GENESIS 34
Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. 2 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. 3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.” 5 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. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing must not be done. – Genesis 34:1-7
GENESIS 34 SHECHEM DEFILES DINAH
A poem inspired by these verses by ILMA
When Dinah, Jacob’s daughter by Leah went to see the women
She was seized and defiled by Shechem, Hamor’s son, the prince of the Hivite
But later on, Shechem’s lust turn into love and wanted Dinah to be his wife
But Dinah’s brothers were outraged by this act of defilement to their sister.
This chapter in Genesis is a very disturbing account of abuse of power and out of control desires. According to Matthew Henry’s account, Dinah was the only daughter of Jacob. One can imagine growing up with all these boys around her. Because she had no sisters growing up, she was probably curious what it was like to be around women, so she left their house to explore. According to some commentaries, she probably was not just curious to meet the women, but also the men. The fact that she was seized by Shechem and raped was indicative that she was walking alone unescorted by any of her brothers.
Shechem was the son of a prince of that land and we see the abuse of power manifested in him when he decided to grab the woman he wanted. We clearly witnessed the abuse of that status that he held. He didn’t care who she was, he just wanted her and took her. Jacob’s silence at the news of his only daughter’s predicament is quite surprising and unsettling.
REFLECTION
- Why do you think Jacob didn’t react to the news of Dinah’s defilement?
