Dinah's Rape and Levi's Deception

The Bible is considered holy by many and X-rated by others. It is a mixture of facts and fiction, some of them quite sexually violent and promiscuous. The irony is that these hedonistic passages are presented as the word of God verbatim with serious moral implications. They can potentially lead some to serious immoral acts such as rape, incest, adultery, homosexuality, forced sex, cheating, deception, lying, indiscriminate murder, terror, honor killing and plundering, immoralities with horrible implications. These acts are repugnant to modern sensibilities and, in reality, to all morality and ethical considerations. The problem is compounded when these passages are armed with religio-political ideologies and bossily implemented with modern weapons and military establishments. The same Hebrew Bible that is used to substantiate claims of humongous geopolitical implications such as the Promised Land, Holy Land, Chosen People, the dualistic ideology of pure and unclean people and divinely sanctioned violence, genocide, ethnic cleansing and terror is the same book that violates our moral sensibilities and seemingly approves of, leads to or insinuates rape, incest, adultery, terror, slavery, stealing, cheating, lying, deception, debauchery, genocide, ethnic cleansing and destruction. It is extremely difficult to separate the moral from the immoral passages of the Bible. In this post, I would analyze the story of Jacobs’ daughter Dinah’s rape, her brother's deceptive murders of Canaanites, and Jacob’s moral shortcomings. The biblical story is morally enigmatic and leaves many questions unanswered. The same applies to all biblical claims and their truth value and geo-political validity.   

Here is the text of the Book of Genesis, chapter 34. Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Torah:

34:1: One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the Canaanite women. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who was chief of that region, saw her, he took her and raped her. But he found the young woman so attractive that he fell in love with her and tried to win her affection.[a] He told his father, “I want you to get Dinah for me as my wife.”

Jacob learned that his daughter had been disgraced, but because his sons were out in the fields with his livestock, he did nothing until they came back. Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob, just as Jacob's sons were coming in from the fields. When they heard about it, they were shocked and furious that Shechem had done such a thing and had insulted the people of Israel by raping Jacob's daughter. Hamor said to him, “My son Shechem has fallen in love with your daughter; please let him marry her. Let us make an agreement that there will be intermarriage between our people and yours. 10 Then you may stay here in our country with us; you may live anywhere you wish, trade freely, and own property.”

11 Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, “Do me this favor, and I will give you whatever you want. 12 Tell me what presents you want, and set the payment for the bride as high as you wish; I will give you whatever you ask, if you will only let me marry her.”

13 Because Shechem had disgraced their sister Dinah, Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor in a deceitful way. 14 They said to him, “We cannot let our sister marry a man who is not circumcised; that would be a disgrace for us. 15 We can agree only on the condition that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 16 Then we will agree to intermarriage. We will settle among you and become one people with you. 17 But if you will not accept our terms and be circumcised, we will take her and leave.”

18 These terms seemed fair to Hamor and his son Shechem, 19 and the young man lost no time in doing what was suggested, because he was in love with Jacob's daughter. He was the most important member of his family.

20 Hamor and his son Shechem went to the meeting place at the city gate and spoke to the people of the town: 21 “These men are friendly; let them live in the land with us and travel freely. The land is large enough for them also. Let us marry their daughters and give them ours in marriage. 22 But these men will agree to live among us and be one people with us only on the condition that we circumcise all our males, as they are circumcised. 23 Won't all their livestock and everything else they own be ours? So let us agree that they can live among us.” 24 All the citizens of the city agreed with what Hamor and Shechem proposed, and all the males were circumcised.

25 Three days later, when the men were still sore from their circumcision, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, took their swords, went into the city without arousing suspicion, and killed all the men, 26 including Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah from Shechem's house and left. 27 After the slaughter Jacob's other sons looted the town to take revenge for their sister's disgrace. 28 They took the flocks, the cattle, the donkeys, and everything else in the city and in the fields. 29 They took everything of value, captured all the women and children, and carried off everything in the houses.

30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have gotten me into trouble; now the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and everybody else in the land will hate me. I do not have many men; if they all band together against me and attack me, our whole family will be destroyed.”

31 But they answered, “We cannot let our sister be treated like a common whore.”

This story of Dinah's rape, found in the Bible, presents a complex and morally challenging narrative. Here's a summary of the story and its moral implications:

The Narrative

  • Context: Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, goes out to visit the women of the land. She, like her promiscuous mother Leah, is depicted as visiting the Canaanite women with doubtful intentions.
  • The Incident: Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, who is a prince of the region, sees Dinah, seizes her, and rapes her. Dina does not seem to be resisting the rape by screaming or informing others. After the assault, Shechem falls in love with Dinah and wants to marry her. He is genuinely in love with her and sincere in marrying her.
  • Negotiations: Shechem's father, Hamor, approaches Jacob to arrange a marriage between Shechem and Dinah. Shechem even offers to pay a hefty bride price.
  • Deception and Revenge: Dinah’s brothers, led by Simeon and Levi, agree to the marriage on the condition that all the men of Shechem’s city be circumcised. While the men are incapacitated from the circumcision, Simeon and Levi attack and kill all of them, including Shechem and Hamor, and rescue Dinah. They indiscriminately kill the Canaanites and plunder them with brutal efficiency.
  • Aftermath: Jacob condemns Simeon and Levi's actions, fearing retaliation from neighboring communities and not due to their immorality. The brothers, however, justify their actions by asking, "Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?" Revenge and terror are exacted through deception. 

Moral Problems

  1. Violation and Consent: The initial act of rape is a clear violation of Dinah's autonomy and dignity. The narrative does not provide Dinah's perspective, focusing instead on the male characters and their reactions.
  2. Retributive Justice vs. Excessive Violence: While retribution for a crime like rape is understandable, the response of Dinah’s brothers is excessively violent, disproportionate and extends punishment to those innocent civilians who were not directly involved in the crime.
  3. Use of Deception: The brothers’ use of deceit, leveraging a religious rite (circumcision) as a strategy for vengeance, raises ethical concerns about the means used to achieve justice.
  4. Lack of Agency for Women: Dinah is essentially a passive character in the story. Her voice and perspective are absent, and she is used as a catalyst for the actions of the male characters.
  5. Ethical Complexity in Biblical Narratives: This story, like many others in the Bible, does not offer a clear moral lesson but instead presents a complex situation where ethical principles are challenged. It raises questions about justice, revenge, the role of women, and the use of violence, indiscriminate killing, and genocide.
  6. Impact on Contemporary Interpretation: The story's moral ambiguity and its potential misuse in justifying violence, terror or oppressive actions in contemporary contexts highlight the need for careful interpretation and application of biblical narratives.

In conclusion, the story of Dinah in the Bible is not just a historical or religious narrative but also a text that invites deep moral and ethical reflection, especially in how it addresses issues of justice, human equality, gender roles, and the use of genocidal violence in response to wrongdoing.

 

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