Today, I am reading and commenting on  Genesis 33-35.

Some time ago I came across an article which claimed that the account of what happened to Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter*, indicates that the Patriarchs treated women worse than the society around them.  The logic being that because the account tells us that Shechem fell in love with her after raping her and spoke tenderly to her, her brothers were brutes who killed the man she loved and forced her to be a servant in their households.  But the passage says nothing about what Dinah felt for Shechem and can be read to suggest that she was a prisoner in Shechem’s household until her brothers freed her.  The passage clearly tells us that Shechem took advantage of his position as son of the local ruler to take advantage of Dinah sexually while she was visiting with the women of his town, and her brothers were not nearby.  Then he attempted to use the fact that she was defiled as leverage to bring Jacob and his sons under his father’s control, which would eventually mean under his control.  The passage makes it clear that Jacob found Shechem’s behavior unacceptable, but also thought his sons, Simeon and Levi, went too far in seeking vengeance.  On the other hand, the passage also makes it clear that Simeon and Levi felt like they had no other choice.  Once again the writer does not approve of what was done, but sees God’s plan being fulfilled through the actions of flawed humans.

Jacob was frightened about the possible repercussions to his sons actions.  As a result, he rededicates himself, and his household, to God.  Up until now, Jacob has tolerated  his sons and wives (or, at least, Rachael) worshiping idols.  However this incident made Jacob realize that his family needed to dedicate themselves to serving God if they were to survive in this land.  In response to Jacob’s renewed dedication to God, God renewed the promises He had made to Abraham and Isaac.  We see here the final step in the progression of Jacob’s worship of God.

*At least, the only daughter which the Bible tells us about, it is possible that Dinah’s birth is only recorded because of her role in this account and that Jacob had other daughters…my inclination is to believe that Jacob had no other daughters.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.