“Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.” Genesis 34:1 (NKJV)
Jacob’s sons are mentioned and are listed as the tribes of Israel. However, only one daughter is mentioned – Leah’s daughter, Dinah. She was raped by Shechem who was a Hivite. Then Shechem decided he loved Dinah and asked his father to get her to be his wife.
Jacob heard what had happened, but he held his peace until his sons returned from taking care of the livestock in the field. They found out what had happened and discussed the matter among themselves. Shechem and his father came to Jacob and asked for Dinah’s hand in marriage to Shechem and they were willing to pay whatever dowry Jacob set.
The brothers had decided among themselves to be deceitful. Rather than dealing forthright with Shechem and his father, they told them that because they were uncircumcised Dinah couldn’t marry Shechem. But then they added that not only Shechem needed to be circumcised, but every male in their city. There may have been some conniving on the part of Shechem’s family and those in the city too because they wanted the livestock and riches that Jacob’s family had.
They decided to have every male in the city circumcised. On the 3rd day when they were all in pain, Dinah’s brothers attacked and killed every male in the city as revenge for Shechem raping Dinah.
It was a great disgrace to Jacob’s family for Dinah being raped. Just imagine her feelings. She would not be a virgin and so many men would not want to marry her, through no fault of her own.
What lesson can I learn from Dinah? Well, the first verse says she went out to see the daughters of the land. She ventured first into the camp of those who did not worship the Lord. That did not mean that when Shechem raped her it was her fault, but that she might have been more prudent if she had someone with her or if she had stayed in her own camp. I need to be careful to not venture into the enemy’s territory. Yes, God can protect me if I’m going at His biding. However, if it is my own presumptuous action rather than trusting God to protect me if I’m doing His will, then I will have to bear the consequences of my actions. Sometimes even then God protects those who are foolish and naive when they just don’t understand the danger of where they are going.
Listen to Steffany Gretzinger as she sings “Christ the Lord is With Me.”
Published on MyBibleRoom.com 1/16/24, 5:00 pm