Much has been written about Jacob’s 12 sons. Joseph even has his own Broadway musical. Jacob is also known as Israel, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. But, the story of Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, is more in line with a made-for-tv movie than an entertaining musical. Dinah’s story is hard to read, hard to understand, and challenging to teach to each new generation. It’s not ideal material for children’s books or flannel graphs. It is a tragic story from beginning to end.
What’s important to understand about Dinah and the history of what happened with her is that the Bible is a book of history. These weren’t characters created to teach moral lessons. Jacob and his family were real people. They existed as sinners in a fallen world, living in ancient times, within a tribal and patriarchal culture. Marriages were arranged. Daughters had value because of their bride price. While some had loving fathers, many only valued their daughters for the political, social, or material capital the family would gain upon their marriage.
The biblical writer delivers Dinah’s story with no sentimentality. Genesis 34 recounts what little we know of her, and it’s a stark and unflinching report. It must be read and taught within the context of the times and culture, but even then, it’s a painful episode in the history of the early life of Israel.
Note to readers: Dinah’s story contains the recounting of a sexual assault violation and bloody revenge. Please be aware of this before reading further if you have sensitivity around this subject or could be disturbed by these facts.
Genesis 34 wastes no time describing the situation that developed around Dinah in Shechem.
“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.’ 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” (Genesis 34:1-5 ESV).
It’s important here to understand the structure of Jacob’s family. Jacob had two wives—the sisters Rachel and Leah. Jacob had originally fallen in love with Rachel and arranged with her father, Laban, to work for her hand in marriage for seven years. When the time arrived, Laban tricked Jacob (probably with many veils) into marrying Rachel’s older sister, Leah, as it was his tribe’s tradition that the older daughter married first. Laban offered Rachel to Jacob for another seven years of labor when the deceit was discovered.
The Bible reports then that God, seeing that Leah was “hated” or “unloved,” opened her womb. In rapid succession, she gave birth to Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Now, Rachel was barren during this time, so, envying her sister’s progeny, she gave her handmaiden Bilhah to Jacob to bear children for her. Bilhah gave birth to Dan and Naphtali, whom Rachel claimed as her own.
Leah experienced a period of barrenness, so she gave Jacob her servant, Zilpah. Zilpah bore Gad and Asher. Leah then became pregnant again and bore two more sons, Issachar and Zebulun, and Jacob’s only daughter, Dinah. Then, the Bible says, “God remembered Rachel,” and she gave birth to Joseph. Eventually, Rachel would die after giving birth to Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin. This completed the 12 sons of Israel, but they were born to different mothers, so they had divided loyalties. Some were half-siblings, while others were full-siblings.
We don’t have details about the sexual incident with Dinah. She’s given no voice in the story, so we don’t know if she was assaulted, deceived, or coerced into sex. Her humiliation may have been because of trickery. It was completely unacceptable in those times for a virgin to engage in any sexual activity outside of marriage. So, after Dinah is taken by Shechem, Jacob does tell his sons what has occurred. Due to the times they lived in, the text reads as though the brothers are more concerned with family honor than Dinah’s feelings or future. This may or may not have been true. We just don’t have information about whether they loved Dinah or just loved their own honor. We don’t get any information about Dinah except we know she remains in Shechem’s home during this time. The rest of the account revolves around the men.
Shechem and his father, Hamor, approach Jacob and offer to pay any bride price. Shechem has decided after violating Dinah that he wants her as his wife. The brothers pretend to agree to the marriage if all the city’s men observe their family’s tradition of circumcision. Shechem and his father agree to these terms, and the city’s men undergo circumcision. On the third day, when they are in the greatest pain recovering from the procedure, Dinah’s full brothers, Simeon and Levi, kill all of the city’s men by the sword. They rescue Dinah and then plunder the city of everything that has value, including the remaining women and children.
This is a violent, vengeful episode in the life of Jacob’s family. When Jacob is dying and offering his blessing to his children (Genesis 49), Reuben loses out on the rights of the firstborn for having slept with Bilhah, Jacob’s concubine (and mother to two of Jacob’s sons). Jacob then condemns Simeon and Levi for the act of violence and revenge against the Shechemites, and they forfeit firstborn status, which then passes to Judah. The line of Jesus, in fact, comes through Judah.
The Old Testament records centuries in Israel’s history where there were battles and conflicts with nations and neighboring tribes. There are times in these battles when God directs the Israelites to destroy opposing nations and when God works out battles so that two or three opposing tribes destroy one another. God usually directed this warfare against nations whose idol worship involved evil practices such as infant sacrifice or temple prostitution. Destroying them was a way of cleansing the land from these abhorrent practices.
Simeon and Levi, however, destroyed the Shechemites, not under command from their God but out of personal pride and vengeance. They may have loved their sister, Dinah, but their emphasis was on the misuse of “our sister.” Daughters in that time were family commodities. Marriages were arranged, and bride prices enriched a family’s finances and honor. The situation with Dinah was not a fair arrangement for Dinah or her family. Shechem took advantage of Dinah and tried to take advantage of Jacob’s family. Shechem initiated the dishonorable actions, but it should have ended with him. The violence perpetrated against the Shechemites by the sons of Israel, especially with the trickery involving circumcision, was wrong. Jacob condemns it and prophesies that it will cause them trouble in the land.
Jacob makes his disapproval clear in his final blessing of his sons. He disapproves of their love for violence. Revenge and deceit are not the ways of the God of Israel. Simeon and Levi are condemned for this and forfeit any possibility of attaining firstborn status when Reuben loses his place in the line of succession.
The Bible is straightforward that revenge belongs to God alone. “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19 ESV). It is an act of trust and faith to yield vengeance for a wrong to God, who knows how to repay with justice and fairness.
The Bible is silent about what happened with Dinah after this incident. We know from Genesis 46:15 that she was with the family when they went to Egypt during the great famine. Joseph had risen to second in power in Egypt under Pharaoh and was able to rescue his family from starvation. Because Dinah would not be eligible for marriage following the incident with Shechem, it’s most likely that one of her brother’s homes took her in or she helped care for her father for the rest of her life. No children are attributed to her, and no more is said about her.
Jesus’ treatment of women was revolutionary in the gospels. In the Old Testament, God commanded many protections for women. This incident with Dinah does not reflect God’s desire for women but the dangers and risks for women living in a sinful and fallen world.
If we learn anything from Dinah’s story, it’s that God condemns revenge. Also, we can see that while the Old Testament peoples had to engage in necessary battles for survival, God didn’t approve of murder for personal satisfaction. When this is taught, that should be the story’s focus and its importance for understanding the line of Judah. The biblical writer likely chose to include this tragic story not to teach a lesson but to make it clear why Judah (fourth in birth order) obtained Jacob’s firstborn blessing. Judah would be the son through whom the line of Jesus came.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/KatarzynaBialasiewicz
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
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