20260222 Genesis 33:18-34:31 The Sin Against Dinah

The book of Genesis reminds us over and over that God is the hero of the Bible. Some individuals in the Bible do good things we must imitate but as a whole they are all sinners who need God, like us.

In Gen 15, Abraham believed God, and his faith was counted to him as righteousness. In the next chapter, he has a child with his wife’s servant. He defied God by operating according to his own wisdom. God remains the hero. Later, Jacob’s life reveals that he is a schemer who relied on himself. In the first half of Genesis 33, it seemed like Jacob had finally surrendered to God. It seemed like he would finally fulfill his destiny as God’s chosen agent to bless all families of the earth. But, Gen 33:18-34:31 reveals that Jacob's transformation is still in process. God remains the hero of the Bible.

In Genesis 33:18-34:31, Jacob still lacks faith in God’s protection. His children, who will inherit God’s promises are just as deceitful or maybe even more so than Jacob. If this teaches us anything it is that God is our only hope to enjoy his blessings. We must surrender ourselves to him and find refuge in him.

From a Biblical-Theological Perspective our text is an absolute gold-mine, full of treasures. It revisits Gen 1-9, it climaxes the theme of the mistreatment of women in the life of Jacob, and it offers lessons about our relationship to the world, our sin, and the Messianic line.

This section, like the rest of Genesis revisits the themes of Gen 1-9. The creation order is distorted. Gen 34 revisits the sin of Genesis 3, the murder of Gen 4, the violence and judgment that build up to the flood of Gen 6 and the judgment of Gen 7-8, and finally, Gen 34 includes the theme of the sign of the covenant like Gen 9. The repetitions of these themes teach us, these themes are still relevant today, to our daily lives.

The structure of the Jacob narrative also reveals the important theme of the oppression of women. The Jacob narrative contains three times three stories. In these three sets of three, the middle story includes the mistreatment of of women. Men get rich while treating women like property. In Gen 26, Isaac used Rebecca to protect himself. In Gen 29, Laban used Leah and Rachel like cattle for his personal gain. Now, Gen 34 is an account of sexual assault and disproportionate revenge.

In the bigger picture of the Bible, Gen 34 teaches the people of Israel to beware of mixing with the people of the land. It is a story that invites the people of Israel and the church to reflect on their own deceit and violence. It is an account of a generation of deceivers who act like their father, grandfather, and great grandfather. It is also a text that has some significance of the Messianic line.

From a Biblical-theological perspective this text is a gold-mine full treasure to explore. From a interpersonal relationship perspective, this text is horrific. This text is sad and tragic and hard. It is a nightmare from beginning to end. This text ends with a question with no resolution. To honor this text we should not try to tie a nice bow. We need to sit in the mess. This text is like so much of life. God feels absent, life is a mess. We are shocked, disoriented, we do not know how to think, feel, act. This text is like a Psalm that cries out to a distant God in narrative form.

We will follow the three movements of this account:

-        the Despicable Act,

-        the Deceitful Scheme,

-        and the Distorted Judgment.

Genesis 33:18-34:7 The Despicable Act

Genesis 33:18-34:7

In Gen 33:18-20, Jacob purchased land near the city of Shechem. Like Abraham in Gen 23, Jacob acquires a piece of the Promised Land.

According to Gen 34:1, Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. The phrase “women of the land” only appears one other time in the books of Moses. It is in Gen 27:46. Rebekah speaks against Jacob marrying "one of the women of the land.” This echo invites us to learn what happens when God's people mix with the Canaanites, the people of the land. This text serves as a lesson to Israel when they later settle in Canaan.

In Gen 34:2, Hamor the Hivite is called “the prince of the land.” He saw Dinah and he took. He laid with her and humiliated her. The seeing and taking echoes the first sin of Genesis 3. This scene is also an inversion of the Eden gift of marriage of Gen 2. Normally, we see, fall in love, speak to the father, and then consummate the marriage. Here, the order is twisted.

According to Gen 34:5, when Jacob heard, “He held his peace.” He did not react. In contrast, in Gen 34:7, when Jacob’s sons heard, they were indignant and very angry. Jacob holds his peace, but now the narrator who normally describes without commenting refuses to hold his peace. The narrator writes that Shechem’s act was “an outrageous thing in Israel” and “such a thing must not be done.”

Application – How do we Respond to Sexual Assault?

The mistreatment of women is a recuring theme in Genesis. Sarah was sacrificed to protect Abraham in Gen 12 and 20. Hagar was used to have a child in Gen 16. Lot offered his daughters to appease the men of Sodom Gen 19. Rebecca was used to protect Isaac in Gen 26. Rachel and Leah whose names mean Lamb and Cow were used like cattle for their father's gain. Now, the account of Dinah is one of sexual assault.

What do we do with this? This is one of the rare times the narrator comments on the act: “An outrageous thing in Israel” and “such a thing must not be done.” What are we supposed to do with this text? How do we respond to sexual assault?

First, Jacob is silent. This is shocking when we consider the schemer he is. He always has a plan. Except when women are mistreated (Gen 29-30). Now that an outrageous thing has happened to his daughter, he does nothing. Instead of advocating for her, he remains passive. Where is his outrage?

The second response comes from the brothers. According to Gen 34:7, the brothers feel grief and anger. The word for “grieve” or “indignant” is only used once before in Genesis, in Gen 6:6 about God’s grief about Man’s sin before the flood. We can expect wrath to follow their grief.

What about God's response? God is absent in this passage. Other texts help us to make sense of God's supposed absence. The book of Genesis ends with the story of Joseph. Twice Joseph repeats, that God can use human evil for good (Gen 45:5-8; 50:20). While it seemed God was absent during Israel's slavery in Egypt for 400 years, according to Exodus 2:25, God saw, and God knew. God is not absent, but what we see in Gen 34 is human nature on display.

Texts like this are part of our Bible. God wants us to have texts where he seems absent and other texts to interpret his supposed absence. This is so that we can learn how to live when he feels absent in our own lives when tragedy strikes. Gen 34 can minister to us when tragedy strikes. God seemed absent, but he is not. We will all experience the outworking of human wickedness, depravity, and suffering. And, still, we can know in our isolation that God hears, God sees, God knows, God cares, and God acts, even if it is not our timeline.

God cares, so we must also care and act. I heard of a pastor whose daughter was sexually assaulted by someone in their church. He was concerned that this kind of scandal would ruin the church’s reputation. The situation was handled poorly. The church is still going, his daughter has walked away from God a long time ago. Outrage, lament, horror at sin are all appropriate. It doesn’t matter if a church survives if people get crushed. Let us be angry and grieved by sin.

Genesis 34:8-24 The Deceitful Scheming

Something horrific just happened, and now humanity's sin remains on display in what follows. Under this second point following sin there is scheming that connects with the sins of religious intermarriage, the twisting of God’s gifts, and the oppression of women for sinful gain.

First Hamor and Shechem’s scheming in Gen 34:8-12 is connected with the sin of Religious Intermarriage.

Gen 34:8-12

In Gen 34:8, Hamor, Shechem’s father, speaks to Jacob’s sons and asks for Dinah to become his son’s wife. He says in Gen 34:9, “Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.” This phrase must alarm us.

A frequent biblical command as expressed in Deut 7:3-4 says the opposite. It reads, “3You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.” (Also, Gen 24:3, 37; Exod 34:16; Deut 7:3-4; Jud 3:6; Neh 10:31).

Application

The warning of Deut 7:3-4 remains for the church today. We see that King Solomon disobeyed and his unbelieving wives led his heart astray. So it is with us as well. God wants us to dedicate our lives to him, our marriage to him, our children to him, our finances to him, our time to him.

A marriage between a Christian and non-Christian is absolutely not the unforgivable sin. God is gracious. God uses those marriages for his purposes, and they are characterized by divided allegiances that introduce an extra layer of complications to be on the same page for raising children, how to use money, and hospitality.

A broader application for all of us, beyond the family unit, all Christians are called to be wise in our engagement with the world. God made the world good. There is much for us to enjoy. We are also called to remain holy or separate that our hearts would not be led astray.

Second, Gen 34:13-17 addresses Jacob’s Sons’ scheming with the twisting of circumcision.

Gen 34:13-17

Following Hamor’s request, according to Gen 34:13, “The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah.” They respond in Gen 34:15, “Only on this condition will we agree with you – that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. 16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people.”

These words are complicated. There is truth in what they say. The way for all the people of the world to become one was through circumcision. According to Gen 17, circumcision with God’s promise to bless all the families of the world through him. These promises are fulfilled in the New Creation, Jesus Christ, and the forgiveness of sins for people from all the nations.

According to Exodus 12:48, the way people joined Israel was by the men receiving circumcision. This is true today with the sign of baptism. There is truth in what Jacob’s sons say but the narrator tells us they were deceitful. They had no intention of being one because of what Shechem had done to Dinah. Jacob's sons used the sign of the Covenant, the sign of peace and blessing for wicked purposes.

Application: Using God’s gifts to harm people

We need to beware not to use God's good gifts to harm people. It can be the gift of logic and teaching to promote what is false. It can be the gifts of good authority that protect the vulnerable to oppress the vulnerable. We can also use God's word badly to manipulate. Whatever it is, the same way Jacob's sons used circumcision to harm people, we must beware not to harm people with God's good gifts.

Third, we return to Hamor and Schechem’s scheming in Genesis 34:18-24 and the oppression of women for sinful gain.

Genesis 34:18-24

Hamor and Shechem convince the men of their city to get circumcise. This is what they add to convince them. According to Gen 34:23, they say, that if they all get circumcised “Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours?” Then, according to Gen 34:24, “They all got circumcised.”

Application

Dinah has been violated, but the men of Shechem care about getting rich. Rebekah was abandoned to protect Isaac. Rachel and Leah were given for Laban to get rich at Jacob’s expense. Now, here the men of Canaan are using this exchange of Dinah for circumcision to get rich.

Following the first sin in the garden, God told the woman, "Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." The desire and the ruling are negative. According to Genesis 1, the man and the woman were to rule over animals. When men rule over women they treat them like property or animals. This has been the pattern in Genesis. In some Christian circles, we can be quick to critique some feminist movements. We must also recognize that women have been oppressed by men throughout human history. The recent "Me Too" movement, which gained massive global attention in 2017, revealed the extent of ongoing abuse women still face today. We should all be grieved at the wickedness in this text and our world, when we think the violence and neglect faced by women. We can think of our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our wives and lament the world we live in.

We looked at the despicable act. Under the deceitful scheming we looked at religious intermarriage, twisting God’s gifts, and the oppression of women. The text doesn’t get any lighter. Now, we turn to the distorted judgment.

Genesis 34:25-31 The Distorted Judgment

Genesis 34:25-31

It is hard to know what the right response to the violation Dinah suffered. Shechem should most definitely be punished. In the text, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, kill all the males on the third day after they circumcised themselves. They took Dinah and plundered the city. They took everything, their herds, donkeys, the wealth, the women and children.

Gen 34:30-31 ends the account with a dialogue between Jacob, Simeon, and Levi. Jacob finally speaks up. He condemns Simeon and Levi, not for their actions but because of the potential consequences. Jacob fears retribution by the hand of the Canaanites. He seems to care more about self-preservation than his daughter. The brothers answer: “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?” The account ends with this question.

Before the application, I wanted to add a quick Messianic lineage comment. When we look at Jacob’s sons in order, the first four are: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Rueben, the firstborn will commit a horrible act in the following chapter. Now, the next two sons, Simeon and Levi are guilty of a horrible act.

In Gen 49:5-7, Jacob reflects back on Simeon and Levi's actions this way: 5“Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. 6...or in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness, they hamstrung oxen. 7Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. Following their actions, God's blessing passed down through the line of Judah. Jesus will come from the line of Judah. It seems like the events of Gen 34 explain some of the Messianic line.

Application:

The application of Levi and Simeon’s distorted judgment concerns the role of God’s people in a sinful world. Jacob was wrong to fear the people in such a way that he did not stand up for justice for his daughter. Texts like Deut 22:25-29 suggest such Shechem’s action deserved the death penalty, but, Levi and Simeon went way beyond just judgment.

God intends for his people to be a blessing to the world. The church at times like Jacob fails to speak up out of fear. Other times, like Simeon and Levi, the church is responsible for harm and can be overly harsh. We can be honest about our failing, but we must remember that the church remains God's means of blessing the world with our gospel message. A holy God punishes sin. We have the word of life, the message of the good news concerning the forgiveness of sins in Christ to escape judgment. The church must stick to her task to bless the world. We must uphold God’s Word and God’s law. We humbly remember we are the chief sinners. We must seek to correct injustice, but overly harsh punishment distorts God’s mercy, compassion, and forgiveness he showed us in Jesus at the cross.

Conclusion

In the greater context of the Bible, God chooses people to bring his blessing to the nations. The end goal is to unify the nations to live together in peace and harmony, enjoying abundance in the New Creation. Our text highlights depravity in the world and depravity in his chosen people.

This text is a horrible chapter, but God wants us to have this chapter in our Bible. God seems to be absent. God wants us to know that there will be times he will feel absent. The text ends abruptly with the question: “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?” Sometimes, in our lives, we have questions that go unanswered.

This account reminds God's people living in the Promised Land to beware of mixing with the Canaanites. We need to be wise in our dealing with unbelievers. The extreme response of Levi and Simeon reminds God's people that the wickedness of the Canaanites is also inside them. There is sin in the world and sin in the church. It is only at the cross that we can read a text like this and find some level of satisfaction. At the Cross God judges sins and offers forgiveness. All sexual assault will be condemned, and there is also forgiveness for all sexual sins available to all who turn to God. There is sin in the world and sin in the church. We must beware of sin out there and beware of sin in our hearts and continually return our gaze on Christ who is our hope and the hope of the world.