Maybe Dinah feared the consequences of returning and relating what had happened. What would her mum (Leah) and dad say? Would she be punished? How would her brothers react? Was the contemplation of all this more awful than staying put?
Thirdly, what about Shechem himself? Verse 3 says that ‘he became very attached to Dinah’ and that he ‘fell in love’ with her and ‘spoke persuasively’ to her [heart]’. These expressions tend to suggest more than a passing infatuation, if that is what initially drove him to this dastardly deed. Whilst his honour did not prevent him from forcibly doing things the wrong way round it seems that he was willing to make an honest woman out of Dinah. He persuaded her to stay with him. He loved her and couldn’t live without her. Why should she go home and get into trouble with her parents? He was a persuasive, handsome and charming young man and she couldn’t resist him. But was he also devious? He was willing to go along with the suggested settlement, which involved circumcision, not just for himself but for all the men of the town. How much persuasion was needed for that? There is a hint that all of this might not have been genuine. Verse 23 poses the question ‘will not their possessions, their wealth and all their livestock be ours?’ Whatever Shechem’s motives, the appeal to greed is an ever present and persuasive bargaining tool.
So what do we conclude? The brothers like to present Dinah as a sweet and naïve young girl, although we can’t rule out rebellious and headstrong. She was from a large, male dominated family, possibly divided along matriarchal lines. Was she a lost soul, or a feisty lass quite capable of fighting her own battles against a pack of brothers? Shechem was just a ‘worldly’ young man doing what Canaanites did – have sex with anyone and anything. He had higher principles than most of his countrymen, but nevertheless still low when compared to the standards expected of servants of Jehovah. But we can’t escape the question of why Dinah was seeking friendship outside the extended family. Did Jacob fail to provide sufficient spiritual education for his children? Was he so distracted by his business, his sons, his flocks and his wealth to notice what this daughter was doing? We don’t know whether Jacob was unaware of this or whether he assumed that someone else was managing the situation.
Ultimately the responsibility for this whole sorry episode has to lie with the family head, Jacob. The account says that Dinah ‘used to go out and spend time with’. This suggests something that had become habitual rather than an occasional or once only outing. Was he like a modern-day elder who is so engrossed in congregation affairs that he fails to notice his own family departing via the back door? If so, the lesson is clear. Maintaining the spiritual health and unity of the family is a priority for all family heads. This is why the brothers are promoting Family Worship. It is time scheduled every week for spiritual and family matters – a latter-day Sabbath, if you like. It is a time to study together, to discuss concerns and fears, to set goals and celebrate achievements. We use it to value what we have. If our youngsters learn to appreciate our spiritual heritage they will not need to go seeking the desires and pleasures of the world. Sadly, and despite our best efforts, there is no guarantee of success. Every person has freewill. But by paying attention to all family members we can at least say that we followed all the suggestions and gave them each the best start that we could have done.
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